Johannesburg – 22 February 2026:
At the start of the third day of the CSA 4-Day Series final, an easy win for our DP World Lions men’s team looked outside the realms of possibility. But #ThePrideOfJozi once again showed their ability to do the extraordinary, and 15 minutes before stumps on the same day, they had clinched their third successive red-ball title by beating the Warriors by eight wickets.
The DP World Lions had started that third day on 193 for seven, still 112 runs behind the Warriors’ first innings of 305. But Delano Potgieter once again came through with a clutch performance with the bat in a final, and with the assistance of the tail, he managed to drag the home side to 295 all out, just 10 runs behind.
An inspired Codi Yusuf, helped by Beyers Swanepoel, then wrought havoc with the ball as the Eastern Province team were bundled out for just 95 in 29.4 overs. Zubayr Hamza rushed the DP World Lions to their target of 106 in just 17 overs, playing some outstanding strokes in a 47-ball 69 not out. When Potgieter and Yusuf walked out on to the carpet-like outfield of the iconic DP World Wanderers Stadium on the third morning, there was an outside chance of them denying the Warriors a sizeable first-innings lead. Especially since the second new ball – and Matthew Boast, the leading wicket-taker in the competition and with his fourth five-wicket haul of the season already in the bag – were just seven overs away. It was a high-pressure situation, but Potgieter and Yusuf responded as #ThePrideOfJozi normally do, with extraordinary composure and bravery. They immediately seized the momentum against the older ball through positive play, and then punished the second new ball to the tune of 42 runs in the first 10 overs after the change. Yusuf scored 25 as he added a crucial 42 for the eighth wicket with Potgieter, and Swanepoel then showed his batting ability with 35 off just 43 deliveries, adding 54 for the ninth wicket with the left-handed all-rounder. Swanepoel’s dismissal in the 92nd over meant the DP World Lions were still 39 runs behind with just one wicket left, but last man Siya Plaatjie did a stout job, batting for 41 minutes and keeping 14 balls out, which allowed Potgieter to add another 29 runs.
Potgieter has an incredible history of performing brilliantly in finals when the DP World Lions have their backs to the wall. In the final round of the 2017/18 four-day competition, his 145 helped them recover from 96 for six, along with Bjorn Fortuin’s 183, and setting up the victory over the Warriors that won them the title. In March 2024 he was the Player of the Match in the final against Western Province after phenomenal innings of 81 and 155 not out dug the Lions out of deep holes in both innings. His 88 not out against the Warriors in this season’s finale’ was no less important. Coming in at 102 for five, he batted for 283 minutes and faced 181 deliveries, showing great composure and the ability to change gears according to what the match situation demanded.
“Delano was incredible in a crunch situation, he was fantastic under pressure for us once again,” DP World Lions coach Russell Domingo said after their hat-trick of wins in the first-class competition. “He’s at his calmest under pressure, he understands his game and is a great team man.”
Wiaan Mulder had also helped rescue #ThePrideOfJozi with the bat, scoring 57 in two-and-a-half hours before being caught behind off fast bowler Gideon Peters. Opening batsman Jordan Hermann, whose belligerent century on the first morning had given the Warriors the upper hand after they had been sent in to bat, once again started aggressively in the second innings, but that defiance from the visitors would quickly peter out in the face of some magnificent fast bowling from Yusuf.
In great rhythm from the outset, he bowled with high pace, tremendous aggression and fabulous skill to take five for 34 in 10 overs. Swing bowler Swanepoel, his new-ball partner, backed him up superbly by removing both Warriors openers and then claiming the last two wickets as well to finish with four for 26.
The DP World Lions had won the toss and sent the Warriors into bat on the first day, with the visitors reaching 292 for eight at stumps. That represented an admirable fightback from the bowlers as they had been 216 for three thanks to centuries from Hermann and JP King, who frustrated the home side with a 55-run ninth-wicket stand with Wesley Bedja. The Warriors were bowled out for 305 after 23 minutes on the second day, with Mulder (21-7-48-3) and Potgieter (12-1-34-3) the pick of the bowlers. Domingo said, however, that the team had not been at all happy with their bowling in the first innings. Which was probably a factor in the unbelievable bowling effort on the third day.
“We lacked intensity on the first day and it was a very disappointing day with the ball. The Warriors let us in after tea when they probably should have buried us. The pitch was a bit slower than we expected and we bowled too short. So we tried to get our length back by targeting the stumps with the wicketkeeper up. That sort of adjustment comes with experience and our bowling attack has a lot of know-how,” Domingo said.
As for yet again coming back from the dead to win the trophy, Domingo said the team were able to lean on their phenomenal belief.
“This team has done some amazing stuff and when we were under pressure at various stages we were able to get out of it. There’s always that belief that we can do that. The captain [Dominic Hendricks] and Wiaan had a good chat with the team this morning and reminded them that we have been here before and we can turn it around.
“We have the habit of winning and we have a lot of experience, including guys in international cricket. These are really hardened and professional cricketers and they know what it takes. We’ve also had a really good four-day campaign, we’ve dominated most games and we were able to get confidence from that too,” Domingo said. Yusuf had Hermann dropped in the slips on 18 on the final day, but the mistake did not prove too dear as he was caught behind off Swanepoel just seven runs later, and it also seemed to add more fire and fuel to the fast bowler’s tank.
From where he stood at mid-on, captain Hendricks could see from the outset that something special was coming from his strike bowler. “Codi was so slick, he had unbelievable rhythm. From his first two overs you could tell he was on fire. After a few overs he asked me whether he should still take the ball and I said ‘You’re joking! You must take it and just keep bowling’. We swopped ends for Codi because we could see what Matthew Boast did from the Corlett Drive End and Codi can really nip the ball around,” Hendricks said.