As in their previous appearance at Stellenbosch, the Cape Cobras raced to victory well before the tea break on the third day of the SuperSport Series match against the Eagles.
Although there was some resistance from the visitors, the home seamers dominated proceedings and they ensured that the Eagles left only the most nominal of targets.
Resuming on 67 for one, still 108 behind, overnight batsmen Jonathan Beukes and Benji Hector saw off the initial challenges.
Beukes had a stroke of luck on 38, when he attempted a pull shot and was adjudged caught behind by Thami Tsolekile, but was recalled by the umpires before he reached the boundary as the ball had hit his forearm. Monde Zondeki’s pace brought the breakthrough eventually, finding the edges of both batsmen in the space of four balls.
Two more wickets fell before the lunch break before Morne van Wyk found a reliable partner in Ryan McLaren as the pair added 45 in just eleven overs.
The left-hander hit five boundaries in a cameo innings before missing an attempted drive. Johan van der Wath’s failure left the Eagles still 13 in arrears with three wickets standing but Thandi Tshabalala unlikely to bat.
Some lusty hits from Roger Telemachus, including a lofted drive over the covers to erase the deficit, saw off the humiliation of an innings defeat.
An excellent catch by HD Ackerman at second slip saw the end of Telemachus, and with Victor Mpitsang losing his middle stump to the next ball, the Cobras needed a mere nine runs to win.
Two crisp boundaries from Andrew Puttick made short work of this, leaving the Cobras winners by ten wickets.
Derrin Bassage earned the Man of the Match award for his patient contribution of 100, which had paved the way for the home team’s decisive first innings advantage.
With the Titans thrashing the Warriors in Benoni, the Cobras were unable to move above their current third position but will still have hopes of reaching the final in April. They will end their league campaign with a match at Newlands against the Lions, starting on Thursday. – Sapa