Ken Borland

The DP World Lions men’s team will welcome back pace bowler Lutho Sipamla from international duty for their CSA 4-Day Series match against World Sports Betting Western Province in Johannesburg, starting on Thursday.

Having gathered 36.68 points from their two matches so far, the DP World Lions are in third place on the log, but very well-placed, just 2.70 points behind the leaders, the North-West Dragons, who have played an extra game.

The DP World Lions played the Dragons in their previous match, coming away from Potchefstroom with a draw due to weather interruptions and a flat pitch.

But #ThePrideOfJozi will now be back at the DP World Wanderers Stadium, where they convincingly beat the Northerns Titans in their opening game. Sipamla took four for 83 in the first innings of that match and the Bullring has been a happy hunting ground for the seamer, with 35 wickets in nine matches there, at an average of 25.25.

Although the DP World Lions were shaded by less than a point in the bonus point battle last week in Potchefstroom, coach Russell Domingo said there were a lot of positives to be drawn from the contest.

“I thought we played really well, the bowling in particular was excellent,” Domingo said, “I thought the discipline was fantastic and the energy in the field was also there. North-West have also been playing good cricket lately.”

One of the stars of both #ThePrideOfJozi’s opening games has been all-rounder Bjorn Fortuin, who has scored back-to-back centuries. Against both the Titans and North-West, the 30-year-old has come to the crease with his team in tough situations, but he has made it seem as if he was batting on the beach, scoring 116 off just 95 deliveries in the win over their Gauteng neighbours, as well as taking three wickets in the second innings as the Titans were bowled out for just 156; and then he made 120 off 140 balls in Potchefstroom.

“Bjorn has been our four-day player of the season for two seasons in a row and he’s a fantastic bowler and a batsman with great ability too,” Domingo said. “He’s a really dangerous cricketer and an amazing character, feisty and tough. Technically, he’s playing very well too and I’m ecstatic for him because he’s the guy you want in your team when you are in trouble. I would want him in every team I coach,” Domingo said.

Seam-bowling all-rounder Wiaan Mulder will not be available against Western Province as he will be heading to the coast for the Proteas’ two Tests against Sri Lanka in Durban and Gqeberha.

Sipamla will no doubt pick up his overs, while young Mohammed Manack will come in to replace Mulder the batsman.

“Western Province will also be losing players like Kyle Verreynne, David Bedingham, Dane Paterson and Tony de Zorzi to the Test team, so they will have a few changes. But they are always a highly talented team, they gave us an amazing game in the five-day final last season and they beat us in the T20 this season. So we know it’s going to be tough against them, they have become a side that knows how to win,” Domingo said.

Duan Jansen continues to thrive on the pacy and bouncy SuperSport Park pitch as he took a superb four for 23 on Saturday to bowl his new SA20 franchise, the Joburg Super Kings, to a 22-run victory over the Pretoria Capitals in game two of Season 4 of the T20 extravaganza.

Having moved from the Dragons in Potchefstroom to play for the Titans, Jansen has been their best bowler in a troubled season, and he brought the same form to the neighbouring franchise, taking wickets in his second, third and fourth overs to destroy a good Pretoria Capitals foundation and achieve his best-ever figures in T20 cricket.

After winning the toss, the Capitals had bowled well to limit the Joburg Super Kings to 168 for six and then looked set to romp to victory as openers Will Smeed (34 off 30) and Bryce Parsons (41 off 30) put on 71 for the first wicket in nine overs.

The Super Kings turned to spin to make the breakthrough, accurate orthodox left-armer Akeal Hosein (3-0-19-1) bowling Smeed after deceiving him in the flight, but then they turned to their two extremely tall fast bowlers, Jansen and Janco Smit, both of whom play their domestic cricket for the Titans, based at SuperSport Park.

Prolific West Indian Shai Hope (2 off 6) tried to drive Jansen on the up, an extremely difficult thing to do on bouncy pitches, and was predictably caught at mid-on. Dewald Brevis then came in wanting to express himself and struck a boundary off his first ball, but Smit then had him caught behind for six, gloving a hook at a short-pitched delivery.

Jansen then quickly killed off the Pretoria Capitals chase as he added the wickets of Parsons, Connor Esterhuizen (2) and Daniel Smith (9), the latter two both bowled.

From 71 for none, the Capitals crashed to 89 for five and in the end limped to 146 for nine in their 20 overs to at least deny the Super Kings a bonus point.

Wiaan Mulder also did a fine job with his medium-pace (4-0-22-1) and Richard Gleeson (4-0-33-2) wrapped things up with two wickets.

Faf du Plessis, now 41 years old, had confidently taken first strike after his Super Kings had been sent in to bat, but he was unceremoniously put on his backside by the second delivery, Tymal Mills jagging a short lifter back into him and striking him on the gloves and arm.

Jansen went on to say that although they did not like to see their captain treated like that, it left the Joburg pace quartet licking their lips.

“Watching from the side, we loved that second ball Tymal Mills bowled to Faf. Although we were sorry for him, we were also definitely smiling as a bowling unit because we could see there was assistance for us – bounce, swing and pace.

