Ken Borland

Our DP World Lions ensured that winning trophies is not just a once-off occurrence as #ThePrideOfJozi claimed their third successive title when they won the CSA T20 Challenge final in commanding fashion on Sunday, hammering the Momentum Multiply Titans by eight wickets with 29 balls to spare.

It ensured our Pride hung on to the CSA T20 Challenge trophy they won in April, which came after the CSA 4-Day Series triumph in February, making it three successive tournaments won by head coach Russell Domingo and his charges.

It was also the second convincing victory over the Titans at the DP World Wanderers Stadium in the space of a week, making up for the heavy defeat the Pride suffered against their Gauteng neighbours in the opening match of the campaign.

On Sunday the Titans once again elected to bat first and once the DP World Lions new-ball bowlers had bowled superbly in the powerplay to reduce the visitors to 34 for three in the first six overs, there was no stopping #ThePrideOfJozi.

Delano Potgieter and the freakish young talent that is Kwena Maphaka both struck once with the new ball and then Lutho Sipamla produced the spell of a lifetime.

The paceman produced an astonishing burst of four for seven in his first three overs, including the massive wickets of the Titans’ two most dangerous batsmen, Heinrich Klaasen and Donovan Ferreira.

Sipamla’s brilliantly consistent lengths proved the undoing of a Titans batting line-up that went hard on a pitch that certainly provided a bit of nibble for the bowlers.

Sibonelo Makhanya (4) was the first to try and hit Sipamla off his length and fail, hitting the ball to a straight midwicket. Rivaldo Moonsamy was then caught behind in Sipamla’s next over and, with the following delivery, the Proteas representative bowled Ferreira for a duck, snaking a delivery back into the flatfooted batsman.

Klaasen had just hit a six and was an obvious threat as he reached 13 not out off 12 balls, but Sipamla produced a fantastic delivery that just nipped away to find the edge and the T20 superstar was also caught behind by Connor Esterhuizen.

Sipamla finished with four for 12 in his four overs, the best ever figures in a CSA T20 Challenge final.

“It’s very special and I’m very grateful to God after a tough time with injuries last year. It’s nice to see my hard work getting results. I don’t try to think too much beyond my processes and being my best whether at practice or in the game,” Sipamla said after the impressive triumph.

“The top of off-stump is always very effective and [bowling coach] Allan Donald always pushes for that. Hitting the top of off is probably your best ball, especially on pitches like that and it’s all about execution. I just try to be in the moment and the rest will take care of itself,” Sipamla said.

Maphaka finished with two for 15 in another hugely impressive four-over stint, while captain Bjorn Fortuin took two for 10 in three overs as the Titans were bundled out for just 119.

The DP World Lions were in some early bother in their reply, slipping to 26 for two in five overs, but they were much more in tune with the conditions and batted with calculated precision to chase down their target in 15.1 overs.

In Rassie van der Dussen they had the perfect man to steer them home as he scored 44 not out off 31 deliveries with seven fours and a six. He showed his class and composure after coming to the wicket in the third over.

Esterhuizen, who has made his home superbly well batting in the middle-order, played some great strikes through the covers, collecting six fours and a six, but also gathering the important ones and twos to keep the scoreboard moving. Esterhuizen finished the match in style by pulling fast bowler Gerald Coetzee for a massive six, out of the ground and into the flats beyond the eastern stand.

The 23-year-old finished on 48 not out off 36 balls, putting on an unbeaten 98 for the third wicket with Van der Dussen, off 68 deliveries.

Our DP World Lions began their CSA T20 Challenge campaign with a painful defeat on their home turf against the Momentum Multiply Titans; but on Tuesday night they massaged that pain away with a comprehensive victory over their Gauteng neighbours, winning Qualifier 1 by seven wickets with four overs to spare to go directly into Sunday’s final.

It was an excellent all-round performance at the DP World Wanderers Stadium by #ThePrideOfJozi, with the bowlers doing a great job by bowling the Titans out for just 115, and then the batsmen, led by the ever-reliable Reeza Hendricks, cruised to 116 for three after 16 overs.

A good decision at the toss by skipper Bjorn Fortuin to bowl first because there was a bit of life in the pitch saw the DP World Lions take advantage as they reduced the Titans to 19 for three in the first four overs. Young Kwena Maphaka was once again superb as he took two of those three wickets, and then returned to claim a third in the penultimate over, finishing with figures of 4-1-11-3, the joint most economical in the competition this season.

Delano Potgieter was also excellent up front with one for 22 in his four overs, figures replicated by the other main all-rounder in the team, Evan Jones. Leg-spinner Nqaba Peter then wrapped up the innings with an outstanding return of 4-1-15-4, bamboozling and bowling both Donovan Ferreira and Dayyaan Galiem with his trademark sliders.

