Ken Borland

DP World Lions captain Dominic Hendricks has been able to massage away the disappointments of last season with a great accumulation of runs so far in the 2024/25 CSA 4-Day Series campaign, helping his team to the top of the standings as they go into their Christmas break.

Hendricks has scored 350 runs in seven innings this season, averaging 58.33 with one century and two fifties, all of those coming in testing batting conditions at the DP World Wanderers Stadium. His 161 not out against World Sports Betting Western Province was an epic innings spanning more than nine hours and 370 deliveries, setting up a 125-run victory. The left-handed opener then followed that up with a tenacious 89 against the Dafabet Warriors, again playing a pivotal role in a win by a massive 200 runs. He was named man of the match on both occasions.

Those back-to-back triumphs by the DP World Lions completed a hat-trick of wins at their home fortress and they top the standings with 83.96 points from four matches. The defending champions are more than 30 points ahead of the Renault North-West Dragons and the Free State Knights.

“Last season I struggled a bit, but this season I’ve really focused on being in my bubble and getting the opposition to bowl at me,” Hendricks says. “I’m not straying from my game-plan and I’m keeping things as simple as possible. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel.

“It’s been very intense, very tough cricket at the DP World Wanderers because of how tricky the pitch has been. But we’ve done really well at home and fortunately we’ve had most of our fixtures there so far. We play four of our seven fixtures at home this season, so that’s a nice advantage. Ideally, we would like to make the DP World Wanderers our home fortress.

“We’re sitting pretty in the standings at the moment, but we can’t be complacent when we come back to four-day cricket in March. We’ll need to carry on from where we left off. We’ve bowled really well and most of the guys have been in the runs as well. We’ve shown how good we can be, and when we return there’ll be more opportunities for the guys to produce man-of-the-match plays,” Hendricks says.

The pitch for the last game, the convincing win over the Warriors, was one of the toughest DP World Wanderers surfaces the 34-year-old stalwart has come across. But the batting effort showed the character of both the captain and his team-mates.

“I was really surprised by how much movement there was right through the game,” Hendricks says. “There was actually too much movement and visiting teams often don’t know how to bowl on DP World Wanderers pitches like that. The margin of error is always small and they tend to bowl a little too short, while we are a touch fuller.

“But the conditions evolve and as the pitch becomes better for batting, so the right length changes, it can go from four to six metres. Our bowlers have been really good at adapting and they’ve taken the feedback from the batsmen as to where to bowl to make it most difficult.

“The bowlers also did a phenomenal job in Potchefstroom where conditions became very batting friendly after the new ball. They kept them to less than three runs an over for more than 100 overs, which shows their skill,” Hendricks said.

Another member of #ThePrideOfJozi who has shown his talents to great effect has been young Muhammad Manack. The 22-year-old came in at first wicket down against Western Province in the second over of the match and added 108 for the second wicket with Hendricks, while scoring a career-best 64. Against the Warriors, he came to the crease in the seventh over and added 78 with his skipper in the first innings and then made 49 in the second innings, coming in in the 10^th over and adding 64 with Josh Richards.

“Mo has certainly not looked like a duck out of water, he’s taken to that crucial number three position really well,” Hendricks says. “He made his debut last season, playing just one game while I was away for a wedding, but he immediately looked like he fits in. he’s worked really hard, but unfortunately there have not been that many opportunities for him, which is a tricky situation for a youngster.

“But he’s definitely shown he belongs, he’s a really compact, nice number three. Neil McKenzie always used to say that numbers one to three are the engine room of the team, you want your number four walking in with 40 overs bowled and ready to dominate.

“I really enjoy batting with the younger guys. At training you can know a player to a certain extent, but that’s not real pressure. So it was great to see how Mo handled himself out in the middle under pressure and how he went about his business. He’s very soft-spoken, but his temperament really stood out,” Hendricks says.

The Proteas Women’s performances made the grade in most departments during their 4-1 T20 series win over India, according to captain Laura Wolvaardt, but there are a couple of areas of their game which still need brushing up as they head into the 20-over World Cup in England in June.

South Africa signed off the series with a dominant performance at Willowmoore Park in Benoni, beating India by 23 runs. Wolvaardt was once again the Player of the Match as her sparkling 92 not out off just 56 balls carried the home team to 155 for six. An impressive bowling performance then restricted India to 132 for eight.

Wolvaardt took her tally of runs for the series to 330, the most in a women’s T20 rubber, making her the obvious choice for Player of the Series. The 27-year-old averaged 82.50 at a strike-rate of 168.36.

Her opening partner, Sune Luus, also enjoyed a successful series, scoring 197 runs at an average of 49.25 and a strike-rate of 138.73. But one concern for the Proteas will be that no other batter scored more than Annerie Dercksen’s 65 runs in four innings, two of which were not out.

