Ken Borland

You can’t buy the sort of composure and experience that wins big games of cricket and DP World Lions coach Russell Domingo is confident that our star players will stand up and lead the way for the #PrideOfJozi when they host Sunday’s CSA T20 Challenge final against the HollywoodBets Dolphins.

Our DP World Lions breezed through their semi-final against derby rivals the Titans with a performance of great calm and quality, and Domingo expects the same mental strength to be on show against the Dolphins.

Proteas stars Rassie van der Dussen and Temba Bavuma were at the crease at the end steering our Pride to victory with the bat, with another international, Ryan Rickelton, setting the tone up front with his innings. Throw in the strong contributions through the tournament made by Wiaan Mulder, Bjorn Fortuin and Reeza Hendricks, and it is easy to see that the DP World Lions environment is a brilliant one, making it easy for youngsters like Nqaba Peter, Lutho Sipamla and Codi Yusuf to shine as well.

“It was a really good performance against the Titans,” Domingo agrees. “Semi-finals are often nerve-wracking, they can be harder to handle than the final itself. But we kept calm and composed.

“There is always a lot of expectation on us because we topped the log and we have a very good side, and in T20 cricket anything is possible. It was a really solid performance in the semi-final, but we cannot rest on our laurels.

“Rassie is scoring runs where it counts, he showed really good intensity against the Titans, and Temba is also playing well, I can see a big score just around the corner for him. You want your big names to perform in the big games and we will have to be close to our best to beat the Dolphins.

“But the big names are the guys who know under pressure that you don’t have to play 100% perfect cricket, you just need to play solid, do the basics really well, and stay calm and disciplined,” Domingo said.

The KwaZulu-Natal Coastal visitors will be bringing a team with experienced and canny campaigners of their own, and a powerful bowling attack, even without T20 ace Ottneil Baartman, who has joined Delhi Capitals in the IPL.

“They have a formidable pace attack with Okuhle Cele, Daryn Dupavillon and Andile Phehlukwayo, and a quality spinner in Prenelan Subrayen. They are also a very street-smart side, they know what it takes to win. Jason Smith, Khaya Zondo and Jon-Jon Smuts are also a key trio of very experienced players,” Domingo said.

But our Pride are playing at home at the DP World Wanderers Stadium and have only lost two of their eight matches there this campaign. And they beat the Dolphins there at the start of the month in their round-robin match, Yusuf and Rickelton leading them to victory by seven wickets with four balls to spare in a rain-shortened match.

Rickelton, Van der Dussen and Hendricks all feature in the top-12 of the tournament averages and have consistently given the DP World Lions solid starts. Delano Potgieter and Evan Jones are the six-hitters at the end of the innings and it is all brought together by Mulder, who is also in the top-20 of the averages and strikes at 126.97.

Leg-spinner Peter has been the outstanding bowler of the competition with 19 wickets in only nine matches, and has bowled with such potency that he averages just 7.78 and has twice taken four wickets in an innings, and also with such control that he has only conceded 5.19 runs-per-over.

Mulder has also been tight and effective with the ball, and that has allowed tremendous flexibility in terms of bowling options. Sipamla, Jones, Yusuf and Fortuin have served as a wonderful bowling unit, taking 55 wickets between them. Seamers Sipamla, Jones and Yusuf are all conceding little more than 7.5 runs-per-over, while Fortuin is the second-most economical bowler in the competition, at 5.84.

Our DP World Lions have quality through their line-up and their strengths cover whatever conditions or match situations are thrown at them. They are primed to peak under the pressure of Sunday’s final.

Munster coach Graham Rowntree hailed a top-class performance and a plan coming together as the defending champions moved into the top three of the United Rugby Championship standings with a tenacious 27-22 win over the Bulls in Pretoria.

The bonus point win saw Munster leapfrog the Bulls, deserved reward for beating the South African powerhouses at their home fortress of Loftus Versfeld, where they had previously not been beaten this season in the URC.

A beautifully-controlled first half saw Munster lead 17-10, but the Bulls mounted a strong comeback in the third quarter to take a 22-17 lead. But a red card for a head-on-head tackle by flyhalf Johan Goosen in the 54^th minute was a big turning point against the home side.

A pair of tries in the 58^th and 74^th minutes sealed a hard-fought win for Munster and the 53-year-old Rowntree was a delighted coach afterwards.

“The composure was special today, we had a good plan at altitude and stuck to it. We were in a good place at halftime but not so good in the third quarter. But we are used to these end-of-season pressure games, we have learnt to deal with adversity and move on quickly, and we had a great bench today.

“We had to stick to the plan with great skill, there was no panic. We had to kick very smartly, go away from the way we’ve been doing things for the last two years, when we have generally tried to keep the ball on the field.

“There are still elements of our game that need to be better, but this was an incredible performance against a team we really respect. They have power and pace and can really rip teams apart and we needed to be so much better at the start of the second half. But we believe in our defence, it’s one of the best in the league. It’s got to be against such a powerful team,” Rowntree said.

While Bulls coach Jake White said Goosen’s red card was a 50/50 decision that could have been deemed a ‘rugby incident’, Rowntree said it was an obvious call.

