Johannesburg – 10 March 2026:
Head coach Sandile Masengemi said before the weekend that it was vital that our DP World Lions ladies team finished on top of the logs in the 50 over series ahead of this weekend’s finals, and his wish came true despite the weather doing its best to intervene. Having already qualified for the finals in both the Pro50 and T20 competitions, #ThePrideofJozi were eager to ensure they finished in first place on the final round-robin logs because if the showpiece matches against Western Province in Durban are washed out, then the trophy goes to the team that ended on top of the standings.
Their opponents last weekend, the North-West Dragons, would be motivated by trying to move away from the bottom of the log.
Unfortunately, the amount of rain that fell in Johannesburg last week meant Steyn City School was still unplayable on Saturday and the Pro50 match had to be abandoned without a ball being bowled. Western Province, despite a bonus point win over the Dolphins at Kingsmead, were too far behind to catch the DP World Lions though and finished second four points behind them. In fact, the Capetonians only just scraped into the final because they had more bonus points than the Titans, who finished third.
Much has been said about the DP World Lions’ batting this season, but they did have one standout performer in Sunette Viljoen-Louw, who finished as the fourth-highest run-getter in the competition with 265 in eight innings at an average of 44.16, also fourth-best. The determined Jenna Evans also had a fine campaign with the bat, scoring 241 runs in eight innings at an average of 34.42, many of those runs coming when the team’s backs were against the wall. She also took seven catches, joint-most in the competition.
The wonderful bowling of our DP World Lions attack is also reflected in the averages, with five members of #ThePrideOfJozi in the top-10, an extraordinary achievement –
• 1st Tumi Sekhukhune 6 wickets at 7.00 Econ 2.62
• 3rd Fay Cowling 7 wickets at 11.85 Econ 3.63.
• 5th Relebohile Mkhize 9 wickets at 12.88 Econ 4.14.
• 6th Sarah Nettleton 7 wickets at 14.14 Econ 2.80.
• 9th Raisibe Ntozakhe 10 wickets at 16.60 Econ 3.32.
Razeena Manack ended as the leading wicketkeeper, with 12 dismissals – eight catches and four stumpings.
The weather also severely disrupted the Pro20 match between the two sides on Sunday, with the game being restricted to just six overs per side. That meant our DP World Lions had to once again lean heavily on the bowlers and they yet again stepped up, restricting North-West to just 30 runs in their half-dozen overs, for the loss of two wickets. Former Proteas star Mignon du Preez was unable to score at a run-a-ball even as Sekhukhune, Sarah Nettleton and Ntozakhe all produced superb overs and Kgomotso Rapoo bowled two overs, taking one for 10. The most costly over bowled was by left-arm seamer Mkhize and even that just went for seven runs!
Chasing 31 was absolutely no problem for #ThePrideOfJozi as Tazmin Brits hit the ball where she pleased in a quickfire 12 not out off seven balls, and Karabo Meso placed the ball skilfully in a run-a-ball 18 not out, our DP World Lions cruising to victory by 10 wickets with 11 balls to spare. The bonus point win meant Masengemi’s team finished four points ahead of Western Province in the standings.
The T20 tournament bowling averages have also been dominated by our DP World Lions, where Mkhize sits top of the pile with a brilliant haul of 10 wickets at an average of just 8.10 and conceding only 4.05 runs-per-over. Fay Cowling was fifth with 7 wickets at 12.71 and an economy of 5.28, while Ntozakhe was seventh, also with 10 wickets, at 14.30 and conceding 5.43 runs-per-over. Rapoo (9 @ 19.11) and Nettleton (7 @ 23.28) also featured strongly in the averages. Viljoen-Louw finished second in the averages, doing a magnificent job as rebuilder and finisher, scoring 230 runs in eight innings, five of which were not out as she ended with an average of 76.66 and a strike-rate of 105.02. Young Neo Molefe finished 18th in the batting averages and was the leading wicketkeeper with seven dismissals.
Our buoyant #PrideOfJozi will now travel to Durban, where they will take on Western Province at Kingsmead in both the Pro20 final on Friday and the 50-over trophy game on Sunday.