Johannesburg – 1 March 2025

The DP World Lions and the Knights each have two wins from four matches in the CSA One-Day Cup this season, but the Free Staters are three points ahead of our Pride and Russell Domingo’s men are eager to put that right when they meet at the DP World Wanderers on Saturday.

Victory for #ThePrideOfJozi at the DP World Wanderers on Saturday will lift them above the Knights and could put them into the top-three and in the playoff places with just two matches remaining.

Having seen off Western Province and the Titans in impressive fashion away from home to start their campaign, our DP World Lions men’s team then slipped to defeats against the North-West Dragons and the KZN Dolphins in Durban in the last week, so there are certainly areas they have targeted for improvement ahead of Saturday’s crunch game.

Zubayr Hamza has looked good for runs in each of his four visits to the crease so far, collecting two half-centuries, while Reeza Hendricks, Connor Esterhuizen, Delano Potgieter and Mitchell van Buuren have each passed fifty once.

But the DP World Lions are yet to notch a century in this season’s campaign, and that needs to change as the CSA One-Day Cup heads towards its conclusion, allowing our Pride to take their totals deep into the 300s.

“The batsmen have had a lot of starts, there’ve been several scores between 30 and 60, but no hundreds. A lot of guys are getting in but then getting out. So we need to find the template to bat a bit longer and deeper. No-one has really been able to kick on so far,” coach Russell Domingo said.

The DP World Lions have also had to deal with injuries causing havoc in their bowling stocks. Lutho Sipamla, in such superb form this year, is out, as is Tshepo Moreki, and Kwena Maphaka will head to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy.

On the plus side, all-rounder Evan Jones has recovered from his broken rib and should be back in the side on Saturday.

While Codi Yusuf has been inspired in his later spells, the new-ball partnership not being able to take wickets in the powerplay has also hurt the DP World Lions.

“We’ve had a few injuries which has certainly had an impact. I’m really pleased to have given some younger guys opportunities, but they do have a lot to learn at this level. Lutho and Codi were bowling very well in combination and Lutho is obviously a big bowler for us and his absence has hurt us. Codi has been really good in his second and third spells,” Domingo said.

Considering that last season, our DP World Lions missed the playoffs despite winning three games and having one No Result, Saturday’s clash at the Bullring is shaping as a must-win encounter. A home match against the log-leading Boland and a tricky visit to Gqeberha to play the Warriors complete #ThePrideOfJozi’s round-robin schedule.

The Knights have a lot of quality experience in their side and must be respected, especially with DP World Lions four-day captain Dominic Hendricks in their line-up, on loan to the Free Staters.