Ken Borland

The DP World Lions scored the least number of runs in the powerplay out of all the teams in the CSA T20 Challenge, and yet they went on to top the log and win the competition in convincing fashion, which points to how smart their cricket was, and in the last two weeks it had a lot to do with the riches of experience brought to the number three position by Rassie van der Dussen.

The final at the DP World Wanderers Stadium last weekend was a case in point. The Momentum Multiply Titans went hard in the powerplay and consequently made a poor start on a tricky pitch, crashing to 34 for three in the first six overs. That became 54 for six in the ninth over and our DP World Lions were in a powerful position early in the game.

“Aiming for around 40 in the powerplay has served us well,” head coach Russell Domingo said after claiming the title with a clinical eight-wicket win with 29 balls to spare. “I’m a bit old-fashioned in that I like to have wickets in hand, be more circumspect up front, especially at the DP World Wanderers where the ball does a bit. A lot of people think the first six overs are the most important, but I think the last six are.”

Van der Dussen has epitomised that smart cricket since he returned to the team from duty overseas for the last two round-robin matches and then the playoffs – notching scores of 43 (off 33 balls), 59 (38), 40* (37) and 44 not out in the final off just 31 deliveries. That saw him to the top of the final batting averages with 186 runs at an average of 93 and a healthy strike-rate of 133.81.

“We know how to play at the DP World Wanderers and it’s not as if the pitch gets better in the second innings. So in the first 10 overs we’ve been happy to be around run-a-ball as long as we’re not too many wickets down, because from 60 for six there is no coming back, like we saw in the final,” Van der Dussen said.

“So we’re happy if we’re 60 for two or three at halfway because then we are set up to get 160/170. We’re really trying to guard our wickets. At a place like SuperSport Park, where it’s really flat and the ball flies, you can take on the powerplay and you can be 70 after six overs. But we use our home advantage.

“I’m happy playing a certain way and I do have a few years of experience. My stats get nit-picked and it’s been said that I don’t score enough runs in my first few balls. So I’ve had to find the balance between righting those stats and the fact that I really want to win. I will do whatever is needed to win, whatever it takes to get to the playoffs. People use stats in whatever way suits them, but there’s only one thing that’s always at the forefront of my mind and that’s what’s needed to win in the current situation. I love playing for the Lions and I just want them to win,” Van der Dussen said.

The other obvious feature of our DP World Lions’ triumph was how the absence of Proteas stars like Temba Bavuma, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder and Kagiso Rabada did not stop the charge of #ThePrideOfJozi to the title.

“It’s been great to see that despite having lost Ryan, Temba, KG and Wiaan to the Proteas, and myself, Reeza Hendricks, Nqaba Peter and Bjorn Fortuin at the start, we were still able to defend our title,” Van der Dussen said. “To see others coming in has been fantastic, like Junaid Dawood, who still finished as the leading wicket-taker in the competition, with Kwena Mapahaka, even though he didn’t play the last few games.

“That’s always our challenge at the DP World Lions, to rectify the loss of our Proteas, to fill the gaps. Russell communicated with us at the start of the season that it was not a long tournament, so he also had to balance giving guys playing opportunity. The back-up guys also need to get game-time, you need to give them responsibility so we can see what we’ve got after the internationals.

“They have filtered in really well and it’s been a totally different team to win the competition this season. And it’s been great to see the same principles that we aspired to last season – things like work ethic, not getting ahead of ourselves and there being no egos, speaking the same language – have been there again.

“But when you have leaders like Jono Leaf-Wright and Russell Domingo, then they keep you so grounded. Jono is just the best human being and Russell is always really direct and honest with us,” the veteran stalwart of #ThePrideOfJozi said.

SUN CITY, North-West – United States-based South African Paula Reto may have looked a bit like a fish out of water when she bogeyed the second and third holes on the second day of the SuperSport Ladies Challenge presented by Sun International on Thursday, but the rest of her round at the Lost City Golf Club then went swimmingly as she claimed a share of the lead.