Wolvaardt said after the fifth T20 that the lack of partnerships after the powerplay, in which they scored 49 without loss, was a concern. She faced 30 of the first 50 deliveries of the innings, reaching 50 in that time, but only 26 deliveries in the remaining 70. The Cape Town born player hit the last two balls of the innings for six to provide a crucial late boost in the company of Sinalo Jafta (16* off 8).

“Our total of 155 was somewhere around our goal in the end. The one area we lacked a bit in was partnerships. If we had one big partnership then we would have got over 165, which would have been decent. But we were about par, maybe a bit under.

“I did feel that I lost momentum a bit after the powerplay. We needed just one more big partnership, because when you lose wickets you’re also building dot balls. But I’m very happy with our batting in the powerplay and how much intent we showed.

“In all five matches that was good, and it was something that was not the best in the past. Previously we’ve been having slow starts and then some massive finishes. Now our starts are putting us in really good positions,” Wolvaardt said.

“Our death bowling has also come a long way, after we had found it tough in New Zealand. I thought it was a proper bowling effort today, the spinners were very good, Chloe Tryon and Nonkululeko Mlaba were excellent. We found a way to keep the batters quiet in the first 10 overs, they tried to force things but they just couldn’t do it. I was very impressed with the bowling.

“Taking our catches is one area we need to improve though. It’s been frustrating that in every game, one or two catches have gone down. But our play has been pretty good overall in this series, and I will now take a look at the different phases of the game more deeply.

“But we are very happy to beat India 4-1 and they are in our World Cup group as well. We now have a bit of momentum going into the tournament and it tells us that we are doing a lot of things right,” the skipper added.

While Wolvaardt was loathe to describe her performances as being the best she has ever batted, she did say she enjoyed being so fluent at the crease.

“I’m very happy with my form, although I did always have the best of the conditions because I won all the tosses. My batting had been a bit sluggish – in New Zealand I was getting like seven off the first 16 balls – and I can’t really say what changed. That’s how cricket is sometimes and it was nice to keep it going and enjoy the freedom to play positively,” Wolvaardt said.

The DP World Lions advanced their lead at the top of the CSA 4-Day Series standings to more than 30 points on Saturday as they hammered the Dafabet Warriors by 200 runs in Johannesburg, sealing victory on the third day.

Having bundled the Warriors out for just 94 in the morning session on the second day, giving them a first-innings lead of 197, #ThePrideOfJozi then declared their second innings on their overnight score of 214 for eight.

That set the Warriors a target of 412 for victory, a daunting score that has never been chased down before in the fourth innings of a CSA 4-Day Series match at the DP World Wanderers Stadium.

Despite the magnitude of the challenge, the Warriors set off rapidly in their second innings, racing to 121 for two in 17 overs. But the DP World Lions showed their tenacity by fighting back and they had Eastern Province 151 for four at lunch, youngster Kwena Maphaka having taken two of the wickets as he removed both openers.

A superb yorker bowled Diego Rosier for 8 and 10 minutes before the break, the left-arm fast bowler claimed the key wicket as he had Jordan Hermann caught behind off a brilliant delivery, the left-hander having blasted 67 off 71 balls.

Less than 25 overs later, the Warriors were all out for 211, with Lutho Sipamla wrapping up the lower-order with four for 42. He also produced fantastic deliveries to bowl Andile Mogakane (1) and Sinethemba Qeshile (40).

The 23.82 bonus points earned from the match will sit nicely under the DP World Lions’ Christmas tree because this is their last four-day match until March. That takes their tally to 83.96, with their nearest challengers, the Knights and Titans, both below 50 points in the standings.

The home side had won the toss and elected to bat first, and evergreen captain Dominic Hendricks once again held the batting together on the first day, scoring a defiant 89 as he went past 300 runs for the season.

But when Hendricks fell in the final session, trapped lbw by the impressive swing bowling of Beyers Swanepoel, the Warriors had felled five of the DP World Lions batsmen with just 167 on the board.

But that brought the combative Bjorn Fortuin to the crease and he struck a crucial 50 as he decorated his 59 balls faced with nine fours. Codi Yusuf once again stood tall with the bat in the lower-order, scoring 30 as he and Fortuin added 65 for the seventh wicket.

The DP World Lions were bowled out for 291 in the last over of the first day and the second morning gifted their bowlers helpful conditions for seam bowing.

Yusuf (5-1-11-2) had Jordan Hermann smartly taken by Delano Potgieter at short square-leg off the first ball of the innings, and then trapped Proteas batsman Matthew Breetzke (4) lbw in his second over.

Meanwhile, Maphaka showed the class that has many talking about his hereditary line from #ThePrideOfJozi’s legendary fast bowler Kagiso Rabada, as he had Diego Rosier (4) edging a lifter behind and then trapped Matthew de Villiers lbw first ball with a searing inswinging yorker.

