Ken Borland

The focus is on the big moments for our DP World Lions women’s team this weekend as they head to Bloemfontein to get the 2024/25 HollywoodBets ProSeries underway against the Free State Knights, with coach Shaun Pretorius saying all the hard work has been done in the pre-season and now it is all down to the execution.

The DP World Lions finished as runners-up in both the Pro50 and Pro20 competitions last season, so #ThePrideOfJozi are hungry to get over the line this season.

“The focus is on BMT, those big situations when we need to step up and show character, those times when our backs are against the wall,” Pretorius said.

“We’ve had quite a few warm-up games, including against the Titans and the Knights, as well as lots of middle sessions and some time in the classroom as well, where we went over our game-plans and KPIs. There’s been buy-in from the squad, all the hard work is done and the preparation has gone really well.

“We could not ask for better in terms of the facilities at the DP World Wanderers Stadium, so now it all comes down to the execution,” Pretorius said.

Pretorius is not a keen advertiser of his selections ahead of matches, and in terms of the squad he is taking to Bloemfontein, all he wanted to say was that there are a couple of injured players at present, for which they have good cover, and that there are very experienced players going to take on the Knights.

The hosts, meanwhile, will be without former Proteas captain Mignon van der Merwe (nee’ Du Preez), who is pregnant with twins. And our DP World Lions have good memories of their last visit to Bloemfontein, when they chased down 248 with 31 balls and six wickets to spare in the one-day game, and then won the T20 match by seven wickets with seven balls to spare.

“Mignon has obviously been a big run-scorer for the Knights, but we will not take anything lightly going there. Even though we won both games there last season, we still have to execute properly and be clinical in the different phases of the game. Free State still have Yolandi Potgieter and Izel Cilliers is back.

“I especially want our batters to try and manipulate spin bowling better, we need to score at a better strike-rate against the slow stuff. Against pace we are executing well,” Pretorius said.

They may not quite have ridden a wave to success in terms of winning trophies, but our DP World Lions women’s team were deservedly buoyant at the end of a 2023/24 season that saw them finish runners-up in both the one-day and T20 competitions.

Coach Shaun Pretorius expressed his delight at the progress the team has made and said the highlight for him was the improvement shown in the 50-over game, where they mounted a stirring charge up the standings in the second half of the season. Considering they were in fifth place at the end of November, and some people may have been calling for the lifeboats, to be in contention for the title in the last round of fixtures was a remarkable effort.

“If you measure where we were last season, in the 50-over competition we were down at the bottom, then it was a massive accomplishment to finish second. The One-Day Cup was definitely the highlight for me, to come back to second and really fight for that trophy showed the immense progress we’ve made and the respect we showed the format,” Pretorius said.

“Our ground fielding improved exceptionally well, we caused a lot more run outs this season, and we also chased down more than 250 twice. We beat Western Province at Newlands, where they are normally unbeaten, and we showed great fight in the ‘final’ against the Dolphins, but unfortunately could just not get over the line.”

Pretorius says next season there will need to be a similar shoulders-to-the-wheel attitude for T20 cricket; even though the DP World Lions finished second, they were nine points behind winners Western Province, a gap they are all keen to eliminate.

“In terms of T20, there are a few more tweaks needed in our game-plan. But the buy-in was evident this season in terms of the brand we are going for. The ladies were not scared to take chances, they played with higher energy and were more positive. You could see the fight in the team, especially among the younger players,” Pretorius said.

The coach had special praise for captain Kgomotso Rapoo and the burden she bore in not only leading the team, but also the bowling attack, as well as contributing valuable runs. The young skipper, who turns 22 on May 16, was the DP World Lions’ leading wicket-taker in the one-day competition, taking 13 wickets, with the next best being Relebohile Mkhize’s seven. Spinner Rapoo also took seven T20 wickets, second-best to Mkhize’s eight, in the T20 competition, conceding just 6.00 runs an over.

Rapoo also averaged 25.25 with the bat in 50-over cricket, at a strike-rate of 87.06.

“Kgomotso was phenomenal and it’s great to see the player she is growing into,” Pretorius said. “The type of leadership she brought and her bowling really inspired the team. She just never gave up, she never believes the team is beaten and she showed that with her better than a run-a-ball half-century in the last one-day match against the Dolphins that nearly won the game after we were well out of it.”

The 2023/24 season was also a great success for veteran batter Kirstie Thomson, who showed she remains as fruitful as ever with the bat as she averaged 51.66 in the One-Day Cup and was the leading run-scorer in the T20s with 253 at an average of 42 and a strike-rate of 117.

Pretorius was also happy for Nonkululeko Thabethe, who enjoyed a vastly improved season as she topped the 50-over run-scorer’s list with 299, including three half-centuries, and also made 114 T20 runs at a strike-rate of 99.13.

For those looking to the future, there were also good contributions from Madison Landsman, Jenna Evans, Karabo Meso and Relebohile Mkhize, with Pretorius predicting a bright future for the #PrideOfJozi’s young brigade.

Any team that can call on all that talent, as well as the input of Proteas stars Ayabonga Khaka, Tumi Sekhukhune and Sinalo Jafta, and the experience of Sunette Viljoen-Louw, is bound to shine.

Pretorius said any doubts that the DP World Lions would not be at the forefront of the women’s game when it turned professional have been dispelled by the excellent season past.

“You can really see that the women’s game has been uplifted and it has been a huge accomplishment made possible by all the support we have received from the management and staff of the DP World Lions,” Pretorius said.

The season is over for the DP World Lions ladies team as they ended their campaign with a victory to further cement the certainty that this is a team on the rise and their runner-up finishes in both the One-Day Cup and T20 competitions is a warning to all the other sides that they will be strong title contenders next summer.

