Ken Borland

It was a very good afternoon for #ThePrideOfJozi on Sunday as a fourth win in five matches saw our DP World Lions men’s team win their Jukskei Derby clash against the Titans by 15 runs and climb to the top of the Pro20 Cup log.

Batting first in Johannesburg after winning the toss, the DP World Lions posted a formidable 206 for three thanks to a record fourth-wicket partnership between Connor Esterhuizen and Mitchell van Buuren.

They then restricted the Titans to 191 for seven, thanks to brilliant bowling and fielding between the 12^th and 18^th overs, when they claimed five wickets for 51 runs and fatally undermined their neighbours’ chase at the DP World Wanderers Stadium.

It was a great comeback in the field, with the DP World Lions having been under pressure in the early stages of the Titans innings, with openers Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Rivaldo Moonsamy racing to fifty inside five overs.

But paceman Siya Plaatjie, who has had a tough tournament so far, epitomised the sort of endurance that is the Gold Standard as he uprooted Pretorius (29) in his first over and then Dewald Brevis (4) in his second.

Dayyaan Galiem (16) hung around a bit with Moonsamy as the Titans reached 113 for two after 11 overs, but then a rich harvest of wickets followed.

Captain and left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin switched himself to the Golf Course End and immediately had Galiem caught at short third-man, before Codi Yusuf, bowling like the wind, claimed the key wicket of big-hitting Titans captain Donovan Ferreira (9) with the third delivery of the 15^th over.

Leg-spinner Nqaba Peter then made another vital strike, outfoxing Moonsamy (61 off 41 balls) with the first ball of the 16^th over and then trapping Beyers Swanepoel lbw for a first-ball duck.

From 130 for three, the Titans had crashed to 131 for six and their final hope, Eathan Bosch (25 off 9) was run out in the 18^th over thanks to some brilliant fielding by Yusuf. Bosch tried a mighty slog-sweep off Peter but hit the ball straight up over midwicket. Yusuf could not get to the catch racing in from the boundary, but fielded the ball on the bounce and his rocket throw was sheer perfection, straight into wicketkeeper Esterhuizen’s gloves and Bosch was run out.

Fortuin (4-0-27-1) and Plaatjie (4-0-34-2) finished with the most impressive figures, but Peter and Yusuf had also done important work in undermining the Titans innings.

There was good pace and seam movement for the Titans quicks first up and it was tough going for the DP World Lins openers. Zubayr Hamza fell for 6 off 8 balls and Neil Timmers made 14 off 18, but it was Rassie van der Dussen who scored the bulk of the powerplay runs for the hosts.

He looked set for a sizeable contribution, having cruised to 37 off 23 balls with four sixes, when he was unfortunate to be adjudged lbw, stepping outside off-stump to hit fast bowler Junior Dala towards the shorter leg-side boundary.

The DP World Lions were 75 for three just two balls past the halfway mark, but that’s when Esterhuizen and Van Buuren combined for the highest fourth-wicket stand in the franchise’s T20 history. They put on an unbeaten 131 off only 62 deliveries, beating the previous record of 89 the fabulous Chris Gayle and Jean Symes put on against the Dolphins in Johannesburg in 2014/15.

Esterhuizen took 18 balls for his first 18 runs and then exploded in spectacular fashion. He needed just 10 more deliveries to reach his fifty and he was heading for a maiden T20 century when he turned down a second run, and the strike, on the fourth ball of the final over.

Van Buuren deposited both of the last two deliveries over fine leg for sixes as he finished with a satisfying 39 not out off 22 balls and took the DP World Lins past 200 and to the highest T20 score for the franchise against their arch-rivals. But Esterhuizen was left stranded on a career-best 98 not out off only 49 deliveries, with eight fours and six sixes, an innings in which he had to absorb pressure up front before unveiling some fine strokeplay late in his innings.

Our DP World Lions’ next fixture is a visit on Saturday to Newlands to take on the Western Province Cobras.

What is more important in T20 knockout cricket? The exuberance of youth or the grizzled experience of veteran players? Joburg Super Kings captain Faf du Plessis said he backs experience as his team headed into the Eliminator in the SA20 tournament.

The 40-year-old Du Plessis leads a Joburg Super Kings outfit into battle against Sunrisers Eastern Cape, who have finished top of the tree in the first two editions of the SA20, at Centurion on Wednesday. And many of his fellow axemen looking to fell the defending champions are also stalwarts of the game.

First-choice spinner Imran Tahir is, astonishingly, 45 years old and still going strong, while all-rounders David Wiese and Moeen Ali are 39 and 37 respectively, wicketkeeper/batsman Jonny Bairstow and fast bowler Hardus Viljoen are both 35, spinner Tabraiz Shamsi 34, and batsmen Devon Conway, Leus du Plooy and Wihan Lubbe are all over 30.

“I would prefer to have experience,” Du Plessis told sportsboom.co.za at SuperSport Park on Tuesday, “as I said at the beginning of the tournament, teams that win these leagues generally have older players.