Reto went on a run of five birdies in six holes from the fifth hole, and then added back-to-back birdies on the 13^th and 14^th holes, before returning from a lightning break with another gain on the 17^th. Her superb six-under-par 66 lifted her to eight-under overall and she will go into the final round tied for the lead with India’s Tvesa Malik, who fired a stunning 65.

The 33-year-old Reto won this tournament in 2022, but it was then played at the Gary Player Country Club. But after a tough 2023 campaign on the LPGA Tour, Reto is in a good frame of mind back in her home country, and it showed in her ability to bounce back from two early setbacks on Thursday.

“I don’t know what happened really, I hit a bad tee-shot on the second and suddenly I’d gone bogey-bogey. I just said to myself that I must give myself opportunities and fortunately I then managed to get the ball close to the hole a few times, and chipped in on the eighth, which is always nice for your momentum,” Reto said.

“Lost City is completely different to the GPCC, you have to strategise more off the tees, it’s a course that requires more thinking. To be able to bounce back after those two bogeys felt really good and I was very happy that I kept to the plan. I was able to stay on plan and not let the bogeys get to me.

“Last year was tough because I struggled with my swing a bit and I couldn’t string four good rounds together. It starts to take a toll on your confidence and you start to try and change so much all at once.

“So at the start of this year I just tried to hone in on a few things, make sure I do those basics well. I’m happy with where my game is heading and I just love coming back here to South Africa, being with my family and feeling a bit like I’m on vacation,” Reto said.

Getting married on December 29 to fellow Indian professional golfer Ajeetesh Sandhu certainly seems to have bear fruit for Malik as she produced an outstanding, bogey-free round with four birdies on the back nine and then three on the front.

First-round leader Lauren Taylor shot a 70 on Thursday to move to six-under-par, two off the lead, while exciting South African youngster Gabrielle Venter shot 68 on Thursday to move to five-under.

After being out of action for three months, it is with great glee that the DP World Lions Ladies team will return to the field this weekend, as they travel to Durban to take on the HollywoodBets Dolphins in both a one-day and a T20 match.

The Dolphins will be tough opponents in the 50-over contest, where they are top of the log, three points ahead of the Titans with a game in hand, and nine points better off than the Lions.

But those tables are reversed in the T20 league. Western Province may be 12 points clear of the DP World Lions at the top of the standings at the moment, but our Pride are second with a game in hand and if they beat the Dolphins and also win their remaining three matches then it is possible for them to defend their title.

Their hosts this weekend have only won two of their six T20 matches this season and are languishing second-from-bottom on the log.

DP World Lions Ladies coach Shaun Pretorius says his team are ready and keen to get the second half of their season going, their last match having been their T20 visit to the Titans on November 19.

“All the hard work has been done in the last few weeks, the ladies have really been grafting and we have had good preparation for this weekend. They are excited to now just go out and jol,” Pretorius said.

“The T20 match is particularly vital for us because we are in a really good position in that competition. In the 50-over league, it’s about making sure we climb the log in our remaining matches, even if it’s just inches at a time. We are still going out to compete, not just to participate.”

The KwaZulu-Natal Coastal side’s reliance on spin at Kingsmead is no longer original and Pretorius said our DP World Lions Ladies are forewarned and well-prepared for the challenge.

“We have worked on plans to combat each of their bowlers and we think they’re going to have their best line-up without their Proteas. That means they will be without their formidable left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba, so that’s one threat that is away.

“We are aware that spin is their main threat down there and we are also looking at lots of spin-bowling options, depending on what the pitch looks like. The games will be all about those crucial small phases in the game and how we conduct ourselves in them will be the key,” Pretorius said.