The loss of Zubayr Hamza (4) caught at cover in the third over, caused barely a pause for thought in the DP World Lions reply as Hendricks played a marvellous innings. The Proteas star looked comfortable on a pitch that always had something in it for the bowlers, stroking 61 off 43 balls, with seven fours and two sixes. Hendricks fell, trapped lbw by a Galiem off-cutter, just four runs short of becoming the highest ever run-scorer in the history of this competition: He moved to 3180 runs in 106 innings and Morne van Wyk’s record of 3183 runs in 113 innings will surely be surpassed in Sunday’s final.

The vastly experienced Rassie van der Dussen also played a fine innings as he stayed to the end, scoring 40 not out off 37 deliveries, with four fours. He added 92 off 69 balls for the second wicket with Hendricks.

Just as they did last season when they won the CSA T20 Challenge, our DP World Lions seem to saving their best cricket for the playoff rounds.

“We couldn’t really have asked for anything better tonight,” Hendricks said. “The bowlers set the tone, restricting the Titans to a good score for us, and then we were clinical with the bat to finish things off. So we are happy with the performance and hopefully we can repeat it on Sunday.

“It was a really good game by us after we had a bit of a stumble against Western Province last week, and hopefully we are peaking at the right time again. It gives us a great deal of confidence to beat this strong Titans outfit, but whoever we play on Sunday is going to come out firing against us,” Hendricks said.

A brilliant bowling display allowed Joburg Super Kings to restrict Paarl Royals to 150 for nine and captain Faf du Plessis then played the major batting role in them getting across the line with seven wickets and 13 balls to spare in their crucial SA20 match at the Wanderers on Thursday night.

Du Plessis produced a fabulous innings of 87 off just 55 balls, with four sixes and seven fiery sixes; even at the advanced age of 40 he remains a fine batsman, innovator and a wonderful striker of the ball.

It was a vital win for the Super Kings, who were under pressure, lying fourth, just one point ahead of their neighbours and vanquishers earlier this week, Pretoria Capitals. Joburg are now up to third, level on 19 points with Sunrisers Eastern Cape, ahead of them on nett run-rate, both teams having won at home in their head-to-head clash.

That pressure now moves across on to the Pretoria Capitals, who really need to win, preferably with a bonus point, against MI Cape Town at Centurion on Friday. Sunrisers Eastern Cape then host the Paarl Royals on Saturday in a must-win game for the two-time defending champions.

With only eight of 24 matches this season being won by the team batting first, Du Plessis had little hesitation in bowling first after he won the toss. Sam Hain, the replacement at the top of the order for the marvellous Joe Root, did not last the first over.

Part-time off-spinner Donavan Ferreira was opening the bowling and Hain tried to hammer his second delivery down the ground, but there were early signs of turn and the ball was dragged to cow corner.

Lutho Sipamla must be rapidly developing into the apple of Du Plessis’ eye, having been brought into the Super Kings squad as a late replacement due to the five frontline bowlers they have lost to injury. The Proteas seamer was again pivotal on Thursday, taking three for 19 in his four outstanding overs, starting with the wicket of the new sensation, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, for 19 off 11 balls.

Sipamla also plucked out Keith Dudgeon (1) and Bjorn Fortuin (12) and now has 11 wickets in seven games. Only five other bowlers are in double-figures.

The pacy Hardus Viljoen added some heat to the sauce and took one for 25 in his four overs, but it was Ferreira who arguably did the most damage to the high-flying Paarl Royals batting line-up, bringing down Hain (2), Rubin Hermann (28) and Dayyaan Galiem (9) as he finished with a career-best three for 23.

Even though Root and David Miller, whose wife gave birth in the morning, were missing from the Royals team, veteran Indian star Dinesh Karthik was still way down at number six in the batting order. He formed a workmanlike partnership of 58 for the seventh wicket with Fortuin, striking back at the dominant Joburg attack with three late sixes.

Karthik’s 53 off 39 balls at least gave the visitors a total they could try to defend.

But first they had to get past Du Plessis, which proved near impossible, such was the domineering mood of the former Proteas captain. He provided most of the momentum in a first-wicket stand of 54 in seven overs with Devon Conway (20) and then added another 76 for the second wicket off 50 deliveries with Leus du Plooy, who was back for his first game in a week and will be pleased with his unbeaten 18 off 16 balls.

Kwena Maphaka was the pick of the Paarl bowlers, conceding just 18 runs in his three overs, but the 18-year-old was given some lessons in the mental battle at the top level as Du Plessis had much to say to him. Faf is old enough to be his dad, but it did not seem like fatherly advice that was being dispensed out in the middle.

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.