CAPE TOWN 252-6 (Chris Cooke 68, Jonathan Holgate 51*, Mark Ritchie 38, Damian Thornton 37, Lloyd Moore 33, Tanner Rock 3-65) beat the UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN 172 (Dean Forward 64, Clive Gie 3-29, Donovan Holman 3-35) by 80 runs

An amazing innings of power hitting by Cape Town's Chris Cooke powered his team to their highest limited overs score in nine seasons, and their first victory in this format of the game over the University of Cape Town during the same period.  The victory not only kept the visitors' hopes in the competition alive, but was sweet revenge for the annihilation that they suffered at their hands in the limited overs Final the previous season - the last time the two sides had met.

Having reached a relatively sedate 16 off his first 27 balls faced, Cooke suddenly went into overdrive.  With the students' bowlers maintaining a predictable full length on a pitch tending to hold up slightly, Cooke was able to plant his front foot and swing around the front leg – peppering the square leg and mid wicket boundaries.  His next 19 balls consequently brought him 52 further runs, before he holed out to long on off the 20th.  His 68 off 47 balls had completely turned the innings around, dominating a partnership of 90 in ten overs for the fifth wicket with Jonathan Holgate.  Holgate himself, finding some form at last after a horrendous season with the bat, played the required stabilising role, having already shared a stand of 63 for the fourth wicket with Lloyd Moore - who in the process passed 2 500 career runs for First XI - to rescue an innings that was seemingly losing its way at 98 for three.

This was all after Mark Ritchie and Damian Thornton, Cape Town's seventh different opening partnership combination of the season, had laid a solid foundation with 83 for the first wicket.  They seldom seemed troubled by a strangely ragged and vulnerable-looking home side, who gave lives to each of Thornton, Ritchie, Moore and Holgate.  Still, they both fell in successive overs, leaving the innings to drift for a while before the middle order kicked in.

In reply Dean Forward kept the students in touch at just about the required rate for the first 20 or so overs, despite receiving less than adequate support.  Once he fell, however, Donovan Holman was able to run through the middle order, and at 125 for seven the match was effectively over as a contest.  An eighth wicket stand held up matters for a while though, until Clive Gie returned to clean up the tail and seal an ultimately comprehensive win.