Ken Borland

The members of the Pride who put in an enormous amount of work to make the 2023/24 season such a success for the DP World Lions were rewarded at the glittering Lions Cricket Awards Dinner in Sandton on Saturday night, with Bjorn Fortuin emerging as the big winner.

The DP World Lions’ triumphant men’s T20 captain was named both the DP World Player of the Season and the McDonald’s Players’ Player of the Season.

The evergreen Kirstie Thomson won the DP World Player of the Season award for the DP World Lions women’s team, while highly-respected captain Kgomotso Rapoo was the McDonald’s Players’ Player of the Season. It was also a special evening for left-arm seamer Relebohile Mkhize, whose exciting talent was recognised with the McDonald’s Fans’ Player of the Season and BAS Newcomer of the Season crowns.

Exciting spinner Nqaba Peter also did the double of the McDonald’s Fans’ Player of the Season and BAS Newcomer of the Season awards for the DP World Lions men’s team.

Left-arm spinner Fortuin was in divine form throughout the season with the ball, taking 60 wickets across the three competitions. He was the leading wicket-taker in the CSA 4-Day Series, claiming 35 wickets at an average of 26.11 as he spearheaded the DP World Lions’ title-winning campaign. Fortuin also averaged 26 with the bat, including an unbeaten century against the Dolphins.

He bowled with exceptional control and guile in the white-ball competitions. Fortuin took 18 wickets (4^th best) and conceded just 5.85 runs-per-over (3^rd best) as the DP World Lions stormed to the T20 Challenge title, and he was also the team’s joint leading wicket-taker in the CSA 1-Day Cup, as well as being one of the most economical bowlers in the competition.

The 35-year-old Thomson put to bed any thoughts of impending retirement as she topped the DP World Lions’ batting averages in both the One-Day Cup and the T20 competition. She averaged 51.66 at a strike-rate of 90 in the 50-over tournament and 42.16 at a strike-rate of 117 in the T20s.

Mkhize was thrown into the deep end in her debut season and successfully crossed over from being a rookie to an integral part of the #PrideOfJozi. She was outstanding in the T20 Cup, taking eight wickets in eight matches, the most for the DP World Lions, and conceding just 3.93 runs-per-over. Mkhize also took seven wickets in four One-Day matches, with an economy rate of just 4.50.

There was a touch of the magical about Peter’s introduction to the DP World Lions family as well as he bowled himself into the Proteas team with a glorious T20 campaign. The 21-year-old leg-spinner claimed 20 wickets, the second-most in the competition, at an average of just 9.50 and he conceded only 5.84 runs-per-over.

Rapoo has successfully embedded herself as the undisputed leader of the Lions Ladies pride, having taken over the captaincy at the start of the season.

Her canny spin saw her take 13 One-Day Cup wickets, the top-five nationally, and she only conceded 3.72 runs-per-over. In the T20 competition, Rapoo took seven wickets and went for only 6.00 runs-per-over. The opposition could also never afford to underestimate her hard-hitting batting, as Rapoo averaged 25.25 in the 50-over competition.

Delano Potgieter entranced viewers of the CSA 4-Day Series final with his muscular batting that led the DP World Lions to a victory that defied belief, and he was named the Masana Most Improved Player of the Season for the men’s team.

Nonkululeko Thabethe won the equivalent Afripure Most Improved Player of the Season award for the women’s side for the very pleasing growth in her batting.

There’s a kind of maturity and boosted confidence that comes from having experienced playing at the highest level and one can tell the DP World Lions’ young star Karabo Meso has come back from her debut stint with the Proteas even better equipped to be a major contributor for the Pride going forward.

The 16-year-old Meso played in the recent series against Sri Lanka that was hosted in South Africa and, while her playing opportunities were limited to two T20s and a lengthy stint behind the stumps in the third ODI as a replacement for the injured Sinalo Jafta, she still had plenty of stories to share.

“Eish, it is a different level, especially in terms of how everything is managed. Being able to do things together with the other Proteas, you can see how those players manage their space. I could see how they get ready before a game, how they are the day before and how they are after the match,” Meso said.

“I was really happy to be there and I was able to learn lots of stuff. Experience-wise, while I was not playing I was able to sit with the coaches and just talk about the game. It was a great experience to have at a young age and I think I handled it nicely with all the support I had and my grounding at the DP World Lions,” Meso said.

Marizanne Kapp is one of South Africa’s all-time greats, but at 34 years old, she is very much part of a different generation to Meso. Kapp made her international debut back in 2009, when fax machines were still being used, but Meso and the veteran all-rounder were still able to connect.

“I was scared at first, but it was a very welcoming team,” Meso said of the Proteas. “I was able to sit with different players and I learnt a lot chatting to them. Like Marizanne, most people think she’s quite scary but she’s not, she’s actually very nice.

“I thought I wouldn’t be able to talk to her, but I ended up drinking coffee with her and she told me all about her first game and her experiences as a Protea, at the Big Bash and just how she manages her life.”

