Clinical victory secures second series win for Chevrolet Warriors

The Chevrolet Warriors lifted their second trophy of the season in front of an ecstatic crowd of 17 000+ at Axxess DSL St. George's on Friday night.  Racking up a demolishing 82-run win over the bizhub Highveld Lions, the Chevrolet Warriors became the Standard Bank Pro20 champions little over a month after winning their first series title in the MTN40 format of the game. 

The match started off well for the Chevrolet Warriors when captain Davy Jacobs won the toss and elected to bat.  Living up to their reputation of class batsmen, Proteas players Jacques Kallis and Ashwell Prince set the grounds alight with destructive batting which left the bizhub Highveld Lions in a spin.  In a partnership that caused massive headaches for the bizhub Highveld Lions' bowlers, Prince and Kallis scored 129 runs off only 97 balls around the first wicket before Prince was bowled by Shane Burger on 69 in the 17^th over.  Kallis (55 off 47) followed in the 19^th over after being caught by Neil McKenzie off Robert Frylinck's bowling.  This brought two master blasters to the crease in the form of Colin Ingram and Mark Boucher.  It was all downhill from there as Ingram and Boucher punished nearly each ball that came their way to end with totals of 23 off 12 (Ingram) and 27 off 8 (Boucher).  It was Boucher's four sixes off the last over that especially brought the crowd to their feet and took the Chevrolet Warriors to a massive 186/2 in their 20 overs.  Ingram in the process also scored the most runs in a season of domestic 20-over cricket by passing Morné van Wyk's 1220 runs.

After setting a good total to defend, the Chevrolet Warriors batsmen handed things over to the bowlers to finish the job and once again, the bowlers stepped up to the challenge.  Makhaya Ntini struck first for the Chevrolet Warriors with a beautiful ball straight on target to Neil Mackenzie's wickets in the third over.  In the next three overs, two wickets fell before Alviro Petersen and Vaughn van Jaarsveld got stuck into the game.  Although they could only add 20 runs to the score in six overs, Petersen and van Jaarsveld managed to give some stability to a very shaky bizhub Highveld Lions innings.  The stability was not destined to last long however, as spinner Johan Botha did the job to break their partnership.  The last six wickets fell for 44 runs to leave the bizhub Highveld Lions on 104 all out in the 18^th over.  For the Chevrolet Warriors, Johan Botha and Nicky Boje stood out by claiming two wickets each for close to four runs an over, while Theron, Ntini and Parnell picked up the remaining wickets.  Mark Boucher was razor sharp behind the wickets claiming two victims through excellently timed stumpings.  The Chevrolet Warriors won the match by 82 runs. 

In a warming gesture after the match, Chevrolet Warriors captain Davy Jacobs immediately showed his gratitude to the crowds that arrived in droves to support the team.  The team completed a victory lap along the field to the resounding cheers of the Chevrolet Warriors fans before lifting the trophy amidst a shower of glitter confetti - a fitting end to a series of true rock star cricket!

The Chevrolet Warriors now focus on completing the SuperSport series when they fly to Bloemfontein for their match against the Chevrolet Diamond Eagles starting on Thursday.