“The trend around the world was for explosive, fearless youngsters, but now teams are seeing the value of experience and cool heads. People are calling us Dad’s Army but we call ourselves The Replacements from the movie – we are the has-beens, those written off – and we’ve put us all together and possibly managed to get the best out of all of us.

“We’ve done okay, nothing amazing yet, but we just make sure we don’t repeat the same mistakes and this game is all about who makes the better decisions. And I just want to add that the two oldest are myself and Immie [Tahir] and we’re both still standing!” Du Plessis grinned.

Bairstow, Conway and Du Plessis have all had very good campaigns with the bat, while Tahir has conceded just 6.29 runs-per-over. Du Plessis paid special tribute to pacemen Viljoen and Lutho Sipamla, who have both taken a dozen wickets, for the way they have come to the fore after an injury crisis struck the bowling attack.

“We’ve lost five bowlers to injury but guys have stepped up and it’s been remarkable what Lutho and Hardus have done. They were back-ups, down the pecking order, but they have stepped up into big situations on the big occasion on a great stage.

“Lutho is very mature, he has an incredible head on his shoulders and he has a bright white-ball future. I saw him in his early days for the Proteas, when he was rated as more of a red-ball prospect. But there’s a lot there for the Proteas in all aspects of the game. He can take the new ball and get wickets up front, or bowl in the middle and bring that skill-set as well,” Du Plessis said.

But the Joburg Super Kings have suffered another injury blow as the SA20 heads into its final week of festivities. Key finisher Donovan Ferreira, who pulled a muscle during his sensational innings of 51 off 22 balls against the Durban Super Giants last weekend, will not be fit for the Eliminator.

Du Plessis almost said it was his par-time off-spin bowling, which has been unusually successful this season, that would be missed more than his batting.

“Donovan is injured, add him to the list, and it’s not great for our balance. Every injury we’ve had seems to have brought added difficulty in terms of one change forcing a second. He’s been particularly good with the ball, both offensively and defensively. I’m going to miss his overs and his golden arm, and coming off a knock like that which shows what he’s capable of in a finishing role, I’m sure he’s feeling confident with the bat and would like to do more,” Du Plessis said.

Like a porter forced to carry all the bags of an SA20 franchise at once, new Pretoria Capitals coach Jonathan Trott found the burden of the team’s poor recruitment at auction time too much to bear and the team bowed out of contention for the playoffs with a game to spare when they were well-beaten by 27 runs by MI Cape Town at Centurion on Friday night.

The result left Pretoria Capitals with just two wins from nine matches and ended their slim hopes of finishing in the top four. They close their campaign against the same MI Cape Town team on Sunday at Newlands, but even if they win with a bonus point, the best they can do is finish level on 19 points with Sunrisers Eastern Cape and Joburg Super Kings (providing they both lose their final matches). The Capitals only have three wins though, compared to the four of their rivals, and that is the first tie-breaker for teams finishing level on points.

Afghanistan national coach Trott was only appointed as the new Pretoria Capitals mentor at the end of July. By then the franchise only had three slots to fill in the auction, the vast majority of their squad having been retained or pre-signed, despite finishing fifth out of six teams in 2024. They will finish in the same position this year.

There is, however, a mega auction this year ahead of the 2026 SA20, and the South African-born former England player admitted that widespread change was probably necessary.

“I wasn’t here last season, but if you’re not in the top four out of six teams then they might be a few changes going forward. We need to get the right type of players in, guys with the right talent and character. Character, especially, is such a huge thing that comes out when you’re under pressure,” Trott told sportsboom.co.za

“A few things didn’t help us this season, we had injuries to key marquee players [Anrich Nortje, Daryn Dupavillon, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Wayne Parnell]. But in our first game, we should have knocked off the runs [210 v Durban Super Giants] and that would have given us nice momentum. We also had a couple of matches rained out.

“Our closing out was a problem, we just weren’t able to perform for the whole 20 overs, so we never had momentum with the bat. The batting had some moments and glimpses, but there were no massive partnerships apart from for the first wicket in our first game. And when we bowled first, we were in some really good positions but we couldn’t hold them. Some matches were going very well but we just couldn’t put 40 overs together,” Trott said.

Amidst all the gloom, two new faces – batsmen Will Smeed and rookie signing Keagan Lion-Cachet – made excellent contributions towards the back end of the campaign. Left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy, a tenacious character, was the leading wicket-taker for the Pretoria Capitals with 10, and conceded just 7.00 runs-per-over, while fast bowler Gideon Peters made a thrilling debut in the bonus point win over Joburg Super Kings in their previous game.

Will Jacks, who scored 515 runs in the first two seasons of the SA20, could not find the same superb output, scoring just a couple of half-centuries this campaign. His off-spin was very effective though and he remains a quality overseas signing.

Paceman Eathan Bosch, who had taken 21 wickets in the first two seasons, could only manage six in eight matches this time around.

Players with distinguished T20 records like Rilee Rossouw and Liam Livingstone were major disappointments. Captain Rossouw had a horror season, scoring only 32 runs in six innings, and by the last week of the tournament, he had been axed as skipper. Marquee signing Livingstone scored just 49 runs in three innings.

