Ken Borland

Pace bowling at the DP World Wanderers Stadium can be a rewarding occupation, but there is a great deal of precision and effort required to garner the success that Codi Yusuf has been enjoying for #ThePrideOfJozi.

The 26-year-old Yusuf took five for 71 in the first innings of the DP World Lions’ previous match at their Johannesburg fortress, and added the key wicket of Eddie Moore in the second innIngs as the men’s team beat World Sports Betting Western Province by 125 runs in their CSA 4-Day Series match that ended last weekend.

It was fine, fiery and skilful stuff from Yusuf and it is the sort of pressure-inducing bowling that he and the rest of the DP World Lions attack want to bring to their next match, against the Dafabet Warriors from Eastern Province, at the Wanderers from Thursday.

The convincing victory over Western Province was a repeat of last season’s thrilling final and it has taken #ThePrideOfJozi to the top of the standings, with two wins and a draw giving them 60.14 points. The defending champions have a healthy 13.74-point lead over the second-placed Momentum Multiply Titans.

“We are in a good position at the moment and you want to give yourself the best chance of winning the title, like we did last season when we had a home final,” Yusuf said. “We’ve got the majority of our games in the early part of the competition at home and that stands us in good stead. We are the defending champions and obviously we want to hang on to that trophy.

“We are gelling very well as an attack, so we will look to bring a lot more of the same. We look to play hard in the field, not give the opposition as much freedom to do their thing. It’s nothing too complicated, the DP World Wanderers pitch will give you a lot of help if you do the basics right.

“It’s our backyard so we do have a bit of an advantage and we know how to bowl on the slope. But your length is also extremely important. If you bowl a touch short then the ball will go over the stumps and the batsman gets the pace of the pitch better and the ball moves too early so they have extra time to adjust and get set.

“You don’t want to bowl full, but slightly fuller than back-of-a-length, you want to challenge the top of off-stump, get the batsman on the front foot as much as possible. And you also need energy on the ball,” Yusuf said.

Last season was the kindling for Yusuf to burst on to the scene as one of the most promising young fast bowlers in the country. Having previously struggled to nail down a regular place in the DP World Lions starting XI – in the three seasons between 2020/21 and 2022/23 he played just eight matches and took 17 wickets at 35.52 – in 2023/24 he played an integral part in the four-day triumph with 21 wickets in six games at an average of 33.57.So far this season, he is going even better, with 13 wickets in three matches at just 23.61.

“I’ve learnt a lot in the last two seasons and I think I’ve played my role better. It’s nice to be able to lead the attack, I enjoy the responsibility. I’m feeling good at the moment, I’m in very good rhythm even though I’ve had a bit of a no-ball problem,” the University of Johannesburg alumnus said.

Yusuf’s growing standing in the local game has been underlined by his appearances for the Paarl Royals in the first two editions of the Betway SA20 league, and he was also chosen to represent the SA A team at the start of this summer.

The Knysna-born Yusuf is certainly in Elysium in terms of where his career is at, speaking with great enthusiasm about both the DP World Lions and the Royals franchise.

“It’s just very exciting, a lot of life-changing things are happening for me at the moment. The SA20 is coming now and that has allowed players like me to get more exposure, a lot more people can see what I’m about.

“It also helped me here at the DP World Lions because Russell Domingo saw me bowl at 145 against his Sunrisers Eastern Cape team, he saw there was more about me and he backed me in T20 as well.

“We are enjoying a lot of success as a union, we have an unbelievable coaching staff with a lot of knowledge. I just try to be a sponge and learn as much as I can from them. So I’m definitely very excited for the next few years, I just want to learn more and progress in the game,” Yusuf said at the announcement that DP World are now a logistics partner of the Betway SA20.

For now, Yusuf and his team-mates are focused on ensuring the DP World Lions do not slip up against the winless Warriors, to ensure they go into their break from four-day cricket still firmly ensconced at the top of the log.

Proteas star Tazmin Brits will make her debut for the DP World Lions Ladies team this weekend as #ThePrideOfJozi look to continue their impressive start to the season in the Gauteng derby with the Fidelity Titans at SuperSport Park in Centurion.

Brits was signed from South-Western Districts by the DP World Lions in the off-season and is coming off an outstanding T20 World Cup, where she was the tournament’s second-leading run-scorer behind captain Laura Wolvaardt.

Apart from being a world-class opening batter, the 33-year-old Brits is also a prolific run-scorer at domestic level and her presence in our DP World Lions team could provide that little bit extra that takes our Pride from being runners-up in both the 50-over and T20 competitions last season, to champions.

So far this season, #ThePrideOfJozi have enjoyed two bonus point wins in the HollywoodBets Pro50 Series, while they have won one and lost one of their T20 games.

The batting has largely been led by the middle and lower-order, with the top-order getting starts but so far not converting. Brits and her enormous experience and ability could well change that.

“Now that the Proteas have been back for a while, Tazmin will be joining us and that will be good for our top-order,” coach Shaun Pretorius said. “Hopefully they will now fire. They’ve had a bit of a slump, but we support them and we know they are motivated to build a way through this passage of form.

“The middle and lower-order have been really good, but imagine the freedom they could play with with a good foundation up top. We just need to make sure we take care of that phase, get through the first 10 overs and not allow any soft dismissals. The number of wickets we’re losing is a bit concerning,” Pretorius said.

A Jukskei Derby is always a massive match for DP World Lions Cricket and Pretorius said the Ladies camp is buzzing ahead of their visit to SuperSport Park, especially since the men’s team beat the Titans twice last week to win the CSA T20 Challenge.

“I’m a bit of a nervous man,” Pretorius chuckled, “because the men have set the tone with two wins of note against the Titans. They will also have Proteas back and we don’t look down on teams who are losing, especially if they’re at the bottom because then they will be very hungry and you never know when they will click.

“For us, it’s very important we make sure we execute properly and win the different phases of the game. We’ve had good execution of our plans so far and I’m definitely happy with our performances, but there are still areas for us to improve on, especially in the T20,” Pretorius said.

The Titans are currently situated in fourth place on the Pro50 table and are fifth in the T20 standings. So, playing at home, they will be desperate to turn things around against their arch-rivals.

Our DP World Lions will be without SA U19 stars Fay Cowling, Karabo Meso and Diara Ramlakan, who are currently in Pretoria excelling against the Irish U19s, for Saturday’s 50-over match, but Pretorius will see where they are in terms of energy levels for Sunday’s HollywoodBets Pro20 Series game.

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.