An outstanding display by the Eastern Cape franchise was set up by their bowlers, who first bowled out their visitors for a woeful 93, before the batsmen raced them to a bonus-point victory just two down and with a massive 52 balls to spare.

Home captain Smuts played a key role in the success of his team. He was the best of the bowlers after bagging 2/13 in an outstanding 4 overs before he then smashed an unbeaten 49 (35 balls, 7 fours, 2 sixes) that helped them close the gap at the top of the table to just five points behind the Multiply Titans.

Smuts was not the only bowler to excel, with Ayabulela Gqamane (2/10), Colin Ackermann (2/17) and Andrew Birch (2/30) also taking two wickets each after the struggling central franchise had opted to bat after winning the toss.

The Knights’ only win this season came in their first game and their struggles continued despite a decent start, which saw them reach 32/0 at one stage.

Patrick Kruger got 37 of those runs, but they then lost all their wickets for just 61 runs to be bundled out in 19.4 overs.

Smuts then came out blazing, with Colin Ingram adding 23 as the hosts eased to an easy win.