The Warriors were nine for four and the tumble of wickets spread like a disease as Sipamla and Tshepo Moreki (6.3-3-17-3) chipped in to send the visitors crashing to 41 for six inside the first hour.

Moreki’s pace and venom is often underestimated and he forced Swanepoel to retire hurt on 21 after hitting him in the head with a lifter. The Warriors’ key all-rounder, who took five wickets in the first innings, could take no further part in the match due to the concussion he suffered.

Maphaka (7-1-24-3) returned to claim his third wicket, resulting in the Warriors being bowled out for their second-lowest total ever against the DP World Lions.

The clatter of wickets took a breather when #ThePrideOfJozi came out to bat in their second innings, with Josh Richards (44) and Mohamed Manack (49) taking them to 100 for two at tea.

The DP World Lions suffered a sporadic loss of wickets through the final session, but the batsmen had done more than enough to give the defending champions an unassailable lead.

The infectious enthusiasm of the bowling attack, despite a rough start, then finished off a job very well done on the third day.

Pace bowling at the DP World Wanderers Stadium can be a rewarding occupation, but there is a great deal of precision and effort required to garner the success that Codi Yusuf has been enjoying for #ThePrideOfJozi.

The 26-year-old Yusuf took five for 71 in the first innings of the DP World Lions’ previous match at their Johannesburg fortress, and added the key wicket of Eddie Moore in the second innIngs as the men’s team beat World Sports Betting Western Province by 125 runs in their CSA 4-Day Series match that ended last weekend.

It was fine, fiery and skilful stuff from Yusuf and it is the sort of pressure-inducing bowling that he and the rest of the DP World Lions attack want to bring to their next match, against the Dafabet Warriors from Eastern Province, at the Wanderers from Thursday.

The convincing victory over Western Province was a repeat of last season’s thrilling final and it has taken #ThePrideOfJozi to the top of the standings, with two wins and a draw giving them 60.14 points. The defending champions have a healthy 13.74-point lead over the second-placed Momentum Multiply Titans.

“We are in a good position at the moment and you want to give yourself the best chance of winning the title, like we did last season when we had a home final,” Yusuf said. “We’ve got the majority of our games in the early part of the competition at home and that stands us in good stead. We are the defending champions and obviously we want to hang on to that trophy.

“We are gelling very well as an attack, so we will look to bring a lot more of the same. We look to play hard in the field, not give the opposition as much freedom to do their thing. It’s nothing too complicated, the DP World Wanderers pitch will give you a lot of help if you do the basics right.

“It’s our backyard so we do have a bit of an advantage and we know how to bowl on the slope. But your length is also extremely important. If you bowl a touch short then the ball will go over the stumps and the batsman gets the pace of the pitch better and the ball moves too early so they have extra time to adjust and get set.

“You don’t want to bowl full, but slightly fuller than back-of-a-length, you want to challenge the top of off-stump, get the batsman on the front foot as much as possible. And you also need energy on the ball,” Yusuf said.

Last season was the kindling for Yusuf to burst on to the scene as one of the most promising young fast bowlers in the country. Having previously struggled to nail down a regular place in the DP World Lions starting XI – in the three seasons between 2020/21 and 2022/23 he played just eight matches and took 17 wickets at 35.52 – in 2023/24 he played an integral part in the four-day triumph with 21 wickets in six games at an average of 33.57.So far this season, he is going even better, with 13 wickets in three matches at just 23.61.

“I’ve learnt a lot in the last two seasons and I think I’ve played my role better. It’s nice to be able to lead the attack, I enjoy the responsibility. I’m feeling good at the moment, I’m in very good rhythm even though I’ve had a bit of a no-ball problem,” the University of Johannesburg alumnus said.

Yusuf’s growing standing in the local game has been underlined by his appearances for the Paarl Royals in the first two editions of the Betway SA20 league, and he was also chosen to represent the SA A team at the start of this summer.

The Knysna-born Yusuf is certainly in Elysium in terms of where his career is at, speaking with great enthusiasm about both the DP World Lions and the Royals franchise.

“It’s just very exciting, a lot of life-changing things are happening for me at the moment. The SA20 is coming now and that has allowed players like me to get more exposure, a lot more people can see what I’m about.

“It also helped me here at the DP World Lions because Russell Domingo saw me bowl at 145 against his Sunrisers Eastern Cape team, he saw there was more about me and he backed me in T20 as well.

“We are enjoying a lot of success as a union, we have an unbelievable coaching staff with a lot of knowledge. I just try to be a sponge and learn as much as I can from them. So I’m definitely very excited for the next few years, I just want to learn more and progress in the game,” Yusuf said at the announcement that DP World are now a logistics partner of the Betway SA20.

For now, Yusuf and his team-mates are focused on ensuring the DP World Lions do not slip up against the winless Warriors, to ensure they go into their break from four-day cricket still firmly ensconced at the top of the log.