Ken Borland

Following on from the CSA 4-Day Series triumph, the DP World Lions’ bucket was overflowing with more success over the weekend as both the men’s and ladies teams won both of their matches for a perfect 4/4 record.

The DP World Lions men’s team began their CSA T20 Challenge campaign with convincing victories over the GBets Rocks at home and against the Auto Investments North-West Dragons in Potchefstroom.

The nine-wicket win over the Dragons earned them a bonus point, while they were one run away from also earning the fifth log point when they hammered the Rocks by 44 runs at the DP World Wanderers Stadium.

The DP World Lions ladies thrashed the Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers by eight wickets with 22 overs to spare in their one-day match, and then won a thrilling T20 match against the same South-Western Districts side by just two runs.

Proteas star Ayabonga Khaka was the Queen of the DP World Wanderers as she took three for 10 in seven overs in the 50-over encounter and then claimed four wickets in a matchwinning burst in the T20 clash.

Our #PrideOfJozi were only defending a total of 114 for five and SWD were cruising at 84 for two after 14 overs when Khaka, who has played 154 matches for the Proteas across formats, returned to the attack. She left the visitors feeling like they had been a victim of a robbery as the 31-year-old sent them crashing from 84 for two to 107 for six, all with great skill.

With fellow Protea Tumi Sekhukhune (4-0-25-1) also bowling superbly at the other end, the Badgers ended with 112 for seven. Left-arm seamer Relebohile Mkhize also struck two vital blows up front after SWD had made a blazing start, removing both openers, Tabitha la Grange and in-form Proteas star Tazmin Brits, ending with phenomenal figures of two for seven in her four overs.

The DP World Lions had been sent in to bat and their total of 114 for five was built around solid top-order contributions rather than anyone really filling their boots – Madison Landsman (30), Kirstie Thomson (23), Diara Ramlakan (26) and Sinalo Jafta (31 not out) all chipped in well.

In the 50-over match, the tale of the tape was totally one-sided as the Badgers could not measure up against a daunting DP World Lions attack. Key batter Brits was bowled first ball by a tremendous delivery from Khaka and the rest of the line-up tapped around a bit as they could only muster 121 before being bowled out.

Khaka (7-2-10-3) led the way, but captain and spinner Kgomotso Rapoo was a real threat in the middle overs with two for 24 in nine overs and seamers Lehlohonolo Meso (6-2-18-1) and Sekhukhune (7-1-20-1) kept the pressure tight.

A high-energy run-chase then saw the DP World Lions chase down the target in just 28 overs, Sunette Viljoen-Louw scoring an electrifying run-a-ball 46 not out, while Nonkululeko Thabethe (33) and Thomson (24 not out) provided industrious support.

The DP World Lions men’s team look well set to take on the big fish in Division One after they saw off the challenges of the Rocks and Dragons with impressive ease, taking a healthy haul of nine log points into Wednesday’s match against the HollywoodBets Dolphins at Kingsmead.

Having been sent in to bat by the Rocks, our Pride moved swiftly and efficiently to a record-breaking 223 for five in their 20 overs – the franchise’s highest ever total and the highest in domestic cricket at the DP World Wanderers Stadium.

Ryan Rickelton’s 75 off just 39 balls was a special innings and Rassie van der Dussen then provided the big finish as he raced to 42 not out off only 22 deliveries. It was a well-balanced batting effort though with Reeza Hendricks (28 off 18), Temba Bavuma (26 off 16) and Wiaan Mulder (22 off 11) all batting with good intent.

The Bolanders were caught on the hop by Evan Jones (4-0-34-2) coming on first change and he struck twice in his first over, while left-arm spinner and captain Bjorn Fortuin (4-0-21-2) inevitably lured a couple of batsmen to their destruction.

But the bowling effort of the night belonged to Kwena Maphaka, making his T20 debut for the Pride. The 17-year-old understandably left the field beaming after he finished with an outstanding three for 22 in his four overs, looking every bit a class bowler of premium talent with his quality left-arm seam.

The match against North-West in Potchefstroom was even more one-sided as the #PrideOfJozi’s attack scythed through the Dragons batting line-up, bowling them out for just 103. Spinner Junaid Dawood had his moment to shine as he took two wickets in his first over and ended with three for 23 in four, while Maphaka again showed he is comfortable at this level with two for 11 in three overs up front with the new ball, and Fortuin again excelled with two for 14 in three overs.