The Soweto resident was thrown into the deep end in the ODI series decider against Sri Lanka, having to replace fellow DP World Lions star Jafta behind the stumps in the closing stages. There were obviously nerves, but Meso bundled together all the advice and support she had received from her team-mates to handle herself with aplomb.

“It was quite an ODI intro! Things happen quickly at that level and you have to show that you are ready, no matter what. You have to be switched on, even though you’re not playing,” Meso said.

But being ready is a quality Meso has shown in abundance with the DP World Lions; coach Shaun Pretorius has never had to babysit her even though she made her debut when she was just a child.

“Karabo is a phenomenally good cricketer, especially mentally, her cricket understanding is so good. We forget that she was just 13 when she debuted for the Pride and she has grown a lot,” Pretorius said.

“She has such maturity and a really good head on her shoulders. She is strong-minded, firm in her belief in her game-plans and how she operates. Karabo wears her heart on her sleeve and whatever she does on the field she does with pride.

“She’s definitely one of the upcoming stars of the DP World Lions and Proteas set-ups and her recent success is testament to all the hard work Karabo has put in.

“But most importantly she is just such a good human being, you just want to be in her space and feed off her energy and positivity. We are all very proud of Karabo at the DP World Lions,” Pretorius said.

We are indeed.

Like a dieter trying to increase their metabolism, our DP World Lions men’s team have been hunting increased intensity in the field in the CSA T20 Challenge and the Pride certainly reached their goal in the Western Cape over the last week.

An impressive and commanding nine-wicket win over the Boland Rocks last weekend in Paarl was followed on Wednesday night by an even more tremendous, record-breaking triumph over Western Province at Newlands.

On a memorable evening for the #PrideOfJozi, they hammered WP by 132 runs, the biggest ever victory margin in the history of the competition. Having scored 213 for two, their highest ever T20 total against their traditional rivals, the DP World Lions then bundled the home side out for just 81. The record-breaking effort erases the Lions’ own previous mark for the heaviest defeat, having been beaten by 130 runs by the Eagles in Potchefstroom in 2004/5.

Having now secured second place with a five-point lead over Western Province, it all sets the DP World Lions up beautifully for their clash with the HollywoodBets Dolphins in Johannesburg on Friday night.

While there were superb individual performances from Ryan Rickelton (73 off 46), Reeza Hendricks (90 off 49), Lutho Sipamla (3-1-14-3) and Nqaba Peter (2.3-1-7-4 – the third-best figures ever for the Lions) in Cape Town, coach Russell Domingo was delighted by the lift in intensity by the team as a whole.

“We’ve been wanting to play to our standards and intensity. We have a lot of internationals in our team and with small crowds it can be challenging for them because they’re used to thousands of spectators. So we’ve tried to match our intensity to our own standards and we were crazy good with both bat and ball at Newlands and the fielding was really superb,” Domingo said.

“But the Dolphins have a formidable side with in-form batsmen, pace bowlers and spinners. They beat us in Durban and we’re going to have to be on top of our game, focusing on how we control the game.”

Rickelton and Hendricks, who put on an outstanding 151 for the first wicket – a record for Newlands, have now both climbed into the top six of the batting averages with over 250 runs to their names; only Rubin Hermann of the Dragons has scored more.

Rassie van der Dussen (29* off 18) and Delano Potgieter (14* off 7) then provided the finishing touches to the record total.

“It was good to see the batting fire after what has been a strange campaign with us not batting first a lot and having to chase several low scores. Reeza and Ryan batted superbly and they are both quality batsmen. They are finding a way to get substantial scores now that we’re in the crucial stages of the competition,” Domingo said.

Lutho Sipamla and Tshepo Moreki then backed up the batting effort by bowling superbly with the new ball, reducing WP to 38 for four in the powerplay, Sipamla being rewarded with career-best figures.

“Lutho and Tshepo were fantastic and they bowled really good Test lengths, they were aggressive and the pitch did a bit at night. I anticipate the DP World Wanderers wicket also doing a bit against the Dolphins, there’s a bit of rain around, it’s late in the season and there’s a chill in the air. We’ll have to assess and adapt to that as well,” Domingo said.

With the increased pressure, Peter ripped through the remaining batsmen, baffling them with his flat leg-spin and changes of pace. Following on from his three for 14 against the Rocks, the 22-year-old has now taken seven wickets for 38 runs in eight-and-a-half overs and is top of the bowling averages.

“Nqaba bowled brilliantly, his discipline and control was really good,” Domingo said. “He only took up leg-spin a couple of years ago, so it is still a new art for him and he has a long way to go, but he is a really promising talent. He has coaches around him who have learnt from the very best leg-spinners, they give Nqaba feedback in terms of how they were set up as batsmen and he is understanding the nuances of the skill,” Domingo said.

Having kept Western Province in third place on the log, the DP World Lions will now be out to ensure the Dolphins stay fourth, currently 11 points behind them. A third victory in a row for our Pride will also close the gap on the log-leading Warriors to just a handful of points.

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.