Ken Borland

The DP World Lions Ladies team has had a month off from HollywoodBets ProSeries action, but it’s not as if they have been enjoying tubs of ice-cream and refreshing swimming pools during this festive period: the focus has been squarely on preparing for this weekend’s crucial visit to Durban to take on the Dolphins.

It’s a vital weekend for the DP World Lions with their hosts enjoying an unbeaten season in both the Pro50 and T20 competitions. World Sports Betting Western Province are also unbeaten in the shortest format, so victory for #ThePrideOfJozi in Sunday’s T20 match will keep them in touch with the leaders.

In the 50-over competition, victory for the DP World Lions will bring them within one win of the HollywoodBets Dolphins, with a game in hand.

“INTENT” is the message coach Shaun Pretorius has been thumping home in the DP World Lions’ build-up to this crunch weekend.

“After playing Western Province, we had a week off and then we did some nice team-building and played some golf. But we started three weeks ago with our prep for the visit to Kingsmead, just to make sure the players keep their loads up. It’s been good to have a bit of a break, but if there’s any sort of holiday mindset then we won’t achieve success,” Pretorius says.

“We need to be switched on all the time, that’s when things tend to go your way. Against the unbeaten Dolphins, it’s going to be all about intent and I keep reminding the ladies of that and the way we finished last season. We didn’t beat the Dolphins in the 50-over match, but in the T20 we really took them on and the results were phenomenal.

“So we need the same mindset this weekend and we can’t allow their bowlers to settle. As #ThePrideOfJozi, we are happy to take on that challenge. We need to take away their ability to dictate terms by manipulating the field, we must determine the pace of the game,” Pretorius says.

Shorn of the batting abilities of Tazmin Brits, Karabo Meso, Diara Ramlakan and Sinalo Jafta (who are all away with the Proteas or the SA U19 team in India), there is obviously some pressure on the experienced duo of Kirstie Thomson and Sunette Viljoen-Louw to lead the charge of the DP World Lions batting line-up.

So far the contributions of the top-order have been dwarfed by the middle and lower-order, but Pretorius is hoping the run of good starts not being converted comes to an end this weekend.

“Once our top-order comes through then we will really be a major force to be reckoned with. We’re just missing those valuable partnerships up front at the moment.

“Kirstie and Sunette are obviously vital for us. It’s been really good to see Sunette take responsibility in the middle-order and she is the leading run-scorer in the Pro50. Sunette just wants to embrace every moment that’s left in her career, and that’s why, after we signed Tazmin Brits, we wanted to keep her in the squad. We asked her to move to the middle-order and she has worked really hard on her skills there,” Pretorius says.

The absence of Proteas pace bowler Tumi Sekhukhune and SA U19 all-rounder Fay Cowling has been offset by the availability of Ayabonga Khaka, who continues to perform impressively in white-ball cricket for the national team.

Our DP World Lions Ladies attack consists of four spin bowlers who have all produced outstanding displays for the team, and on Sunday it was Sarah Nettleton’s chance to shine as she produced the best ever figures for the Central Gauteng side in T20 cricket.

Nettleton claimed incredible figures of five for 11 in her four overs as #ThePrideOfJozi skittled the Momentum Multiply Titans for just 101 at SuperSport Park, on their way to a bonus point win by nine wickets with 71 balls to spare in their HollywoodBets Pro20 Series derby.

New DP World Lions recruit Tazmin Brits tore into the Titans bowling to plunder a dazzling 55 not out off just 22 balls, with five fours and four sixes, as she raced the Pride to victory in the ninth over.

But it was the 21-year-old Nettleton who stole the spotlight, as she broke the record for best T20 figures for the Lions, improving on the five for 12 Yumna Plowker took against Free State in 2012/13.

Off-spinner Nettleton’s changes of pace and subtle variations in length, combined with her accuracy, proved way too much for the Titans batters, as the home side crashed from 30 without loss to 79 for seven, with fellow spinners Kgomotso Rapoo (4-0-22-1) and Raisibe Ntozakhe (2-0-13-1) each contributing a wicket as well.

The new-ball bowlers, Refilwe Moncho (3.3-0-15-2) and Relebohile Mkhize (4-0-18-1) then returned to wrap up the innings.

Nonkhululeko Thabethe (22 off 18) and Kirstie Thomson (22* off 10) then helped Brits put the Titans bowlers to the sword.

The DP World Lions’ other spinner, Jenna Evans, took a couple of wickets the previous day in the HollywoodBets Pro50 Series match, helping to bowl out the Titans for 231 in the 48^th over after the hosts had elected to bat first.

The leg-spin of Rapoo was even more effective, as the captain took three for 40 in 10 excellent overs, and a fifth spinner, Madison Landsman, took two for 33 in seven overs. Mkhize took two for 35 in 8.5 overs of tidy left-arm seam.

Our DP World Lions made a great start to their run-chase, openers Thabethe (35) and Brits, who scored a run-a-ball 40, putting on 83 in the first 17 overs.

The wicket of Brits, caught at long-off off the bowling of her Proteas team-mate Sune Luus, was obviously a key blow, the DP World Lions then slipping to 88 for three, but the experienced duo of Thomson (15) and Sunette Viljoen-Louw added 43 for the fourth wicket to put the Pride back on track.

But Thomson was then stumped charging a spinner, Rapoo was run out and the Lions lost three wickets for 10 runs as Evans was bowled by a delivery that ripped back into her and kept low.

