Johannesburg, 17 September 2026
A handful of stalwarts who expedited the phenomenal hat-trick of four-day titles for our DP World Lions men’s team return to action on Thursday for #ThePrideOfJozi as the second round of the 1st-Class Series sees the defending champions travelling to Bloemfontein to take on the Free State Knights at the Mangaung Oval.
Zubayr Hamza, Connor Esterhuizen, Delano Potgieter, Codi Yusuf and Nqaba Peter have all played key roles in the red-ball set-up and their return from duty with the Proteas and the SA A side makes up for the departure of Temba Bavuma and Ryan Rickelton, who will be joining the national side as they prepare for the ODI series against Australia.
Allan Donald said the management had resisted the temptation to rush Lutho Sipamla back into the team, preferring to give him another week to increase his loads after recovering from a hamstring injury, with an eye on the Pro20 Cup that begins on September 27 for the DP World Lions.
This is despite JJ Basson, the hero of the opening match with an incredible haul of 11 for 99 on first-class debut, not being available. The 18-year-old is still in matric at Hoerskool Noordheuwel and has three exams this week.
Codi Yusuf is back to lead the attack, recently taking eight wickets in two matches for SA A during the winter. Delano Potgieters return is also a great addition to the bowling attack with both Codi and Delano having played for Hampshire under regular DP World Lions head coach Russell Domingo. Proteas leg-spinner Nqaba Peter is also in the squad and the slippery Plaatjie, who took 15 wickets in five red-ball matches last season, remains in the fold, so our DP World Lions certainly have the attack to put the Knights under pressure.
Our DP World Lions batting order for this week had eight centuries between them in last season’s triumphant four-day campaign, so there should be some solid run-getting by #ThePrideOfJozi in the days to come.