The setting could not have been more suitable. A domestic final at Newlands, on a crisp Cape Town day, with no chance of weather interrupting play. A Friday before a public holiday to get the South African public in the mood. Interest in cricket high, thanks to the Cricket World Cup in the subcontinent. And for once, the Standard Bank Pro20 final looked to be contested by two teams who were genuinely the best overall performers in the tournament.

The Cobras came into the final with two heartening semi-final wins under their belt – one where they thrashed the Titans at Newlands by chasing down their modest score in under 15 overs, and another at Centurion where they stayed calm under pressure to chase down a massive 221 to secure their place in the final. The sterling batting performances of Richard Levi, Herschelle Gibbs and overseas player Owais Shah provided some relief for their erratic bowling line up, in which no bowler has performed consistently. Under Captain Justin Kemp, the Cobras were undefeated at home in this Pro20 season, and with a home final, looked to be favourites.

The Warriors had two closely contested semi finals, one at home at which came down to a last over chase and another which came down to the last ball against the dangerous but inconsistent Dolphins at Kingsmead. The Warriors have been a consistent side with a strong line up, boasting the pinpoint accuracy of death bowler Rusty Theron and the powerful and mature batting of Davy Jacobs and Mark Boucher, who had performed fantastically as a finisher for the Warriors throughout the season. With their first team line up hugely depleted due to national duty (including all rounder Jacques Kallis and their two opening bowlers, Wayne Parnell and Lonwabo Tsotsobe) the Warriors mostly produced true team performances this season, with every player chipping in. Coming off the 2010 season where they won both the 40-over domestic competition and the Standard Bank Pro20 and reached the final of the lucrative Champions League, they would have been confident that their players had the talent and temperament to take on the Cobras at their home fortress and win.

In some ways, it was a revenge game, the Warriors having knocked the Cobras out of the Pro20 competition last year, mostly thanks to the death bowling heroics of Rusty Theron. The loss denied the Cobras the chance to play in the second edition of the Champions League, where they had been semi-finalists in 2009. For a side which had grown accustomed to being there come final day, it was certainly a shock.

With a capacity Newlands crowd which appeared to consist almost solely of Cobras supporters, the match had a carnival atmosphere before it had even begun. The Newlands pitch appeared to be firm and relatively flat, albeit a little slow, and both captains agreed that they would choose to bowl first, given the option. Jacobs won the toss and thus put the Cobras into bat, stating that he hoped to restrict them to 140 or below.

It soon became clear that both captains had misread the conditions. Within a few overs, the pitch displayed variable bounce, with a few balls staying low while others displayed considerable bounce. This was masked slightly by the assault of the Cobras openers, Levi and Gibbs, both of whom seemed to take the oft-used commentary cliché “dealing in boundaries” to heart. But when they were dismissed in consecutive balls (Gibbs in the final ball of the ninth, Levi in the first ball of the tenth) after a quick 88 run partnership, the Cobras’ speedy start began to look shaky. In came Owais Shah, who had guided the Cobras home on several occasions in the past season. His not out innings of 39 was invaluable and understated, even though it came at a strike rate of 150. The Warriors slow bowlers had tied the Cobras batsmen down in the middle overs by picking up wickets consistently. Strangely, the Warriors, usually a strong fielding unit, looked unreliable in the field, and Mark Boucher had an abysmal day behind the stumps, missing a regulation catch off the edge of Gibbs’ bat and a simple stumping. Ontong, Vilas and Kemp were all dismissed cheaply by the Warriors’ slower bowlers, who proved far more effective than the seamers (although it should be mentioned that Theron played with a slight injury to his hand and operated off a shortened run up). Philander played a useful run-a-ball cameo at the end in his partnership with Shah to carry the Cobras to a respectable 165, a score which looked low given the start they had gotten off to.

At the beginning of the chase, with the required run rate set at 8.4, the game might have looked even. But an economical first over by Langeveldt set the tone for the chase and the Warriors openers found themselves struggling to score boundaries at the start. Prince scored 21 off 13 before losing his wicket to a suicidal second run while Davy Jacobs laboured for 13 off 24 balls before he was given out LBW to Vernon Philander. Even some sloppy fielding on the boundary by Levi didn’t seem to matter as the Cobras scalped Prince, Jacobs and Boucher cheaply, leaving the Warriors reeling at 59/3 in the 11th over, with the required run rate up to 12.

Enter Jon Jon Smuts, who was the first Warriors batsman to look confident against the Cobras’ bowling attack. When his brother, debutant Kelly Smuts, came to join him at the crease, no one could have predicted what happened next. The Smuts brothers did in the middle of the innings what Levi and Gibbs had done in their start – looking to clear the infield and pick gaps, especially off balls pitched short. JJ scored 25 off just 23 balls, but it is his brother, Kelly, who truly warranted the fireworks on display at Newlands as he hammered the Cobras bowlers, who looked to be meandering towards a regulation win. Claude Henderson’s four over spell, in which he picked up a wicket and conceded only 14 runs, looked to be the nail in the coffin for the Warriors chase. But after JJ’s dismissal, and the subsequent dismissal of Thyssen off the next ball, Kelly and Justin Kreusch put together what could have been a match changing 82 run partnership off just 38 balls. Smuts, who was the top scorer in the game with 56 off just 32 balls, hit the ball cleanly, favouring the straight drive and lofted shots in the midwicket area. Kreusch dispensed with his usual sedate style and hit a destructive 29 off 15 balls. At one stage it looked as though the two were poised to steal a win from right under the Cobras’ nose. But some clever bowling changes from Kemp and the sheer pressure of runs proved to be too much, with the Cobras having 25 runs to defend in the final over. When Kreusch was bowled off the penultimate ball of the innings, it was already too late and the Cobras had sealed victory.

There was a resounding cheer from the packed Newlands stadium which had known mostly disappointment from the Cobras in the 2010 season, and it is fair to say that they earned their championship outright. Kemp credited the management staff for the Cobras polished performance, and Jacobs professed his pride at the Warriors performance in the tournament, overall. Both teams now look forward to the latter part of the year, which will bring with it the Champions League, a lucrative tournament which offers their players the opportunity to strut their stuff against domestic sides from other countries and possibly make a case for an IPL contract.

In the end, aside from a few dull overs, it was an engaging final, with two top sides battling it out to the death. The Cobras win was deserved, and it was certainly appreciated by the Newlands faithful. And with this the last Pro20 tournament to be sponsored by Standard Bank, it was a fitting end to a high scoring, tumultuous season.