“We knew that even if Pretoria got a good start, we just needed to get the first wicket and then you can get two or three more on the bounce. That changed the whole momentum of the innings and we knew we just needed to be patient and calm.

“It’s a big advantage for me and Janco, who I thought bowled well too, to be playing our first game here at Centurion. My season has been good so far and knowing the conditions settled my nerves playing for a new franchise,” Jansen said.

Joburg were in early trouble as openers Matthew de Villiers (13 off 10) and Du Plessis (2 off 8) both fell with the score on 16 within five balls of each other. But Rilee Rossouw (48 off 33) and Mulder (44 off 28) added 78 for the third wicket in the next nine overs, doing a great job of ensuring the visitors had a competitive score.

Hosein’s 22 not out off 10 balls at the death, with two sixes, took the total to 168 for six.

“The pitch was a bit tricky and spicy, but the maturity Rilee and Wiaan showed to just hang in there and build a partnership was the reason we got a decent total. We felt we probably left ourselves 15 runs light considering how they batted. That partnership was key, and then with the ball we fought and worked hard for a scrappy win,” Du Plessis said.

Left-armer Mills was superb as he dismissed De Villiers and Rossouw to have two for six in three overs, before conceding 10 runs in the last over of the innings; and his new-ball partner Codi Yusuf supported him very well with two for 29 in his four overs.

Pretoria Capitals only had three frontline pacemen, however, and Lungi Ngidi went wicketless and conceded 43 runs, but probably bowled a little better than those figures suggest.

But the other three members of the home attack were all spinners, at a venue notoriously difficult for spin bowlers. While captain Keshav Maharaj (4-0-31-0) bowled well, Roston Chase and Parsons conceded 46 runs in their combined four overs.

Parsons at least picked up the wickets of Mulder and Donavan Ferreira (9), but Pretoria Capitals would have been better off choosing another pace bowling option. Andre Russell would be the obvious candidate, but he hasn’t arrived yet from the International League T20 in the UAE.

Victory over Boland in Paarl at the weekend has ensured our DP World Lions men’s team go into the final week of round-robin action in the CSA T20 Challenge at the top of the log, but it was no cruise for our gutsy Pride.

Having lost the toss, our DP World Lions had to bat second and, after another clinical bowling display, they may have been chasing only 130, but the Boland Park pitch just became slower and lower as the day progressed and #ThePrideOfJozi in the end won with six wickets in hand, but with just two balls to spare.

The hard-fought victory, their fourth in a row, mean they go into Wednesday’s match against Western Province at the DP World Wanderers Stadium with a one-point lead over the North-West Dragons at the top of the log. 

Leg-spinner Junaid Dawood again excelled as he took three for 21 to become the leading wicket-taker in the competition this season, and he was well-backed by our pair of returning Proteas spinners, Bjorn Fortuin (4-0-22-0) and Nqaba Peter (4-0-28-1). Paceman Lutho Sipamla was also excellent with the ball, taking two for 19 in three overs.

Reeza Hendricks then showed his experience and class as he steered the Pride to victory with a fluent 72 not out off just 50 deliveries, a matchwinning effort with the bat. Zubayr Hamza scored 37 and it was their second-wicket stand of 82 in a dozen overs that was the backbone of the successful chase.

While praising the resilience and determination of the team in bouncing back from a poor opening match against the Titans, assistant coach Jimmy Kgamadi says our DP World Lions are still trying to improve with every outing as they look to defend their title.

“As coaches, we are very pleased because we did not start well against the Titans, who hammered us, really. But the team has shown great character to come back the way they have. And also to do it on the road in Bloemfontein and Paarl, to pull those matches through is great,” Kgamadi said.

“Paarl is a difficult place to play because it is very challenging conditions, a very slow pitch. We played three spinners to suit the conditions and that just shows the good depth in the squad, we can play in any conditions.

“For Reeza to avail himself to us is very special, he could have spent time with his family instead. He brings such experience and seniority, and enormous stability to our batting. He also uplifts guys like Zubayr, Wandile Makwetu, Connor Esterhuizen and Mitch van Buuren when they bat with him.

“But we never felt we had it in the bag because Boland bowled and fielded very well and the pitch went very slow, it really was difficult to score. But the guys held their nerve and were able to take it deep,” Kgamadi said.

Now the DP World Lions will be back in home conditions in Johannesburg against a Western Province team who are in sixth position in the standings and so desperately need a win to keep their hopes of being in the playoffs alive.

Our DP World Lions have shown glimpses of their best in each of the departments – the batting against the Warriors in their second game, the bowling in the first half of the innings against the Dolphins and against Boland, and the fielding versus the Knights in Bloemfontein – but Kgamadi is hopeful that #ThePrideOfJozi will be able to put all three facets together in a complete performance against Western Province.

“I’m still waiting for that great all-round performance, when all parts of our game come together. We’ve seen glimpses, but it hasn’t all come together from the first over to the 20^th and I can’t wait for when the puzzle all comes together. But the attitude and energies of the team is certainly up there,” Kgamadi said.

