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Dawson spears Warriors in East London

Alan Dawson starred with the ball as the Nashua Cape Cobras beat the Mercedes Warriors by 21 runs in their Standard Bank Pro20 match in East London on Friday.

Alan Dawson starred with the ball as the Nashua Cape Cobras beat the Mercedes Warriors by 21 runs in their Standard Bank Pro20 match in East London on Friday.

The Cobras, who had Rory Kleinveldt to thank for getting them to 144 for eight, restricted the Warriors to 123 for eight in reply to keep their hopes of a home semi-final alive.

The Warriors were rocked by the brilliant away-swing and control Dawson produced to leave them teetering on 15 for four. The bowler's partner in crime, as far as the home crowd were concerned, was wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile who completed each of the seamer's four dismissals with catches behind the wicket.

Dawson would end with fantastic figures of four for 18, while Tsolekile went on to catch Mark Bruyns for 35 to set a new Pro20 mark for dismissals in an innings with five.

Bruyns and Michael Smith (49) lifted the Warriors to 75 for five, but they were unable to get the boundaries they so desperately needed. Both scored at around a run-a-ball and could not break the Cobras' stranglehold on the match.

And when Smith was bowled by Ian Harvey in the 19th over, an audible groan went up at Mercedes-Benz Park as the Warriors fans were left contemplating yet another defeat.

Warriors seamers Justin Kreusch and Tyron Henderson had earlier run through the Cape Cobras batting line-up to restrict them to 144 for eight.

Kreusch took three for 31 and Henderson two for 22 to leave the Cobras in huge trouble on 64 for five, but Kleinveldt went to work straight away in an excellent innings of 46 off just 22 balls that lifted the visitors to a defendable score.

The Cobras innings got off to a poor start when Harvey (0) was caught behind off Henderson's fourth delivery and Lyall Meyer then clung on to two fiercely hit shots to dismiss Andrew Puttick, off his own bowling for 10, and JP Duminy (23).

Duminy, who looked in good touch, had swung Kreusch high to the midwicket boundary and Meyer leapt high to take a thrilling catch.

Young prospect Dominic Telo aspired to lift the run-rate and was on top of the Warriors bowlers when he was needlessly run out for 17 off nine balls, showing dreadful judgement in trying to sneak a single to Brent Kops at short fine-leg.

That brought Kleinveldt into the mix, however, and he stepped up to the plate in wonderful style. He brought up the Cobras 100 in the 15th over with three successive sixes off spinner Robin Peterson, who was no doubt still bemoaning the easy catch Bruyns dropped off his bowling when Kleinveldt had just eight.

Kreusch returned to the attack in the 18th over to sneak a full delivery through Kleinveldt's defences and he also bowled Paul Adams after the little wrist-spinner had struck a four and a six in his 13 off just five balls.

Henderson returned to bowl the penultimate over and he had Renier Munnik caught in the covers to finish with two for 22 in his four wonderful overs.

Tsolekile ended on 15 not out but he was unable to get much of the strike in the closing overs.

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