Johannesburg – 6 March 2026:
Painting a picture for his team in which the impossible becomes possible, our DP World Lions Ladies Head Coach Sandile Masengemi has already steered them into both the 50-over and T20 finals ahead of their final round-robin fixtures this weekend against the North-West Dragons at Steyn City.
His inspirational effect was nowhere more evident than in last weekend’s Pro50 match against the Titans at Old Edwardians, when #ThePrideOfJozi fought with incredible purpose and skill to defend a total of just 96 all out. DP World Lions captain Kgomotso Rapoo revealed in her post-match interview that it had been Masengemi’s words in the huddle between innings that had given them that little spark of belief that their incredible bowling attack could pull off probably their biggest miracle of the season by bowling the Titans out for only 77, although they boasted a powerful batting line-up including Proteas in Miane Smit, Lizelle Lee, Masabata Klaas, Anneke Bosch and Elize-Mari Marx, plus a rising English star in Sophia Smale.
According to Rapoo, the coach told the team that they needed to believe the outcome of the match was not decided yet and left-arm seamer Relebohile Mkhize led the way with an amazing spell of four for three in her first four overs, eventually finishing with a career-best five for 25 that included the wickets of Lee and Bosch, who could survive only three deliveries between them. The lion-hearted Mkhize also scored a direct hit run out to end the Titans innings.
“Most teams lose 90% of the time when they are bowled out for less than a hundred, so we had to really fight. It was an impossible score to defend in many people’s eyes, but we had to believe. The way we bowled and fielded against a very good side was brilliant. Credit to the bowlers and Relebohile was really good, she bowled very well,” Masengemi said this week. Mkhize was supported by a top-class display of new-ball bowling by Proteas star Ayabonga Khaka, who took two for 25 in her 10 overs, which included two maidens. Khaka and a host of other Proteas will now be available for this weekend’s clash with their North-West neighbours, due to the Proteas’ flight to New Zealand being delayed, as a consequence of the situation in the Middle East, where they were due to stopover in Dubai.
Tazmin Brits, Karabo Meso, Chloe Tryon and Sinalo Jafta will all be available to boost a struggling batting line-up, who desperately need a dose of confidence before the finals weekend in Durban.
While the excellence of our DP World Lions and the decision to play both finals at Kingsmead in Durban has taken a degree of excitement out of the final round of fixtures, Masengemi says it is still a necessity for the team to finish top of the log. That’s because if a final is washed out, then the trophy goes to the team finishing first in the standings. In the Pro50 competition, the DP World Lions can be overtaken if they lost to the Dragons and the Dolphins beat Western Province in Durban; while in the Pro20, a defeat for the Lions and a win for Western Province will see first place go to the Capetonians.
“This weekend is still important because we want to stay on top of the log because if the weather is bad in Durban next week, then we can take nothing for granted,” Masengemi said. “But we are definitely delighted to be in the finals already. Obviously it’s my first season in charge and to be in two finals makes me very happy for the team. “That was always the plan, to do better than last season when we won the one-day cup and finished third in the T20. So we did that. But there is always room for improvement in all phases of the game. The batting has been very disappointing; it has just not stepped up this season. So it’s important to finish the regular season on a high with the bat, hopefully our batters will find their feet against the Dragons.”
Our DP World Lions showed that the size of the fight in their dog was immense last weekend, now they need to fine-tune the patience and focus that wins finals.