The DP World Lions obviously still had hope while Viljoen-Louw was still there and she stuck it out until the 43^rd over, scoring a determined 46. But the veteran batter fell to a miraculous one-handed catch leaping on the cow-corner boundary, and the DP World Lions then slid to 175 all out and defeat by 56 runs as they suffered their first loss of the 50-over competition.

Proteas star Tazmin Brits will make her debut for the DP World Lions Ladies team this weekend as #ThePrideOfJozi look to continue their impressive start to the season in the Gauteng derby with the Fidelity Titans at SuperSport Park in Centurion.

Brits was signed from South-Western Districts by the DP World Lions in the off-season and is coming off an outstanding T20 World Cup, where she was the tournament’s second-leading run-scorer behind captain Laura Wolvaardt.

Apart from being a world-class opening batter, the 33-year-old Brits is also a prolific run-scorer at domestic level and her presence in our DP World Lions team could provide that little bit extra that takes our Pride from being runners-up in both the 50-over and T20 competitions last season, to champions.

So far this season, #ThePrideOfJozi have enjoyed two bonus point wins in the HollywoodBets Pro50 Series, while they have won one and lost one of their T20 games.

The batting has largely been led by the middle and lower-order, with the top-order getting starts but so far not converting. Brits and her enormous experience and ability could well change that.

“Now that the Proteas have been back for a while, Tazmin will be joining us and that will be good for our top-order,” coach Shaun Pretorius said. “Hopefully they will now fire. They’ve had a bit of a slump, but we support them and we know they are motivated to build a way through this passage of form.

“The middle and lower-order have been really good, but imagine the freedom they could play with with a good foundation up top. We just need to make sure we take care of that phase, get through the first 10 overs and not allow any soft dismissals. The number of wickets we’re losing is a bit concerning,” Pretorius said.

A Jukskei Derby is always a massive match for DP World Lions Cricket and Pretorius said the Ladies camp is buzzing ahead of their visit to SuperSport Park, especially since the men’s team beat the Titans twice last week to win the CSA T20 Challenge.

“I’m a bit of a nervous man,” Pretorius chuckled, “because the men have set the tone with two wins of note against the Titans. They will also have Proteas back and we don’t look down on teams who are losing, especially if they’re at the bottom because then they will be very hungry and you never know when they will click.

“For us, it’s very important we make sure we execute properly and win the different phases of the game. We’ve had good execution of our plans so far and I’m definitely happy with our performances, but there are still areas for us to improve on, especially in the T20,” Pretorius said.

The Titans are currently situated in fourth place on the Pro50 table and are fifth in the T20 standings. So, playing at home, they will be desperate to turn things around against their arch-rivals.

Our DP World Lions will be without SA U19 stars Fay Cowling, Karabo Meso and Diara Ramlakan, who are currently in Pretoria excelling against the Irish U19s, for Saturday’s 50-over match, but Pretorius will see where they are in terms of energy levels for Sunday’s HollywoodBets Pro20 Series game.

Buccaneering all-round displays by Fay Cowling and Shabnim Ismail led the way for our DP World Lions ladies team on the weekend as they posted bonus point wins over the Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers in their HollywoodBets ProSeries matches in Johannesburg.

Cowling, an SA U19 representative, was magnificent in the Pro50 match, scoring 82 off just 54 balls and then taking four for 38 in her 10 overs with the ball as #ThePrideOfJozi stormed home by 116 runs.

Having been sent in to bat, the DP World Lions started well enough as Nonkhululeko Thabethe (24) and Diara Ramlakan (25) added 43 for the second wicket. But they had sunk into some difficulty on 135 for six when Cowling joined senior stateswoman Sunette Viljoen-Louw at the crease. The pair added a phenomenal 151 for the seventh wicket in 18 overs, with Viljoen being run out off the last ball of the innings for a feisty 95 off 107 deliveries.

Cowling blasted nine fours and four sixes as she played a matchwinning hand in the lower-order, lifting our DP World Lions to a formidable 299 for eight in their 50 overs.

The South-Western Districts side made a brisk start, reaching 40 for one after five overs, but Jenna Evans and wicketkeeper Karabo Meso combined superbly in the field to make the breakthrough via a run out.

The tall and pacy Cowling then claimed the next three wickets, all bowled, as the Badgers slid to 125 for five. She then returned to have the SWD star player, SA Emerging all-rounder Micaela Andrews, caught behind for a duck as the visitors were bowled out for 183 inside 39 overs.

Spinner Nettleton was also outstanding with the ball, conceding just 22 runs in her 10 overs.

Proteas legend Ismail, still one of the most sought after cricketers in women’s franchise cricket, then played the key innings of 37 off just 21 balls to lift our Pride to 141 in the T20 match, scoring 18 runs in the last over.

Kirstie Thomson, Madison Landsman and Karabo Meso all scored 19, but none of the DP World Lions top-order were able to go on to a substantial score and Ismail’s late contribution with the bat was crucial.

Fast bowler Ismail then struck in the third and fifth overs and, with Cowling chipping in with a maiden over and two for 18 in her four overs, 142 was too much of an ask for the Badgers, as they could only manage 99 for nine.

Ismail took three for 18 and there were also a couple of wickets for Relebohile Mkhize and Landsman (3-1-3-2), while Nettleton was again very economical, conceding just 17 runs in her four overs.