Hendricks then mowed 57 not out off 30 balls to rush the Lions to victory in 10.4 overs, putting on 76 for the first wicket for the second match in succession with Rickelton (34 off 26).

The DP World Lions men’s team overtook all their opposition on the last bend and we will now host the CSA 4-Day Series final against Western Province following our impressive victory over the Titans on a sporty Centurion pitch last week.

After the frustration of a couple of draws, our Pride delivered the goods when it really mattered, beating the Titans by five wickets to claim top spot on the log after the last round of league fixtures. The DP World Lions’ red-ball game is now running like a finely-tuned motor, having dominated and being unbeaten in all their four-day matches since losing to the Warriors in Gqeberha in early December.

While the SuperSport Park pitch certainly favoured the bowlers, Lions head coach Russell Domingo was happy with the surface and says he hopes for another result pitch, but one that is fair to the batsmen, at the DP World Wanderers Stadium from Wednesday.

“The guys were fantastic against the Titans on what I thought was a good pitch. I was really pleased with the way we played and now we can take that confidence into the final. We’ve played some really good cricket lately, although we’ve had some flat pitches where we’ve struggled to finish off teams,” Domingo said.

“All I want at home for the final now is a good cricket wicket – one that rewards good batting and if you bowl well then you’ll get wickets. I will always advocate that because I believe the guys need to learn how to play long innings and how to dismiss batsmen on good pitches. We don’t want anything extreme and over five days I have no doubt we’ll get a result.”

With the current bowling unit performing so well, Lutho Sipamla making an impressive return to action last week, and Duanne Olivier and Tshepo Moreki available again after Proteas Test duty in New Zealand, Domingo may well toy with the idea of once again fielding five seamers and spinner Bjorn Fortuin.

The batting unit ought to be confident of putting enough runs on the board, especially with Zubayr Hamza, top of the competition averages, set to return after Test duty and Temba Bavuma also possibly available, depending on his rehabilitation schedule.

“It’s going to be a very tricky selection and we also need to check on the fitness of a couple of guys. But it’s great to have all of those options. I know Temba is very keen to play and Zubayr has been great for us this season,” Domingo said.

“You want all your best players to play in a final, but you also need to stay loyal to the players who have put you there. A lot of guys have played really well to get us into the final.”

A case in point is the top-class century scored by Josh Richards, which gave the DP World Lions a vital lead against the Titans. It was the first time he has been past fifty since the second match of the campaign, in mid-November, but the return to form came at a vital time.

“Josh’s innings was a game-changer, he was the one guy to get a big score in the match. It was very tough against the new ball and he’s had a few things not go for him this season. But he’s a really good opener and he showed how desperate he is to score runs,” Domingo said.

It’s the tenacity and character that Richards and the #PrideOfJozi have shown that will stand them in good stead against the World Sports Betting Western Province team, who are coming off a big win against previous log-leaders the Dolphins.

A frustrating draw against the GBets Rocks last weekend will ensure that the DP World Lions men’s team will bring a ferocious intensity into their local derby against the Momentum Multiply Titans at Centurion from Wednesday as they chase a place in the CSA 4-Day Series final.

Our Lions were in rampant form against the Rocks at the DP World Wanderers Stadium, a fine all-round bowling effort seeing the Bolanders bowled out for just 226 on the first day. The Pride then gathered a formidable 252-run first-innings lead as captain Dominic Hendricks led from the front with an innings of great determination and quality bringing him 135 runs. Wiaan Mulder then blazed 141 off 128 balls and there were also classy half-centuries from Ryan Rickelton and Temba Bavuma.

The Lions then reduced the Rocks to 36 for three in their second innings, raising hopes of a victory that would have taken them to the top of the log. But tremendous rearguard centuries by Pieter Malan and Jean du Plessis, and an 84 not out on debut by Nathan Engelbrecht, denied the Lions as the pitch seemed to just get better and better for batting.

Nevertheless, our Pride are still very much in contention for a place in the final, third in the standings on 95.50 points. They are just 8.02 points behind the log-leading Dolphins, so if they beat the Titans (102pts) this week then they are bound to finish in the top two.

“It’s just one of those things,” Hendricks said. “The pitch didn’t really deteriorate, there was just a little bit of variable bounce. So it was a phenomenal effort to take 19 wickets on a batting-friendly surface. It showed good skills and a desire not to turn down a challenge, so I was very chuffed for the bowlers and their monumental effort.