But Trott, who has enjoyed wonderful success with Afghanistan, seems up for the challenge of turning the Pretoria Capitals’ fortunes around. The franchise were runners-up under Graham Ford in the first season of the SA20.

“The first year as coach, you’re just trying to build relationships. We’ve had quite an influx of overseas players leaving, local players coming in and out; there’s been a huge turnover of players [20 this season alone]. But it’s a fun challenge, it’s part of being a coach and I’ve enjoyed it,” Trott said.

Two bad days in a row for South Africa at Kingsmead has left them needing a miracle to save the first Test against Australia.

The Ball in Play

Oct 12, 2026

The current Proteas team’s capacity to bounce back from poor performances has been impressive, but after two bad days in a row at Kingsmead, it is going to take something miraculous for them to escape from the first Test against Australia with a draw.

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South Africa go into Tuesday’s final day on 102 for four, chasing 421 for the most unlikely of wins, but more realistically they are going to have to not lose six wickets in at least 75 overs of stern examination from the brilliant Australian attack.

Aiden Markram is holding firm on 45 not out after nearly three hours and 115 balls at the crease. He has Wiaan Mulder for company, with Ryan Rickelton (2), David Bedingham (46), Temba Bavuma (1) and Tristan Stubbs (1) all dismissed and out of the equation.

Keshav Maharaj, who put some of those batsmen to shame in the first innings with his gutsy 34, was the unfortunate player who had to front the media. His bowling has not been much to talk about in this Test – overall figures of 29-0-131-2 – so it was batting that he spoke about, with some honesty.

“We’ve lost a couple of soft wickets again if we’re honest. The application that Aiden has shown is what we’re looking for, but a lot of our dismissals have been self-inflicted rather than due to good bowling. Maybe it’s because of the transition from white-ball cricket and you want to feel bat on ball, which has led to our demise.

“We need to zone in and be strong-minded in terms of shot-selection and match awareness plays a big hand too. Whatever happens, we need to dust ourselves off because there’s still a series at stake. What stands out about this team in the last while has been our ability to find a way in difficult situations. We’re focused on our first task, which is to take care of the first hour tomorrow,” Maharaj said.

What is highly likely is that South Africa will once again be tested by an outstanding attack. The famed Australian quartet is relentless, consistent and highly-skilled. And on Monday Matt Renshaw, fresh from scoring 82 to take his match tally to 272, joined Hazlewood, Cummins, Starc and Lyon in being an absolute handful with his part-time off-spinners.

It was if Renshaw was bowling grenades as he took one for 16 in seven overs, Bavuma being his victim. That was the one South African wicket to fall on Monday for which one could safely give all credit to the bowler.

Renshaw landed his off-break on exactly the right length to have the diminutive Bavuma stretching as far forward as he could, but the delivery turned more than expected, and there was good bounce, an inside-edge going on to the pad and then being snaffled by Nic Maddinson, lunging to his left at short-leg.

As Maharaj correctly pointed out, the other dismissals were down to batsman error.

Rickelton edged behind an attempted hook at a brilliantly-directed Hazlewood bouncer in the fourth over of an innings that was meant to be a rearguard battle for survival and not about flashy strokeplay.

Josh Hazlewood gave Bedingham as strenuous an examination as a proctologist, testing him over and over outside off-stump. Bedingham, despite getting on to off-stump, so he must have known where it was, often sparred well away from his body. Hazlewood kept dragging him across his stumps before the inevitable full in-ducker came and he was trapped plumb lbw for a promising, but ultimately unfulfilling 46.

Stubbs was the last wicket to fall, shortly after Bavuma, and he left the field shouting at himself and little wonder. He reached for a full and wide delivery from Pat Cummins, but was he trying to drive or was he defending? It was the sort of indeterminate shot that is often fatal and he too edged behind.

How Australia, starting the day on 33 without loss and already leading by 139, went about their batting on Monday was similarly clinical.

Nic Maddinson has recently survived cancer, so his controversial selection and then making a 33-ball duck in the first innings were brushed off as he played with tremendous freedom in scoring 48 off 38 balls. He hooked his first ball, a Marco Jansen bouncer the previous afternoon, for four and collected five more fours and two sixes on Monday.

Marnus Labuschagne (37) and Steve Smith (27) added 53 for the third wicket. The former Australian captain was on two when he was belted on the helmet by a fired up Anrich Nortje and, while he lashed the fast bowler through the off-side for three fours soon after, he was being tested for concussion while South Africa batted. He had passed all the tests at the ground, but the Australian medical team will apparently continue the testing until satisfied that he has no symptoms.

Renshaw fell when Smith holed out to off-spinner Simon Harmer, and once again went about his business with clarity and composure. He was understandably more aggressive, however, and once again playing spin superbly, with numerous reverse-sweeps, was how he needed just 99 deliveries for his breezy 82.

Alex Carey (24) and Beau Webster (39 not out) both chipped in, and Cummins’ 32 not out off just 12 balls, hitting Harmer for four sixes in five balls was exactly how to emphasise your sheer dominance over a team that has not been nearly sharp enough.

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