Having clashed the previous day in a Two-Day match that ended in a dull draw, the same two sides faced up again in the knowledge that this time there had to be a winner - albeit a meaningless victory in the sense that neither side could progress any further in the competition.
United elected to bat first, but displayed an even more pedestrian scoring rate than they had managed the day before, as Cape Town's opening bowlers gave the two batsmen nothing to work with. For over an hour the match inched forward in a holding pattern, with the visitors unable to get a wicket but at the same time holding the batsmen to a consistent two runs to the over. Eventually something had to give, and Clive Gie got the breakthrough in his second over by sneaking through a defensive prod. The urgency of stepping up the run rate led to a run out three overs later, as the pressure began to tell.
That brought the more fluent Qaasim Adams to the crease, and while he managed a personal scoring rate of four to the over, he had to watch in horror from the non-striker's end as Gie picked up four more wickets in three-and-a-half overs to turn the innings on its head. Bowling fast and straight on a pitch where the odd delivery tended to keep low, Gie induced a sliced drive to point inbetween castling three batsmen trapped on the back foot - including opener Munier Holmes, the only other batsman to reach 20. Gie consequently became only the second Cape Town bowler in ten seasons to take five wickets in a Limited Overs match, and by conceding a mere 21 runs off his ten overs had recorded the best figures of them all.
At 74 for seven there was no way back for United, although Adams mustered the tail somewhat to wring out a further 50 runs for the last three wickets. A final total of 124 was nevertheless not exactly terrifying, although the inconsistent nature of the bounce in the pitch meant that Cape Town contemplated their run chase during the lunch break with some measure of concern.
As it turned out, the visitors opted for their usual method of run-chasing of late. Shane Martin as always took it upon himself to generate the required forward momentum from the outset, playing shots from ball one to crack 31 off 30 balls with two sixes and two fours, dominating a first wicket stand of 46 at five to the over. Although both Cape Town openers then fell within an over of each other, United were already on the back foot and new batsmen Jonathan Holgate and Dominic Telo were in no mood to let up the pressure. Seeming quite untroubled in the conditions, they rapidly set about knocking off the remaining 77 runs at six to the over, an assault that a weakened United bowling attack (when compared to the previous day's match) could find no answers to.
Telo, a naturally fast-scoring batsman at the best of times, particularly enjoyed himself, playing three especially crisp lofted on-drives for six. Consequently, with just 22 overs completed, Cape Town needed just two more runs to win, and with Telo at the non-striker's end on 48*, the sole remaining point of interest was whether he would manage to reach his half-century - his third on the trot for the team and third successive one against United as well. After unwisely stealing the strike with a single, however, Holgate dutifully played out a maiden over, allowing Telo with the scores tied next over to swing the ball away for his fifth four to reach the cherised landmark.
Match photo's