“It’s knockout cricket against the Titans, like a semi-final with the winners having the opportunity to play in the final. It’s the Jukskei derby and we will be up for it, matches against them are always a challenge, a good test of skills and the big thing is to be highly competitive for as long as possible.

“But it’s not rocket science, we will need to play good, old-fashioned cricket against them, good simple cricket. We will try to force mistakes and then capitalise on them. Even if we win on the fourth day, we will be happy, and we won’t worry about what the other teams are doing,” Hendricks said.

The left-handed opener admitted to some personal frustration this season before notching his first century of the campaign against the Rocks, more than doubling his tally of runs.

“It’s been a while since I scored a first-class century, I’ve had quite a few opportunities over the last couple of seasons which I didn’t convert, so it’s been very frustrating.

“So there was certainly some inward determination and grit to make sure that ‘today was the day’. There was not a helluva lot of assistance for the bowlers, unlike some of the tricky wickets at the beginning of the season, so I just wanted to knuckle down, get stuck in and bat for as long as I can,” Hendricks said.

Pace bowler Lutho Sipamla seems to have proven his fitness by bowling several spells during breaks in play against the Rocks. The condition of the Centurion pitch will determine whether he is brought back into the XI, however.

“The SuperSport Park pitch has generally done a bit more than the Wanderers this season, and it’s quicker with more bounce. So it will be a nice challenge,” Hendricks said.

The Central Gauteng Lions will have the services of the second new ball first thing on the final morning as they mount a last-ditch effort to win their CSA 4-Day Series match against the North-West Dragons at the Wanderers on Thursday.

Having posted a formidable 504 for five declared, but also having lost the majority of the second day’s play to a wet outfield and bad light, the Lions had reduced North-West to 342 for seven at stumps on Wednesday’s third day.

The visitors are still 13 runs shy of preventing the Lions from enforcing the follow-on, which will surely be their most likely route to victory. Even a lead of 125 will force the home side to bat for some time on the final day, into the afternoon and therefore leaving them with too few overs remaining to bowl out the Dragons on a good batting pitch.

The Lions strived nobly with the ball and at 226 for six, they seemed poised to dismiss North-West well short of the follow-on mark of 355.

But there was some determined, pugnacious cricket by the visitors’ lower-order and Migael Pretorius, with a defiant 68 not out, and Duan Jansen, who is in similarly stubborn mood on 30 not out and has already played some fantastic drives down the ground, will resume battle on the final morning.

They have added a crucial 68 for the eighth wicket, and before that, Pretorius put on 48 for the seventh wicket with Senuran Muthusamy, who scored a solid 45 in two-and-a-half hours at the crease.

Having suffered some traumatic damage with the ball, the Dragons actually enjoyed a solid start to their first innings, reaching 111 for one as Grant Mokoena made 43 and Raynard van Tonder stroked a commanding 87 off 114 balls.

But Tshepo Moreki found the edges of both Mokoena and Wihan Lubbe’s bats as they tried to leave, bowling the former and having the latter smartly taken by Wiaan Mulder at second slip.

Duanne Olivier claimed the key wicket of Van Tonder, caught behind as the ball just nipped away from him, and spinner Bjorn Fortuin then made inroads.

Ruan de Swardt and Mika-eel Prince, skying a slog-sweep, were both caught-and-bowled by Fortuin, who then trapped Muthusamy lbw as he missed a sweep.

Before North-West came out to bat, Zubayr Hamza and Mulder were both able to complete their centuries for the Lions.

Given the frustrations of the second day, it seemed ages ago that Hamza came to the crease, but he was quickly into three figures for the first time since moving to Central Gauteng, having started the day on 96 with the Lions on 385 for three.

The stylish Proteas player scored an authoritative 118 off 169 deliveries, building superbly on the first-day top-order contributions of Josh Richards (82), Dominic Hendricks (64) and Ryan Rickelton (58).

Mulder finished with 121 from 131 balls, a classy innings from someone who has shown a great thirst for runs already this season.

He and Hamza enjoyed a quick thrash-about for runs on Wednesday morning, aided by Wandile Makwetu’s punishing 36 not out off just 20 balls, which included three sixes, before the declaration came an hour before lunch.

Some may argue they should have declared before they did, but then the Dragons would have already have saved the follow-on and the Lions would be needing a miracle to win.

As it stands, they need three wickets for less than 13 runs, with a brand new ball, on the final morning to give them hope.