Migael Pretorius delivered a heroic final-over cameo as the Knights beat the Cobras by three wickets in Durban on Monday.
It was a dramatic finish at Kingsmead where the men from the Cape appeared to be cruising to their first victory of the CSA T20 Challenge.
Zubayr Hamza struck an unbeaten 77 off only 49 deliveries as the Cobras posted 167-5 in their 20 overs, with Kyle Verreynne contributing a handy 45 from 31.
The Bloemfontein outfit made a decent start to their run chase before Jacques Snyman was the first wicket to fall for 12.
Patrick Kruger departed soon after on 18, but Raynard van Tonder and Pite Van Biljon shared in a 63-run stand to keep in touch with the required rate.
Both batsmen, however, fell to Cobras spinner Siyabonga Mahima before Ziyaad Abrahams accounted for the wicket of Farhaan Behardien.
The Knights were in trouble at 137-5 and their hopes of victory further dented when Wandile Makwetu and Grant Mokoena were dismissed in consecutive overs.
When Mokoena departed, the Knights still required 18 runs for victory with only three balls remaining in the innings.
But, Pretorius picked Abrahams up from his legs for two massive sixes off consecutive deliveries, leaving four runs to get from the final ball.
Abrahams, however, overstepped for a no-ball in what would’ve been the final delivery, which Pretorius couldn’t get away.
It gave the right-handed batsman another chance to seal the win off a free hit and he did just that by dispatching Abrahams to the boundary for four.
The Cobras bowlers conceded a total of 27 extras in the Knights’ innings, which provided the Free State team with a golden opportunity to snatch victory.