On Sunday at the DP World Wanderers Stadium, the #PrideOfJozi beat the HollywoodBets Dolphins by five wickets with three balls to spare in their T20 encounter, partly making up for the disappointment of being edged out by the KwaZulu-Natalians for the One-Day title the previous day.

The T20 triumph was the DP World Lions’ seventh win in their 10 matches, finishing six points clear of the South-Western Districts Badgers in third place. Western Province had already claimed the title by winning eight of their 10 matches.

The DP World Lions won the toss and sent the Dolphins in, and backed that decision up by claiming a wicket in the second over, Samantha Schutte having Nonhle Busane caught for 6. The #PrideOfJozi is also a much-improved fielding side and Jenna Evans then ran out Luyanda Nzuza for a duck in the second over.

Our DP World Lions captain Kgomotso Rapoo is one of the canniest spinners in the provincial leagues and she then claimed the wickets of Proteas all-rounder Nondumiso Shangase, bowled for 9, and Dolphins skipper Courtney Gounden (18) on her way to excellent figures of two for 21 in four overs.

Leg-spinner Madison Landsman also picked up a couple of wickets as the Dolphins were restricted to 121 for six in their 20 overs. Seamers Lehlohonolo Meso (4-1-23-0) and Relebohile Mkhize (4-0-19-0) also did a fine job for the Lions.

After the shock of Landsman unfortunately being run out without facing a ball on the second delivery of the innings, the DP World Lions’ chase started brilliantly with Sunette Viljoen-Louw (32 off 29 balls) and Kirstie Thomson (42 off 37 balls) racing them to 62 in eight overs.

That left 60 runs to get at a required run-rate of five to the over, but the tumble of four wickets meant your nerves were just slightly agitated as the requirement climbed to run-a-ball.  But a fine contribution from 17-year-old Diara Ramlakan (24), the experience of Nonkululeko Thabethe (11 off 11) and a quickfire 5 not out off 4 balls in the last over by Evans saw our Pride home.

The previous day, the DP World Lions had set off on the final leg of their One-Day Cup journey knowing that a bonus point win over the Dolphins would win them the title, based on having won more matches.

The de facto ‘final’ started smoothly enough for our Pride as they won the toss and bowled first, and tight bowling and tidy fielding made it difficult for the visitors to accelerate. In the end the Dolphins could only post 200 for seven in their 50 overs.

Rapoo was once again outstanding with the ball with one for 22 in her 10 overs, while leg-spinner Landsman bowled marvellously well in the closing overs and took two for 19 in five overs. Left-armer Mkhize twice broke up threatening partnerships to finish with two for 39.

Given the way the DP World Lions have raced to targets of more than 250 at the DP World Wanderers Stadium previously this season, 201 in 40 overs for the bonus point and the silverware was certainly gettable.

But unfortunately the #PrideOfJozi’s car just could not get going in the face of some excellent bowling and fielding by the Dolphins and an autumnal pitch that made strokeplay difficult.

Captain Rapoo mounted a valiant effort to steer her team to the target in 40 overs as she hammered 60 off 53 balls which carried the DP World Lions to within 25 runs of victory.

While finishing runner-up in both competitions will cause some disappointment, the Lions Ladies can hold their heads high after a season of consistent excellence that has confirmed them as one of the best teams in the country.

Our DP World Lions women’s team find themselves in a de facto final for the One-Day Cup at the Wanderers on Saturday and in those situations, your success comes down to your plans and your execution thereof, according to head coach Shaun Pretorius.

The #PrideOfJozi take on the HollywoodBets Dolphins in the last round of fixtures and need to win with a bonus point in order to claim the title. It’s a straightforward equation, nett run-rate will not come into it because beating the KwaZulu-Natalians will give the DP World Lions their sixth victory of the campaign, compared to the five of the opposition.

“We’ve got to win with a bonus point and according to CSA, they will not be looking at nett run-rate to split us,” Pretorius said. “So to do that, obviously all the right boxes are going to have to be ticked, but the important thing is to win all the small phases of the game.

“It’s all about making sure you win all those small moments you can celebrate, like if they score 30 in the powerplay then we want to score 35. We are in a really good space and the dynamics of the team are very good at the moment.

“It’s an unofficial final, we will embrace that and it’s going to come down to who executes best. We will still play according to our plans and then we have to execute those. It’s no good having great plans and then not backing them up with good field placements or good shots,” Pretorius said.

The DP World Lions began the campaign superbly with three straight wins, but a torrid November, with lots of call-ups for representative sides, saw them then lose three in a row. But coach Pretorius kept faith in his charges and the repayment for that backing came through in March with back-to-back wins over the SWD Badgers and Western Province reigniting our Pride’s title hopes.

“At the break in the season we were in fifth place and now all of a sudden we are in contention to win the competition. This is a big one for us and the ladies have done really well to get here. It’s been a tough season and hard on the bodies, especially since this is the first season of professional cricket.

“But the standards have definitely picked up and I am just so thankful to CSA, the sponsors and our Lions CEO, Jono Leaf-Wright, for empowering these ladies,” Pretorius said.

While having to win with a bonus point is always a tough challenge, Pretorius says the Pride have the advantage of playing at the DP World Wanderers Stadium and they hope the famous venue will become an intimidating arena for the visitors.

“Playing at the Bullring is an advantage for us, it’s our backyard, our own conditions. The DP World Wanderers pitch is always a good wicket whether you bowl or bat first, it stays consistent through the day, it’s not going to become more up-and-down. But all the rain we’ve had might impact how quick the outfield is,” Pretorius said.

The Dolphins will bring a strong spin attack to Johannesburg and it is important the DP World Lions batting line-up does not become bogged down. Strike rotation will be important and our Pride certainly has the batters to put the visiting bowlers under a lot of pressure.