Captain Andrew Puttick hit the first century of the Twenty20 Champions League to guide Cape Cobras to a comprehensive 54-run win over the Otago Volts in Hyderabad.
In a match the South African franchise dominated from start to finish, opening batsman Puttick hammered an unbeaten 104 off 62 deliveries as the Cobras piled on a massive 4-193 after being asked to bat first.
Fast bowler Rory Kleinveldt then claimed 3-24 and JP Duminy took two as the Cobras rolled the Volts over for 139 in 17.1 overs to secure their passage to the second stage of the tournament.
Dimitri Mascarenhas had given the Volts a fair start, removing Puttick's opening partner Herschelle Gibbs in his first over with the new ball and then dismissing Henry Davids in his third.
Gibbs, out for a first-ball duck in the inaugural match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, recorded another failure, while Davids' innings ended when he scooped straight to long-on.
Duminy, man of the match against the Royal Challengers, was the next man in as he walked out to join Puttick. But, it was the Cape Cobras captain who dazzled.
Puttick started his innings with consecutive boundaries, the first driven just backward of square and the other a flick square on the leg-side.
At the other end, Duminy (32) not only offered stability but also landed a few solid blows of his own as the scoring rate rocketed to just under 10 an over from a measly six.
Otago then opened another window of opportunity when Duminy fell to Ian Butler in the 16th over and his replacement, Kleinveldt, was snaffled five deliveries later.
Justin Ontong, however, helped finish the innings with a flourish, clobbering four sixes and two boundaries in a power-packed innings off 39 off a mere 14 deliveries.
His cameo at the end helped Puttick reach his century, the Cape Cobras captain reaching the mark by guiding Neil Wagner just wide of third man for his 12th boundary.
The Volts began the chase strongly with Brendon McCullum and Aaron Redmond putting on 33 for the opening wicket in quick time.
But the innings fell apart when Redmond was removed by Kleinveldt and McCullum was run out inside the powerplay.
Two more run-outs asserted the Cobras' dominance in the field and when Nathan McCullum was caught at fine leg for a top score of 38, it was all but over for Otago.