Ken Borland

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.

“I am very proud of the way we bounced back, it showed that we have learnt from our mistakes,” chuffed DP World Lions captain Bjorn Fortuin said shortly after lifting the CSA T20 Challenge trophy following their commanding seven-wicket win with 14 balls to spare over the HollywoodBets Dolphins in Johannesburg on Sunday.

While the margin of victory was ultimately comfortable, there were tough periods in the game that our Pride had to overcome. The Dolphins dominated the last five overs of their batting innings to post a competitive 165 for eight, and the DP World Lions had lost three wickets by the halfway stage of their chase.

But just as Fortuin (4-0-24-2) and Codi Yusuf (4-1-16-2) stepped up with the ball, Reeza Hendricks and Wiaan Mulder made light of the situation with the bat, plundering a tremendous unbeaten 85 runs for the fourth wicket off just 48 balls.

Hendricks played the perfect anchoring role, facing the first ball of the innings and batting through to the end to finish with a wonderful 73 not out off 52 balls, including three sixes. Mulder blasted a fiery 55 not out off just 26 balls, with four sixes.

“All of the squad have been responsible for us winning at some stage,” Fortuin said. “It’s nice to see the younger players developing alongside all the very established players we have.

“The Dolphins batted well after we made it difficult for them at the start, but with our batting line-up, I know if we restrict the opposition to anything close to par, then I’m confident we will chase it down.”

Hendricks and Mulder showed their experience and class during their partnership, when another wicket for the Dolphins could have made for an awkward finish for the #PrideOfJozi. After Ryan Rickelton (18 off 13) and Hendricks had rushed the DP World Lions to 50 in five-and-a-half overs, the Dolphins struck back with three wickets and did not concede another boundary in the next fifty runs.

But vitally, they could not buy another wicket.

“They really kept us honest in the middle and it was important for me to try and bat deep,” Hendricks said. “It was also important to bat well up front and lay a platform, and we did that between Ryan and myself. One of the top four then had to bat through and today it just happened to be me. At the DP World Wanderers Stadium, you want to take it as deep as possible because with wickets in hand, you can always score well in the last five overs.

“We did slow down after the powerplay, but we really needed to make sure we didn’t lose another wicket. Wiaan then came in and played an unbelievable knock, it changed the momentum and put the Dolphins under pressure,” Hendricks said.

Yusuf did a superb job with the ball in the final over, removing both the set batsmen, Jason Smith (51) and Eathan Bosch (17), and he was impressively cheap, going for just four runs an over in his four-over quota.

“Codi has been massive for us. He was in and out of the team at the beginning of the competition and it is tough for a youngster to be mentally up for it when you get dropped after one game and then come back in and are expected to produce. He has a bright future and he’s not just a white-ball bowler,” captain Fortuin said.

Fortuin himself capped an outstanding season with his telling contribution, ending the competition as the second most economical bowler with a run-rate of just 5.85. The left-arm spinner was only fractionally behind Imraan Manack of Boland (5.83).

Rickelton (441) ended as the second-highest run-scorer, with Hendricks just one run behind, while leg-spinner Nqaba Peter, who bowled three tidy overs before getting some punishment in his fourth on Sunday, took the second-most wickets.

Our DP World Lions made sure they will host Sunday’s CSA T20 Challenge final with a commanding win over the Momentum Multiply Titans in Johannesburg on Wednesday night, claiming victory in their semi-final by a sizeable eight wickets with 20 balls to spare.

The #PrideOfJozi continued the great form that carried them to the top of the log after the round-robin stage, overwhelming the Titans with the control and skill of their bowling, and then racing to victory with a powerful batting display. Having successfully converted first place in the standings to a home final at the DP World Wanderers Stadium on Sunday afternoon, the Lions will now face either the Dolphins or the Warriors, who play in Durban on Thursday night in the other semi-final.

Having won the toss, the DP World Lions took to the field first and immediately bossed the Titans. The visitors could only score 38 for one in the powerplay and a 20-minute delay to restore a floodlight did not break the momentum.

If anything, it saw the DP World Lions come back out with even more intent and ruthlessness, as they claimed the next eight Titans wickets for just 87 runs. Our chief hero was once again young leg-spinner Nqaba Peter, one of the finds of the domestic season, as he ripped through the Titans middle-order, taking four for 18 in his four overs.

The 21-year-old Peter has now taken 19 wickets in the campaign, at a ridiculously good average of just 7.78, while conceding only 5.19 runs per over. Another one of our exciting younger players, Codi Yusuf, was also excellent, taking two for 25 in his four overs.

