20 March 2025, Johannesburg
It was William Shakespeare who said “faint heart never won fair maid”, and our DP World Lions ladies team have certainly shown great courage in their bold march to the top of the Pro50 Series standings. None more so than spin bowler Raisibe Ntozakhe, who has valiantly overcome a difficult start to the season to lead the charge for that trophy.
Our DP World Lions are the favourites to claim the Pro50 silverware as they go into Saturday’s last round of fixtures with a five-point lead at the top of the log. They take on the Titans in Johannesburg in the Jukskei Derby, while the Dolphins have to beat Western Province with a bonus point at Newlands to have any chance of catching #ThePrideOfJozi.
Ntozakhe has the joint second-most wickets in the competition with 14 scalps in seven matches, at the marvellous average of just 12.78, while she concedes a miserly 3.44 runs-per-over. The 28-year-old cleaned up the Dolphins in the DP World Lions’ crucial victory in their last Pro50 outing, taking an outrageous five for 11 as the previous log-leaders were bundled out for just 61.
The former Proteas player made a poor start to the season, bowling only seven overs in the first two games, and making ducks in both, and then being dropped. But that has made her incredible comeback even more impressive. Ntozakhe says she made a conscious decision to go back to basics and remember why she first fell in love with cricket while growing up in Limpopo.
“I didn’t start the season well and I didn’t bowl a lot. I had to regroup because I was in a bad space. I had to find the six-year-old me who decided that she wanted to play provincial cricket and play for the Proteas.
“To do that I had to dig deep and let go of any negativity. I owed it to myself to remember the calibre of player that I am. It was about finding my hunger and passion again and then the spark returned.
“It’s no secret that I also had to put in a lot of hard work and I gave myself little goals to tick off. I had to keep telling myself that I can do this, that I really enjoy the game and bowling,” Ntozakhe says.
Bringing the off-spinner back into the team in December, after she had sat out a couple of games, has really paid off for DP World Lions coach Shaun Pretorius. She has developed a great partnership in the middle overs with captain Kgomotso Rapoo, whose own spin-bowling has brought her the most wickets in the competition: 17 at an average of just 18.05 and her economy rate is an excellent 4.30.
“It’s been great bowling with Kgomotso and we bowl together in the nets as well. There’s a bit of competition between us and we keep count of how many of our balls are hit, how many runs are coming off our bowling.
“We have that understanding of how to bowl in a partnership, we work as a pair. We know that if one of us is building pressure than the other one will be getting wickets,” Ntozakhe says.
Given how they have dominated the one-day competition, the pair must be attracting the attention of the national selectors. While the 22-year-old Rapoo is uncapped for now, Ntozakhe has played international cricket before, representing South Africa in 21 ODIs and 12 T20 Internationals after debuting for the Proteas in May 2017. Her last call-up was in June 2022, but ‘Slice’ has not given up on a return to the Green & Gold.
“I’m still young, even though I feel a bit older now, and I have a few more years left in me. Of course I would like to get back into the Proteas, but I have set myself little goals along the way first, like being invited to the National Academy or playing for SA Emerging,” Ntozakhe says.
Beating the powerful Western Province side by 62 runs at Newlands a month ago, when Ntozakhe took three for 22 in her 10 overs, provided a paradigm shift for the DP World Lions, according to the gutsy cricketer who grew up in Mokopane and Alexandra.
“At some points in the season we never thought we could be where we are now. But then we looked at the situation and saw that we had a chance if we kept winning with bonus points. And then we really believed we could win after the Western Province game.
“Our mindset has been that we are all working towards the same goal and the coaching staff has pushed us to greater heights. Winning on Saturday at the DP World Wanderers Stadium will be so big for us. We’re putting pressure on ourselves to do that, but we know we have to do the simple things well and follow our KPIs,” Ntozakhe says.
The nickname ‘Slice’ was originally picked up in her younger days when Ntozakhe used to play with boys and girls much older than her – “I was very small compared to everyone else and so I was told I was like a slice of bread,” she laughs. But she is now living up to that nickname by slicing through batting line-ups; the Titans are next in her sights as #ThePrideOfJozi go trophy-hunting on Saturday.