Ken Borland

The DP World Lions ladies team upset the existing order of things in the HollywoodBets Pro50 Series in Johannesburg at the weekend, hammering the previously-unbeaten Western Province side with a bonus point to replace them in second place on the log.

Western Province had won the toss and sent the DP World Lions in to bat, picking up the important wickets of Proteas Tazmin Brits (14) and Sinalo Jafta (9) in the first 10 overs.

The tenacity of opener Nonkhululeko Thabethe (27) took her through to 20 overs, but when she fell, #ThePrideOfJozi were 73 for four.

But the experience of Sunette Viljoen-Louw, now batting in the middle-order, is an obvious strength of the DP World Lions, and the fightback began when she came to the crease.

The 41-year-old former Olympic silver medallist and Proteas player formed superb partnerships with the lower-order as the DP World Lions posted a most competitive 272 for nine in their 50 overs.

Karabo Meso, just 17 years old, scored 28 as she added 54 for the fifth wicket with Viljoen-Louw. The in-form Jenna Evans then scored a brisk 27 in a partnership of 79 for the sixth wicket, and Fay Cowling stroked the ball all around the DP World Wanderers Stadium in her 29 off just 19 deliveries, as she and Viljoen put on 34 for the seventh wicket.

Coming off a hugely successful season in British club cricket, Viljoen-Louw was out in the final over for a memorable 93 off 94 balls, with 11 elegant fours and a mighty six.

Western Province began their chase in ferocious fashion, with former Proteas captain Dane’ van Niekerk taking them to 94 for two after 13 overs.

But like the Empire in Star Wars, once the DP World Lions found the chinks to weaken them, their collapse was brutal.

Cowling removed opener Babette de Leede after she had bashed two boundaries in three balls, and then the lanky seamer returned in the 14^th over to have Van Nierkerk superbly caught by Meso, diving at point.

DP World Lions captain Kgomotso Rapoo then produced a marvellous spell of mesmerising spin bowling to run through the rest of the Western Province batting, taking five for 44 in eight overs as the visitors were bowled out for 184 in just 27-and-a-half overs.

Following their 88-run win in the Pro50 match, the DP World Lions conceded a mighty 198 for four in the T20 game.

Spinner Evans was the most impressive of the bowlers with two for 33 in her four overs.

Faced with such a big score, the DP World Lions did not produce their best with the bat, eventually being restricted to 142 for nine in their 20 overs, losing by 56 runs.

That was despite the marvellous start given to them by Viljoen-Louw (29 off 25) and Brits (40 off 25).

The death knell sounded for the existing Cricket South Africa Board on Sunday with the resignation of five non-independent directors and the move to appoint a Board with much better practitioners of corporate governance can now gain pace, according a Members Council insider.

The resignations of acting president Beresford Williams and fellow directors Angelo Carolissen (Boland), Donovan May (Eastern Province), John Mogodi (Limpopo) and Tebogo Siko (Northerns) has left the Board with just one non-independent director in Zola Thamae and three independents – Dr Eugenia Kula-Ameyaw, Marius Schoeman and Vuyokazi Memani-Sedile.

But they are expected to also stand down before Tuesday’s deadline set for CSA by sports minister Nathi Mthethwa, opening the way for an interim board to be appointed, which will complete the adjustments to the Memorandum of Incorporation that will change the composition of the Board. The major changes will see a majority of independent directors and non-independent directors will no longer also have a seat on the Members Council, as per the recommendations of the Nicholson Commission of Enquiry in 2012.

“Not all of the directors were happy to go, but they were basically told they had to, we forced them. We will now wait for the independents to resign, and if they don’t do that then we will deal with them quickly. An interim board will then be set up and we will take a suggestion as to how that should happen to the sports minister on Tuesday. And Sascoc will assist us with that.

“There may be one or two current members of the Members Council on that interim board, but we have decided that nobody who was in office in the four years between 2016 and December 2019 will be eligible,” the Members Council insider told The Citizen on Sunday.

It seems Anne Vilas of Central Gauteng cricket and KZN president Ben Dladla, two of the stars in the Members Council’s efforts to flex their muscle against the board, could be involved in that interim board because they have only recently been elected.

There are some doubts, however, that the interim board will be able to get the new MOI formalised before the AGM on December 5, leading to a possible delay in elections for the permanent new board.

It will be interesting to see how the new independent directors, who should make up the majority of the board, are elected because there have been some far-from-stellar appointments in the last few years. The independent directors that have been there have largely failed to intervene in the governance scandals that have plagued CSA and in some instances have actually made them worse.