Chevrolet Warriors to take on Nashua Dolphins in MTN40 final

It's been a weekend of great success for the Chevrolet Warriors in the MTN40 series!  In the semi-final on Friday 22 January 2010 the Warriors played the Cape Cobras in Paarl.  Things started off well for the Warriors as they won the toss and elected to bat with Justin Kreusch and Ashwell Prince opening the innings.  The Warriors set up a solid first wicket partnership of 104 before Prince was caught by Smith of Duminy's bowling with his score on 48.  Kreusch kept going with Colin Ingram at his side but was run out with his score on 60, leaving the Warriors on 125/2 after 21.4 overs.  Ingram added 35 runs to the score before he fell to Peterson with Mark Boucher soon following him back to the dressing room. 

Meanwhile, Jacques Kallis who headed up the Warriors' upper-middle order, started to settle in nicely at the crease.  Warriors captain Davy Jacobs played a superb supporting role alongside Kallis to get the runs flowing for the Warriors.  The Cape Cobras bowlers had a hard time trying to keep the ball in the right areas as Rory Kleinveldt, Vernon Philander and Francois Plaatjies can vouch for.  All three these Cape Cobras bowlers were punished by the Warriors batsmen and ended their spells with an economy rate of over 8.00.  Kallis and Jacobs built up a solid partnership around the fifth wicket racking up 104 runs in only 73 balls to bring the Warriors to a total of 274/4 after their 40 overs.

Next up it was the Cape Cobras' turn to put bat to ball, but the Chevrolet Warriors bowlers had other plans.  Lonwabo Tsotsobe picked up the early wicket of dangerman Graeme Smith after only 5.5 overs while the remaining member of the Cape Cobras' opening pair, Andrew Puttick, became Rusty Theron's first victim of the day with his score on 41.  Herschelle Gibbs followed the path to the dressing room soon after thanks to Johan Botha's bowling.  Justin Kemp and JP Duminy got stuck in for the Cape Cobras and managed to put together a 60-run partnership before Duminy was bowled by Makhaya Ntini.  Justin Kemp's 71 run knock off 55 balls was the highlight of the Cape Cobras innings but it was not enough to stop the Warriors' Rusty Theron from taking four wickets in his eight overs.  The Cape Cobras could only manage 265/8 in their 40 overs leaving the Chevrolet Warriors with a 9-run victory to advance to the finals of the MTN40 series.  Jacques Kallis was awarded the man of the match.

The Chevrolet Warriors now take on the Nashua Dolphins in the MTN40 series home final on Friday 29 January 2010 at Buffalo Park in East London starting at 16:00.  This is our chance to bring the trophy home to the Eastern Cape and we are backing our boys all the way!