With the match reduced to 18 overs-a-side due to the delay, the Titans finished on a meagre 131 for nine. The DLS recalculation meant our target was 134 in 18 overs.

Ryan Rickelton continued to pursue the leading run-scorer’s title as he struck a punishing 38 off 26 balls, his only boundaries being three large sixes, but the real slaughter came from the bat of Rassie van der Dussen.

The DP World Wanderers became a massacre site for the bowlers as the experienced Proteas star powered his way to a fiery 73 not out off just 45 balls, with eight fours and a six. He added 85 off 53 deliveries for the second wicket with Rickelton, and then Temba Bavuma (19* off 13) was out in the middle with him when the match was won, adding an unbeaten 46 off 31 balls for the third wicket.

Yusuf and Wiaan Mulder had earlier removed Titans openers Lhuan-dre Pretorius (8) and Rivaldo Moonsamy (24), with Peter coming on in the ninth over and immediately spinning his web.

The experienced Sibonelo Makhanya (6) was beaten in the flight and bowled trying to sweep, and then in his third over, Peter removed Neil Brand (7) and David Wiese (0) with successive deliveries. Brand was caught top-edging a sweep, Bavuma making plenty of ground to take a brilliantly-judged running catch at midwicket, while Wiese failed to spot the googly and was comprehensively bowled.

Corbin Bosch (9), hitting out ambitiously but in vain, then became Peter’s fourth and final victim, Yusuf taking a very composed catch on the cow-corner boundary. It is the second time this season the youngster who bowls brisk leg-spin with great variations has picked up four wickets in an innings.

Our DP World Lions, the #PrideOfJozi, continue to justify the adulation of their fans as they finished top of the Cricket South Africa T20 Challenge and will host their semi-final on Wednesday, following their clinical victory over the AET Tuskers in Johannesburg on Sunday.

The Lions comfortably saw off the Tuskers by seven wickets with two-and-a-half overs to spare at the DP World Wanderers Stadium on Sunday, taking them to 44 points from their 10 wins, and setting up a semi-final against the Titans at home on Wednesday.

Victory in that match will ensure our Pride host the final at the DP World Wanderers Stadium next Sunday, against either the Dolphins or the Warriors, who will play the other semi-final at Kingsmead on Thursday.

Our Pride won the toss against the Tuskers and sent the KwaZulu-Natal Inland team in to bat on a DP World Wanderers pitch that provided some assistance for the bowlers but nothing excessive. An excellent bowling and fielding effort saw the visitors restricted to 132 for nine.

Seamers Delano Potgieter and Lutho Sipamla set the tone up front by each grabbing a wicket, and then young leg-spinner Nqaba Peter continued his sensational introduction to franchise cricket as he ripped through the Tuskers middle-order with outstanding figures of three for 15 in his four overs.

Those three wickets came in the space of four deliveries as he dismissed Kyle Nipper for 30 off 25 balls and then trapped hard-hitting Keith Dudgeon lbw first ball. Peter then bowled Ntando Zuma for a duck two deliveries later with his trademark slider.

Sipamla (4-0-25-2) returned to take a second wicket and left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin also took two wickets, for just 19 runs in his four overs.

The writing was on the wall for the Tuskers as Zubayr Hamza and Rassie van der Dussen added 46 off 34 balls for the third wicket. Hamza, as usual, painted some beautiful pictures with his strokeplay as he scored 49 off 38 deliveries, before Van der Dussen splattered three sixes around the field in scoring 51 not out off 35 balls to see the Lions home. The exciting Mitchell van Buuren scored 23 not out off 19 deliveries as he and Van der Dussen added 53 unbeaten runs off 35 balls to seal the victory.

And now the Titans await in the semi-finals. The DP World Lions and their Gauteng neighbours have written the treatise on close finishes in this season’s T20 competition, our Pride winning by one run five weeks ago at the Wanderers, while Northerns won by two runs at the start of the weekend at SuperSport Park.

Sent in to bat at Centurion, a methodical effort by the DP World Lions saw them post 154 for eight. Reeza Hendricks was the pick of the batsmen with 48 off 35 balls, stroking five fours and a six. But he had good support from Temba Bavuma (21 off 13), Wiaan Mulder (25 off 13) and Potgieter (21 off 15).

A terrific bowling effort by the DP World Lions subjected the Titans to pressure throughout their innings, reducing them to 135 for eight after 18 overs.  But from there, the Titans managed to scramble a bye off the last ball to win.

Codi Yusuf (4-0-25-1), Mulder (4-0-24-1) and Peter (4-0-29-2) all produced fine displays with the ball.