Colin Ingram ended a sequence of four consecutive single-digit scores with a Man of the Match performance, scoring 83 in the qualifier to help Warriors beat the VKB Knights by 18 runs and seal a spot in the final of the Momentum One Day Cup.
Ingram came into bat early, with Warriors captain JJ Smuts falling in the seventh over after electing to bat. He put on 104 for the second wicket with opener Gihahn Cloete, who scored his fourth fifty of the season, a 103-ball 60. Ingram added a further 75 for the third wicket with Colin Ackerman (37) before falling to Marchant de Lange, to set Warriors up for the final six overs. They lost regular wickets in that phase – four in total – but added 52 to end with 249 in 50 overs.
Fast bowler Anrich Nortje removed Knights opener Rudi Second in the 11th over, and his partner Tumelo Bodibe (40) in the 17th. The Knights had put on 70 by that point, and a 110-run stand between Keegan Petersen and David Miller (52) for the third wicket brought them within 70 runs of a victory with nine overs to go. The bowling side then strangled Knights after Miller’s wicket, conceding only 40 off the next 48 balls. Even the settled Petersen couldn’t keep their chase alive, eventually falling at the end of the 49th over with the score on 220, having faced 117 balls for his 83.
Medium-pacers Andrew Birch (2-52) and Basheer Walters (1-36) bowled during that final phase, supported by the left-arm spin of Smuts, who conceded 30 runs in seven overs, and took a wicket.
The Warriors will face the Multiply Titans in Centurion on Friday 31 March for the Momentum One Day Cup Final.