The Dolphins will also be missing pace bowler Ayanda Hlubi, while the only member of the Lions Pride on duty for the Proteas Test squad is wicketkeeper/batter Sinalo Jafta. But the highly-promising Karabo Meso is most able to step into her shoes.

The North-West Dragons won the toss and elected to bat first in their CSA 4-Day Series match against the Northerns Titans at Centurion on Sunday, but their innings soon spiralled out of control and they were bowled out for just 148.

Northerns had reached 18 for one in reply when bad light stopped play.

Junior Dala set the ball rolling when his short ball outside off-stump saw a hooking Grant Mokoena (4) looping the ball to mid-on.

Aya Gqamane, curving the ball back into the right-handers, then trapped both Lesego Senokwane (14) and Shaylin Pillay (18) lbw, before Senuran Muthusamy (13), swivelling on a pull shot, hit the ball straight to midwicket as the Eastern Cape product finished with figures of three for 40 in 13 overs, doing most of the damage in a marvellous bowling display by the Titans.

Dala then returned to claim his second wicket, Khanya Cotani (0) edging a drive and being well-taken in the slips by Donovan Ferreira, as North-West crashed to 83 for six.

JP King (38) and Duan Jansen (37) provided some resistance with a seventh-wicket stand of 47, but the entire innings was all over in four hours, just 56.2 overs.

Apart from Gqamane and Dala, the Northerns production line of fast bowlers looks promising with both Merrick Brett (11-5-20-2) and Matthew Boast (14-4-41-1) impressing on their first-class debuts for the Titans. Left-arm spinner Neil Brand also collected two late wickets.

The Titans were only able to bat for six overs before play was prematurely ended by an approaching storm, but Brand reached 14 not out in that time. Jiveshan Pillay was with him on four not out, after the dismissal of Modiri Litheko for a duck.

He was undone by some fine bowling by Renaldo Meyer: a big inswinger the previous ball led to an unsuccessful lbw appeal, but the next delivery was perfectly pitched, Litheko came forward to defend, but a beautiful away-swinger found the edge of his bat to have him caught behind.

Lions v Dolphins

Conditions were all in the batsmen’s favour in Potchefstroom on Sunday as the KZN Dolphins amassed 181 for two against the Central Gauteng Lions in their match, before play was washed out in the afternoon.

The Lions did manage to make an early strike when the all-effort Codi Yusuf fired the ball into the blockhole and trapped Tshepang Dithole lbw for 3.

But Proteas batsmen Sarel Erwee and Keegan Petersen were determined and focused as they added 99 for the second wicket, before Malusi Siboto drew a slip catch from Petersen (58).

While Erwee ploughed on to 75 not out off 168 balls, Marques Ackerman was able to turn a slow start into 40 undefeated runs off just 47 balls, the Lions bowlers perhaps being guilty of giving the left-hander an excess of leg-side scoring opportunities.

Yusuf finished the day with one for 37 in 13 overs and Siboto had taken one for 35 in the same number of overs.

In order to have a chance of claiming the four-day title in this final round of fixtures, the Lions have to beat the Dolphins and also get 5.74 more bonus points than them.

At the moment, the Dolphins have collected 1.62 more points than the Lions.

WP v EP

In the match between the two other teams in contention for the title, the Eastern Province Warriors batsmen feasted on the Western Province attack as they piled up 347 for nine at Newlands.

An excellent top-order display laid the foundation, with the extremely talented Jordan Hermann setting the tone with 81 up front, Diego Rosier (59) and Matthew Breetzke (52) then both scored half-centuries, and Rudi Second chipped in with 48.

FS Knights v Boland

In the other match, the Free State Knights bowled the Boland Rocks out for 212 in Paarl, and had made 99 for three in reply.

The promising Michael Copeland led the way for Boland with 55, while veteran off-spinner Aubrey Swanepoel took five for 67 in 24.4 overs for the Knights.

Opener Matthew Kleinveldt was the mainstay of the Free State reply, with 50 not out.