The runs flowed like the deluge of the previous evening on a record-breaking day for the Northerns Titans at SuperSport Park on Sunday, as they kept themselves in contention for a place in the playoffs of the CSA One-Day Cup by hammering the Eastern Province Warriors by 111 runs on the DLS system.

The heavy rains that fell over the Pretoria region on Saturday night meant the start of play was delayed by an hour due to the wet outfield, the contest being reduced to 43 overs a side.

With the sky thick with cloud and the threat of rain still around, the Warriors could be forgiven for winning the toss and feeling they should bowl first. But the Titans were not in a forgiving mood and they lashed 440 for five in those 43 overs, the second-highest total in the history of the competition. The franchise has scored the four highest totals in the tournament, the record being the 453 for five they smashed against the North-West Dragons in 2021/22, also at SuperSport Park.

But those other three 400+ scores were all made in 50 overs; 440 in 43 overs is a run-rate of 10.23 runs-per-over and that is undoubtedly the highest ever in any sort of limited-overs game in this country that has gone beyond 30 overs. It is quite probably a world record for any match that has gone for more than 35 overs.

Top-scorer Rivaldo Moonsamy has not enjoyed the best of campaigns up till now, scoring just 54 runs in the four innings he has batted, but he returned to form in the most brilliant fashion, belting 126 off just 83 balls, with 15 fours and six sixes.

But, astonishingly, he was not the star of the show. That honour fell to his opening partner Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who raced to his century in just 61 balls, the fastest ever for the Titans. The previous record was the 64-ball ton Farhaan Behardien made against the KZN Dolphins at Centurion in 2014/15.

Behardien was a late developer who played 97 times for South Africa in the limited-overs formats. Pretorius, just 18 years old, is a prodigy who has dazzled in both the SA20 and now the CSA One-Day Cup. The Proteas must surely come calling soon with an eye on the 2027 World Cup.

Pretorius finished with 107 off 69 deliveries, with 11 fours and seven sixes, five of them in the 17^th over bowled by Senuran Muthusamy, the international left-arm spinner. The left-hander is by no means just a basher, however. The power is definitely next level, but so are the smarts. He is a clever batsman, always looking to score, and the majority of his sixes were hit with a straight bat and the minimum of fuss or risk.

The opening partnership of 227 off 147 balls by Pretorius and Moonsamy was the best ever at SuperSport Park, beating the unbeaten 218 that AB de Villiers and Gulam Bodi scored in a 10-wicket victory over the Dolphins in 2005/6.

Sunday’s partnership was ended in the 24^th over, but the pain certainly did not end there for the Warriors, who did not get the assistance they expected with the ball, but were also poor in terms of their lines and lengths.

Dewald Brevis was also the centre of attention when he was still an U19 cricketer and, after a couple of leaner seasons, he is starting to look closer to the finished article. Incredibly, he struck the ball even cleaner than Pretorius and Moonsamy, and seemed on course to snatch Pretorius’s record for fastest Titans hundred from him just over an hour after he had set it as he raced to 75 off 43 balls.

Brevis stroked six sixes, a few of them quite extraordinary in execution, but then he was trapped in front by medium-pacer Andile Mogakane.

Captain Neil Brand (55* off 34 deliveries) and Sibonelo Makhanya, who came through a tough time with the bat this season with 46 not out off 22 balls, then completed a red-letter day with the bat for the Titans as they plundered 76 unbeaten runs off the last 39 deliveries.

There was much pain and suffering amongst the Warriors bowlers. Alfred Mothoa conceded 89 runs in eight overs, and Siya Plaatjie the same but in just six overs! Muthusamy rebounded well from conceding 30 runs to Pretorius in his second over, conceding only 50 in his other eight overs and getting the wickets of Moonsamy and Dayyaan Galiem (4).

The shellshocked Warriors were predictably always well behind in the chase, although JP King (31) and Matthew Breetzke (94 off 72) made a good fist of things in their second-wicket stand of 65 off 56 balls.

Breetzke impressed again with his poise and controlled aggression, backed by sweet timing as he collected 11 fours and two sixes.

When play was interrupted by the threat of lightning, the Warriors were 204 for five after 28 overs and more than 100 runs behind on DLS. When they returned 45 minutes later, they needed 159 runs in four overs.

Muthusamy (29 off 20) and C.J. King (30* off 12 balls with four sixes) had some fun, but Eastern Province ended on 251 for seven in 32 overs.

Left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe took two wickets and conceded just 38 runs his seven overs, and Junior Dala set the tone up front with figures of 4-2-10-0.

The Titans are now on 11 points, just one point behind the Warriors in the third and final playoff place; and Eastern Province may well be joining them on 11 as they are expected to be docked a point for very slow over-rates in this match.

Northerns complete their round-robin campaign with visits to Potchefstroom to play the sixth-placed North-West Dragons on Wednesday and Bloemfontein next Sunday to face the second-placed Free State Knights.