Ken Borland

The DP World Lions men’s team moved into a tie for first place on the CSA T20 Challenge standings with an inspired 10-wicket win over the Auto Investment North-West Dragons in Johannesburg on Sunday.

The Dragons had elected to bat first, but a brilliant bowling and fielding display by the #PrideOfJozi saw them bundled out inside 19 overs for just 85 runs, sneaking past the record low T20 Challenge score at the DP World Wanderers Stadium by just one run.

The DP World Lions then sent Zubayr Hamza and Connor Esterhuizen, coming in for the rested Reeza Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen, in first to open the batting, and the pair duly knocked off the required runs in just 9.2 overs. With our Pride strolling to a bonus point win, and the log-leading Warriors losing to the Boland Rocks in Paarl, it means the Lions are now level-pegging with the Eastern Province side on 35 points. The two sides meet on Wednesday at St George’s Park in a massive encounter.

Wiaan Mulder (2-0-9-2) set the tone up front with the ball as he struck twice in his first two overs. His first delivery of the match saw Meeka-Eel Prince (1) mishit a catch to mid-on, and in his next over he picked up Rubin Hermann (3) caught at extra cover.

At 12 for two, the Dragons were already in arrears and they slumped into further trouble when Lutho Sipamla (3-0-18-2) removed Lesiba Ngoepe (9) and Wihan Lubbe (22).

North-West were 53 for four after 10 overs and still under big pressure when Nqaba Peter (4-0-22-3) and his rapidly-developing leg-spin were brought into the attack. The 22-year-old struck with his second ball as he deceived and bowled Raynard van Tonder (12), and Peter then struck twice in successive deliveries in his next over. Senuran Muthusamy (6) was brilliantly caught by Esterhuizen, running in from the midwicket boundary and diving forward to scoop up a low catch, and Caleb Seleka (0) was then bowled first ball by a brilliant slider.

Seamers Evan Jones and Codi Yusuf, and spinner Bjorn Fortuin then each took a wicket to wrap up the Dragons innings.

Hamza and Esterhuizen got comfortable on an autumnal pitch that made it difficult to hit through the line on the up, and then produced a combative unbeaten partnership of 86 off 60 balls to win the match.

They both finished on 41 not out off 28 balls. Hamza’s smooth strokeplay, plus some innovative hitting, saw him collect six fours and a six, while Esterhuizen looked a bright talent as he struck four fours and two sixes, both his driving and pulling being impressive.

Our #PrideOfJozi have now won four games in a row and are building impressive momentum as a place in the knockout rounds and a home semi-final beckon. In the last week of round-robin action, they travel to take on the Warriors and the fourth-placed Titans, before returning home to the DP World Wanderers Stadium to play the bottom-placed Tuskers next Sunday.

Mark Boucher conceded on Tuesday that his first series win as South Africa coach had come in their own conditions at home, but he was nevertheless pleased with several features of the Proteas’ play as they wrapped up a 2-0 triumph over Sri Lanka with an emphatic 10-wicket win in the second Test at the Wanderers.

“It was good to get the win, albeit in home conditions. But it was nice to see the batsmen spend some time in the middle and get some confidence back, and hopefully we can now build on that momentum in Pakistan. We will keep working on the technical stuff but they were quite solid on tough pitches. It was important for them to keep their intensity up and have a positive mindset.

“The bowlers have only played a handful of games between them, but they have lots of potential and they learnt pretty quickly. To see their growth makes me happy, if you compare them from that first innings at Centurion to how well they bowled here. They are a young group of bowlers and we just want them to keep it simple and try and get the best out of the conditions,” Boucher said on Tuesday.

While opening batsman Dean Elgar was the obvious choice for the man of the series award, scoring 253 runs at an average of 126.50, Boucher said the performances of rookies Wiaan Mulder and Lutho Sipamla were the other big positives of the rubber.

Mulder played a useful innings of 36 in the first Test at Centurion, while his skilful work with the ball – taking nine wickets at 20.55 – was brilliant and brought crucial balance to the attack. Fast bowler Sipamla topped the bowling averages for the series with 10 wickets at 16.70.

“I’m very happy to have Dean in such good form, he was nice and aggressive and technically I’m very happy with where he is too. He was able to score runs in tough conditions,” Boucher said. “We didn’t really see the batting side of Wiaan, but he is a very good batsman who could go into the top six. But he was fantastic for us with the ball, he’s there to make breakthroughs and it’s great to have that all-round option.

“Wiaan is still very young [22] but the talent is obviously there. And he has a great attitude, he’s so keen to learn and hopefully he can now stay on the park because I see a great future for him.

“One couldn’t judge Lutho on his first day in Test cricket because he had so many nerves. But he’s also very young [also 22] and he would never have felt that intensity of nerves ever before. But it showed Test cricket means so much to him, which is a good sign. He still needs to work on his lines and lengths, but he was definitely one of the positives.

“He learnt a helluva lot in this series, maybe he was a bit guilty of searching for wickets yesterday [Monday], trying to get some swing, and not hitting the deck hard, but today [Tuesday] he had decent pace and asked lots of questions,” Boucher said.

Kagiso Rabada announced himself on Sunday as the man to lead the future South African pace attack as he single-handedly destroyed the Dolphins and set up a resounding 10-wicket win for the bizhub Highveld Lions in their Sunfoil Series match at the Wanderers.

Rabada claimed a phenomenal nine for 33 in 16.2 overs on Sunday to finish with match figures of 14 for 105.

Only one other man has taken 14 wickets in a franchise match and that was Dale Steyn for the Titans against the Eagles in Bloemfontein in 2007/8.

Rabada could well be South Africa’s next great fast bowler, with the 19-year-old confirming all the good things followers of the game are hearing about him with a thunderous performance at the Wanderers.

The Dolphins were bundled out for just 134 by Rabada, leaving the Lions with a target of just 16 to win, those runs being knocked off by openers Stephen Cook and Rassie van der Dussen.

The Dolphins, trailing by 119 runs on first innings, had resumed on 22 for one on Sunday morning after the third day’s play had been limited to just 29.1 overs by bad light and rain, and they were immediately rocked by Rabada having Daniel Sincuba caught behind for four.

The Wanderers pitch was far from her most venomous, but Rabada managed to swing the ball and generated impressive pace, having Cody Chetty (5) caught in the slips in his third over of the day before taking a break.

Rabada’s second spell was the perfect marriage of control, pace and movement as he ripped through the Dolphins lower-order in a dazzling spell of six for 10 in 6.2 overs.

Rassie van der Dussen dived full-length at backward point to catch Morne van Wyk for seven, but the five other batsmen dismissed by Rabada were all bowled or trapped lbw, save for last man Daryn Dupavillon (0), who popped a return catch back to the St Stithians product.

Opener Divan van Wyk was the only Dolphins batsman to resist for long, batting for 204 minutes and scoring 56 before he chopped Rabada into his own stumps.

Rabada is the youngest South African to take 13 wickets in a first-class match and he will surely continue to follow in Steyn’s considerable footsteps.