David Jacobs and Ashwell Prince shared a 147-run opening partnership as the Eastern Cape Warriors beat the Central Stags by six wickets in a Champions League Twenty20 match at St. George's Park here on Saturday.
The South African champions had to make the highest successful run chase of the tournament after the Stags made 175 for three in their 20 overs. It was the third win three matches in Group A for the Warriors.
Jamie How, the Stags captain, batted through the innings for the New Zealand side for the second match in succession, following his unbeaten 77 against the Victoria Bushrangers on Wednesday with 88 not out on Saturday, but once again it was not enough to provide his inexperienced team with a winning platform.
"We had a pretty competitive score," said How. "Our bowlers tried hard but we came up against some pretty good batters."
Warriors captain Davy Jacobs again set the pace for his team, smashing two fours and two sixes off successive balls from Doug Bracewell in the fourth over to get his team off to a flying start.
While Jacobs played the big shots, hitting six sixes and five fours in his innings of 74 off 47 balls, the left-handed Prince provided ideal support, making 64 off 50 balls with four fours and two sixes.
Earlier How struck his runs off 57 balls with 12 fours and three sixes. He and Kieran Noema-Barnett (53 out out) put on an unbeaten 100 for the fourth wicket off 61 balls to put the Warriors under pressure.
Fast bowlers Rusty Theron and Makhaya Ntini, two of their leading performers in earlier matches, conceded 47 and 52 runs respectively in their four overs.
"We let ourselves down a little bit in the field," said Jacobs. "We weren't as sharp as we normally are."
The Warriors were cruising until Jacobs was caught in the deep with 29 needed off 26 balls.
SCORES IN BRIEF
CENTRAL STAGS: 175 for 3 in 20 overs (How 88 not out, Patton 24, Noema-Barnett 53 not out; Botha 1-16)
CAPE WARRIORS: 181 for 4 in 19.1 overs (Jacobs 74, Prince 64, Thyssen 18, Boucher 13 not out; Noema-Barnett 2-28)
Result: Warriors win by six wickets.
Man-of-the-match: David Jacobs.