Levi and Puttick put on an opening stand of 140 after the Cobras had been inserted by the Warriors, beating the previous best first-wicket partnership at St. George’s Park of 129 between Jacques Kallis and Ashwell Prince for the Warriors against the Lions in the 2009/10 season.

That Kallis-Prince alliance had created the highest score on the ground as the Warriors went on to amass 186 for two, but that was also improved by the Cobras as they racked up 187 for three.

Kieron Pollard (32 not out from 15 balls) provided the fireworks at the end as he took 24 runs from the final over, twice hitting Lundi Mbane clean out of the ground.

The game was over as a contest as early as the third over of the reply as the Warriors slumped to seven for three, with Dane Paterson picking up two of the wickets - the second of which saw Puttick dive full-length to his left at slip to pouch a Colin Ingram edge one-handed.

Left-arm spinner George Linde snuffed out any middle order resistance, outwitting top-scorer Ryan Bailey to have him stumped for 35 before going on to record figures of 3 for 26.

The Warriors needed to score 150 to deny the Cobras a bonus point or 112 to avoid their lowest ever score against the Cobras in the format. They achieved the second objective but not the first as they were bowled out for 115 to lose by a massive 72 runs.

With the Chevrolet Knights beating the Sunfoil Dolphins with a bonus point, the identity of the top three has been confirmed and so the Warriors will be making up the numbers in their final two games.

Meanwhile, the Cobras boast a three-point lead over the Lions at the top of the table going into the last two game days.

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