Johannesburg – 21 November 2025:
DP World Lions ladies team coach Sandile Masengemi says the derby win over the Titans a fortnight ago was an improvement on the victory in Oudtshoorn at the start of the month, which was better than their opening win over the Dolphins. He is hopeful that the batting will now fire properly in their crunch HollywoodBets Pro Series fixtures against Western Province at the DP World Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg this weekend.
Our DP World Lions ladies posted 144 for five against the Titans in their Pro20 match and then bowled their archrivals out for just 98, their 50-over match the previous day being washed out without a ball being bowled.
It was the bowlers who did the job against the Garden Route Badgers from South-Western Districts, restricting them to 93 for seven in their one-day game before rain gave them a 38-run victory via the DLS Method, and 103 for seven in the T20 match for a six-run win.
The bowlers were also the heroines against the Dolphins in the opening round of the Pro20 at the DP World Wanderers Stadium, skittling the KwaZulu-Natalians for just 77, which #ThePrideOfJozi chased down with seven wickets lost.
The highlight of the win over the Titans at Centurion was the 87-run second-wicket partnership in just 13 overs between Neo Molefe (50 off 44) and Madison Landsman (38 off 43), and with Karabo Meso and Sunette Viljoen-Louw both providing quickfire contributions in the closing stages of the innings, it was a batting display that was most pleasing for Masengemi.
“We haven’t played our best cricket yet because we haven’t really found our rhythm. The positive though is that we have been winning and our mindset has been finding a way to win. It’s been good team efforts, especially from the bowlers, who have been very good.
“The batting has not been great, but in the last T20 we were starting to show signs of clicking with the bat. Neo and Madison were very good, and in every game we have got better with the bat.
“There’s a lot at stake against Western Province, who are obviously a good side in form. So our batting has to fire up now, they need to step up as a unit and that will give us a good score to defend. If we can get runs on the board, then we believe we can defend it,” Masengemi said.
The 41-year-old coach said the principal reason for the success of the bowlers – three of them are in the top-20 of the Pro50 averages and five in the T20 – has been their ability to work together to constrain the opposition batting.
“We see the attack as a unit and the bowlers have been great as a unit. They have been working hard on their lengths and their plans, so that we can create pressure that leads to wickets. I’m really happy with the bowling, especially now that we have Ayabonga Khaka back,” Masengemi said.
Khaka is one of four members of the Proteas World Cup squad inked into our DP World Lions squad list, alongside Sinalo Jafta, Chloe Tryon and Tumi Sekhukhune. The shoulder that Tazmin Brits injured in the epic World Cup semifinal win over England, but bravely played with in the final, is still icky, so she will not be available this weekend.
The highly-competitive Brits no doubt would love to play this weekend, given the importance of this meeting with Western Province.
Our DP World Lions and Western Province are the only two unbeaten sides left in the Pro20 competition, so #ThePrideOfJozi will go top of the log if they beat the Capetonians, and this with a game in hand over the defending champions.
This overtaking of Central Gauteng cricket’s other great rivals will also happen in the Pro50 if the DP World Lions win: they will climb into third place, at least a point ahead of Western Province, again with a game in hand. They will only be three points behind the leaders, the Garden Route Badgers.
Squad: Nonkululeko Thabethe, Madison Landsman, Karabo Meso, Raisibe Ntozakhe, Jenna Evans, Sunette Viljoen-Louw, Fay Cowling, Kgomotso Rapoo, Sarah Nettleton, Refilwe Moncho, Lehlohonolo Meso, Neo Molefe, Ayabonga Khaka, Sinalo Jafta, Chloe Tryon, Tumi Sekhukhune.