Johannesburg – 9 December 2025:
The gathering of a bonus point in both of their weekend wins obviously points to the quality of performance produced by our DP World Lions ladies side in dominating the North-West Dragons in their HollywoodBets ProSeries matches, and they will be particularly pleased that both victories were down to the prowess of their bowling attack working in tandem with their strike power with the bat.
The excellence of the bowling unit came to the fore first in Potchefstroom as the Dragons won the toss and elected to bat first in their Pro50 match. The home side started solidly with an opening stand of 47, but then captain Kgomotso Rapoo struck with the first ball of her second over.
Spinner Rapoo struck again in her third over and, with fellow spinner Sarah Nettleton squeezing the Dragons hard from the other end, North-West had added just 22 runs in nine overs when our skipper claimed the massive scalp of former Proteas captain Mignon du Preez for just seven.
Du Preez had to try and break the shackles and charged down the pitch, Rapoo responding brilliantly by bowling a flatter, wider delivery, and wicketkeeper Razeena Manack completed a smart stumping.
Our DP World Lions’ other star spinner, Raisibe Ntozakhe, then ensured she had a piece of the action as she removed the Dragons’ top-scorer, opener Verunissa Reddy (51 off 98 balls), Nettleton holding on to a stinging catch at extra cover.
Two balls later, Ntozakhe deceived Nthabiseng Nini in the flight and had her caught at mid-on for a duck, leaving North-West in all sorts of trouble on 81 for five.
Rapoo soon collected her fourth wicket and ended with the outstanding figures of four for 28 in her 10 overs. Ntozakhe added a third wicket to finish with brilliant figures of three for 22 in 10, and with tidy seamer Tumi Sekhukhune and Nettleton (8.2-2-16-1) each chipping in with a wicket, the Dragons were bundled out for just 123 in the 44th over.
South Africa U19 player Diara Ramlakan then led #ThePrideOfJozi’s reply, stroking a brisk half-century before she had to retire hurt on 50 with a leg injury. The innings certainly did not go south after that though, with Jenna Evans (25* off 32 balls) and Sunette Viljoen-Louw (16* off 19 deliveries) steering them to victory with an unbeaten partnership of 47 in 10 overs, our DP World Lions winning by eight wickets with 18-and-a-half overs to spare.
The bonus point victory lifted Sandile Masengemi’s team to 14 points in the standings, level with South-Western Districts and just four points behind the Dolphins in first place. Our DP World Lions travel to Durban this weekend to take on the KwaZulu-Natalians and possibly snatch the top-of-the-log honours from them.
In the Pro20 match the following day, #ThePrideOfJozi were sent in to bat by the Dragons and young opener Neo Molefe bludgeoned 70 off just 59 balls with 10 fours and a six to give the DP World Lions a great start. She showed her toughness as she batted on after suffering a leg injury on 38. Evans, who was deservedly chosen for the South Africa Emerging team that toured Bangladesh earlier this year, again shone with the bat, scoring a punishing and innovative 40 off 35 balls. She added 93 for the second wicket in just 11 overs with Molefe.
Fay Cowling then unleashed a brutal onslaught in the final over, with a six and three fours taking her to 19 off just seven balls, and the Lions to 154 for four in their 20 overs. Cowling then burst the North-West top-order’s bubble by removing key batters Verunissa Reddy and Mignon du Preez, caught trying to pull a short delivery, as the home side slumped to 39 for three inside eight overs. Pace bowler Refilwe Moncho (3-1-7-1) really gummed up the batters, while spinners Ntozakhe (4-0-26-1) and Rapoo (4-0-28-0) also gave very little away.
The Dragons could only reach 114 for six in their 20 overs, losing by 40 runs and again conceding a bonus point. Our DP World Lions are now in second place on the Pro20 log, just four points behind Western Province.