“I thought it was quite clear and easy. There was no mitigation and I was happy with the process. We make sure that we keep our tackles low, we practise that late drop into the tackle,” the former England prop said.

Wing Shane Daly, the scorer of the opening try, said Munster were a team with belief.

“We believe in ourselves, we play against the big teams and we get the results. That’s the big thing about this team,” Daly said.

Munster will next take on the Lions, who slayed top-of-the-log Leinster on the weekend, at Ellis Park.

The DP World Lions men’s team may be able to settle for a total of between 140-160 in their massive Division One CSA T20 Challenge top-of-the-log clash against the Dafabet Warriors at St George’s Park on Wednesday, but one thing that is non-negotiable for coach Russell Domingo is playing with high intensity.

Our Pride are coming off a run of four successive wins, so confidence is high and there is also plenty at stake on Wednesday in Gqeberha as the DP World Lions can claim first place in the standings with a victory in this last week of round-robin action.

Playing now at the height of autumn, Domingo is not expecting a run-fest and the gravity of the game means it is likely to be a tense, tight affair.

“Historically you would bat first at St George’s Park, but playing this late in the season means there could be dew around. We will need to assess that on the day,” Domingo said. “But the most important thing is for us to match and exceed the Warriors’ intensity. We’ve got to be right up there.

“The Warriors have defended a lot of scores around 160 and we’re not seeing massive totals anymore this season. The trend is not scores of 190-200. You have to bat properly because it’s now a bit cooler, there’s more moisture around and the ball is doing a bit more. So we’ll have to be on top of things with our batting

“It’s the two teams with the most wins going head-to-head and getting to first on the log is a big incentive for us. I’ve been really happy with our intensity and focus in the last couple of games, it’s really improved and our fielding has been fantastic,” Domingo said.

Our #PrideOfJozi is such a settled, confident team at the moment that the coach is able to introduce fringe players without disrupting the winning flow. Proteas stars Reeza Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen were rested for the last outing, against the North-West Dragons at the DP World Wanderers Stadium last weekend, and their replacements, Zubayr Hamza and Connor Esterhuizen, were sent up to open the batting and both scored 41 not out off 28 balls as they rushed the team to a 10-wicket bonus point victory.

“I’m trying to give guys opportunities for more game-time, more time in the middle. Obviously winning is the most important thing, but it’s also important to expose some of the other players,” Domingo explained.

“I was really happy for Connor, he’s been on the sidelines a lot this season, he hasn’t had much game-time and he really showed how good he can be. Both he and Zubayr are fantastic cricketers.

“I will probably make some more changes against the Warriors, keep giving guys opportunity. I’m pretty confident we will still have enough firepower to push them hard, although the Warriors have played fabulous cricket. Winning nine out of 11 games is a phenomenal achievement and we will have to be at the top of our game if we are to win and go to first on the log,” Domingo said.

The key to a successful outcome for the #PrideOfJozi will be doing the basics right.

“We need to really focus on the small things, do the basics well. Things like really running well between the wickets, scrapping in the powerplay when the bowlers are very much in the game in South African conditions, setting things up in the middle and then finishing well,” Domingo said.

Our DP World Lions may have only gone down by two runs in their CSA T20 Challenge match against the Dafabet Warriors, but coach Russell Domingo says the team are well aware that it was not the type of performance the Pride are looking for and they will need to be back at their best on Sunday when they take on the GBets Rocks at Boland Park.

Although the match at the DP World Wanderers Stadium against the Eastern Province side went down to the last ball, the Lions have readily admitted they did not play well, a messy performance in the field being the main cause of their defeat.

“We didn’t deserve to win and the Warriors thoroughly deserved their triumph,” DP World Lions coach Russell Domingo said. “Our fielding was really poor, we were far too sloppy and we also had a poor start with the ball and bowled too many soft balls throughout.

“Intensity and more focus in the field is really important. These days players are not just batsmen or bowlers, if you want to play international cricket then you have to offer more than one discipline. We have so many good players, but we’re not going to get by with average fielding.

“With the bat, we really needed someone to score eighty-odd and bat through; the only reason we got so close was thanks to Wiaan Mulder hitting some boundaries at the end.

“But we are only halfway through the competition, there are still seven matches to play, so there’s a lot of cricket left for us to get back up the log. Rather have that sort of performance now than at the end of the tournament,” Domingo said.

Their next opponents, the Rocks, are obviously not going to be lacking any intensity or motivation because they are in the midst of a relegation battle. Our #PrideOfJozi will also be leaving the comforts of home for the late-summer heat of the Boland valley.

“The Rocks had a good win over the Dolphins, who beat us, and we know they are going to be up for it, so it’s not going to be an easy game,” Domingo said.

“Late in the season up on the Highveld, there’s a bit of a chill in the evenings and the pitches are maybe not as hard as previously, so there is a bit of movement. The scores are not as high now and it is tricky for the batters.

“But I expect it to be drier and slower in Paarl, it could spin a bit and spinners will come into the game more. A good total could be around 150-160, and chasing might be difficult because we are playing the second match of a double-header on the same pitch,” Domingo said.