The visitors' triumph was based on a sub-standard batting performance by their hosts in their second innings, who folded for their lowest total against Cape Town on their own home ground in 13 seasons. A pace bowlers' graveyard on the First Day, completed just three days previously, some extra grass and a smattering of rain in the intervening period juiced the pitch up a little for Day Two - and Cape Town's seamers took good advantage. Andre Olwagen put a few disappointing returns in the past few weeks behind him to inflict the initial damage upfront once more, dismissing both opening batsmen in his first six overs as Pinelands slumped to 24 for three. Kirk Wernars, newly-arrived straight from the U19 national cricket week, then added a welcome injection of pace that had been missing from the visitors' bowling attack. It was sufficient to dislodge Michael Pote, who had seemingly established himself at the crease, but who proved to be only the first of five further wickets to fall in less than ten overs to a combination of good bowling and some less-than-perfect judgment from the home team batsmen.

At 79 for eight the Pinelands second innings had thus been shattered, and though Andre Coetzee appeared to be organising some tail-end resistance, the introduction of Matthew Olsen's off-breaks immediately after Lunch cleaned up the last two wickets in short order to leave Cape Town a lowly 116 to score for victory. Taking no chances of an always-possible late slip-up potentially denying them, player-coach Wayne Hendricks - another new drafting into the side after the first day's play - cracked three fours off the first over to signal the visitors' intentions of sealing a quick and clinical win. An early wicket only served to bring Dominic Telo to the crease, who matched Hendricks almost blow for blow thereafter. Conceding a boundary on average every over, the home side's bowlers had no answer to such unrelenting aggression - the fifty partnership was raised from just 58 deliveries, and four overs later Hendricks completed his maiden fifty for the Cape Town First XI off just 44 balls. Telo was not far behind, reaching his own 57-ball half-century two overs later - three deliveries before scoring the winning run in an unbroken 100-run stand made off just 102 balls.

Certainly there was no evidence of such an easy victory ever being on the cards at the end of the first day's play, when a placid pitch made even more docile by a baking sun proved to be the perfect batting surface for all comers. The net result was an absolute run fest, as 537 runs were amassed in the day's play - the highest single-day tally in any of Cape Town's 131 Two-Day matches contested since the start of the 1997/98 season. Pinelands took first use of the belter of a batting strip and wasted little time in commencing the slaughter of Cape Town's seamers, their entire top order cashing in as stands of 60 or better were posted for each of the first three wickets. Thus, when the spinners (who would consequently bowl two-thirds of the overs) were introduced as early as the 15th over, the home side already had 54 on the board. Pierre Nel fell quickly to Tom Main's left-arm finger spin thereafter, becoming the only member of the Pinelands top four not to reach the sixties, but Jonathan Schwerin, Pote and Darren Stevens all went on to reach increasingly fast half-centuries. Veteran Wayne Bird weighed in with a quick-fire 29 from 18 balls at the end too, and though Main plugged away gallantly to capture four of the five wickets to fall, neither he nor any of the other bowlers could prevent the home side from cruising to their highest score against Cape Town in 13 seasons by the time that the compulsory 60-over declaration finally ended their misery.

Facing a considerably pacier bowling attack than they themselves could offer, Cape Town's reply was initially in trouble at 28 for two. However, a vigilant knock by Francois Vermaak that brought him his first fifty for Cape Town, combined with a typically fluent innings from Main (reaching his second successive half-century), soon put the ship back on an even keel by adding 100 for the third wicket in 22 overs - after each had been dropped relatively early on. Although Ross Bannatyne ultimately castled them both in successive overs to introduce a middle order stutter at 144 for five, Lloyd Moore finally put an unproductive 2009 behind him to score his first half-century since his return to Cape Town at the start of the season, accelerating smoothly to 70 from 81 balls as he and Ashley Wallace added 91 together in 18 overs. They too both fell to the same bowler in quick succession, this time Aviwe Mgijima, but another typically quick-fire contribution of 21 from 19 balls by Olsen at the end ensured that the home side's daunting score posted earlier in the day would incredibly still not be enough to give them a first-innings lead.

Match photo's