After weeks of batting failures, the Cape Cobras top-order found their touch as captain Omphile Ramela and Andrew Puttick both scored hundreds in the Sunfoil Series on Saturday.
There is very little chance of a result in their game against the Warriors at Newlands, with a featherbed track having seen the Eastern Cape side notch up 525/7 declared, and the Cobras finishing on 374/3 off 132 overs by the end of day three.
Play was delayed by over an hour on Saturday due to light rain, but the weather cleared up enough for the Cobras to occupy the crease and take away any real chance of a Warriors victory.
But for the Cobras, the most important goal was to regain confidence with the willow after battling against the Lions and Knights in the first two games. And it was particularly so for the experienced Puttick and Ramela, who are the mainstays of a young batting line-up along with Stiaan van Zyl.
It was a painstaking effort from the left-handed opening pair, with the Cobras bringing up their 100 in 50.3 overs and their 200 in 87.3 overs. But coach Paul Adams wouldn’t have minded the pedestrian run-rate too much, as the 28-year-old Ramela brought up his ninth first-class century before tea off 251 balls in nearly five-and-a-half hours, having faced 36 balls in the “nervous nineties”.
Puttick was even more circumspect, but hit two consecutive boundaries off Simon Harmer in the 96th over to record his 25th first-class ton off 289 balls in six hours and 12 minutes.
The Cobras picked up the pace after both openers went to their milestones, but it was Puttick who fell after the tea break when he was bowled by Basheer Walters for 124 (320 balls, 18x4).
Young No 3 Zubayr Hamza also came out and increased the tempo, hitting Sisanda Magala for three boundaries in one over. But just when he looked set for a big score, Hamza was trapped lbw by Harmer for 23, and the Cobras were reduced to 299/2.
Ramela went along merrily at the other end, reaching 150 off 347 balls, but he was eventually bowled by Warriors opening batsman Edward Moore for 170 in well over eight overs at the crease (370 balls, 26x4).
Van Zyl (22 not out) and Jason Smith (unbeaten 27) saw things through to the close, with the Cobras 151 runs behind the Warriors.
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