29 March 2026, Johannesburg

Our DP World Lions men’s team have not let two poor previous 50-over campaigns mar this season’s charge to Sunday’s CSA One-Day Cup final and in fact they are using it as further fuel to claim a title they last won in 2022/23.

The disappointment of finishing sixth and fourth in the last two seasons has been put aside in an unbeaten run that has earned #ThePrideOfJozi the right to host the final against archrivals the Titans at the iconic DP World Wanderers Stadium on Sunday from 10am. It is the second final at home this season for Russell Domingo’s team, following their extraordinary eight-wicket win over the Warriors in the four-day final last month, and the head coach says there is a great hunger in the squad to win a second trophy for the third season in succession. It would also be their 13th title (two shared) in the last eight seasons, a phenomenal record.

“We really want to turn a good season, with one trophy already, into a great one with two trophies,” Domingo says. “We’ve played really well in this one-day competition, especially considering the two poor previous campaigns. “We have won nine out of our last 10 matches against the Titans, but we know this is a one-off game. They are also coming into the final with some momentum, having won two matches in a row now. They also have a lot of experienced players and South African representatives in Junior Dala, Dayyaan Galiem, Keegan Petersen, Andile Phehlukwayo, Neil Brand, Roelof van der Merwe, Lesego Senokwane and Lizaad Williams. “So we know it’s going to be a very tough and tight final. The Titans haven’t had the greatest season, but they will feel they are one game away from making it a fantastic one by winning this trophy. They’ll be looking at this match as their opportunity for a turnaround, but we’ll be doing our best to make sure that doesn’t happen, we really want more from this season as well,” Domingo says.

While the handy Titans team has those eight internationals in it and six in the top-20 of the batting and bowling averages for this season’s tournament, our DP World Lions could have seven Proteas in their starting XI and six players feature amongst the best averages.

Nqaba Peter is a potential point of difference between the two teams, with quality wrist-spin being in such dear demand and the white-ball Protea being in great form, having taken 12 wickets at an average of just 13.83 and conceding only 4.61 runs-per-over. “It looks like a good pitch for the final, a fresh one and it could be quite quick and high-scoring. I don’t think it will spin much, it looks more like a good old-fashioned Wanderers wicket. But Nqaba, in particular, is really good on the Highveld because he bowls that back-of-a-length and gets good bounce. “Bjorn Fortuin and him have been fantastic, and with Reeza Hendricks our spinners have played a big part in our success. The bowlers have all been very steady,” Domingo says.

Opening batsman Zubayr Hamza is leading the way in terms of scoring the most runs in the competition, and his two centuries and a fifty have inspired a much better batting effort by our DP World Lions. Five other half-centuries have been scored, with four of them being scores of more than seventy.

“The batting has been really good. Previously we’d been having so many 40s to 60s but nobody going on. This time that has clicked and Zubayr has been fantastic with his two hundreds, while Reeza and Mitchell van Buuren have been very solid too. “We’ve been playing more conservatively, keeping wickets in hand. The batting has been a lot more responsible, not chasing too hard too early,” Domingo says.

There is no doubt, however, that #ThePrideOfJozi will be chasing that second trophy and another derby win very hard indeed.