Photo Credit: Gallo Images
The DP World Lions are set to get their 2022 / 23 season underway and first up are the Hollywoodbets Dolphins at the DP World Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg as the CSA Women’s Provincial One-Day Cup and T20 Cup competitions resume across the country between 01 – 02 October.
The other two encounters in a full round of Division One fixtures include a clash of the titans from the last campaign as the respective defending 50-over and T20 champions in the North West Dragons and Six Gun Grill Western Province face off at the Witrand Oval in Potchefstroom.
Meanwhile, the Fidelity Titans will play host to the Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers at SuperSport Park in Centurion.
In Division Two, there will be four matchups as Boland welcome Kei to Paarl, Eastern Storm take on KwaZulu-Natal Inland in Benoni and Mpumalanga go up against Limpopo in eMalahleni. Eastern Province will take on Border in an Eastern Cape derby at St George’s Park in Gqeberha.
The matches will commence from 10h00 SAST except for the battle at the MCU Oval in eMalahleni, which begins at 09h30 SAST. All matches will be streamed live on Pitch Vision.
Ahead of their season opener, Lions head coach, Shaun Pretorius believes his team are fully prepared for what’s to come this year and have set themselves lofty goals for the campaign following a fifth-place finish in the One-Day Cup and second spot in the T20 Cup last season.
“The team is in a good space in terms of conditioning, which can be attributed to the Lions full time medical team. The head space for the team is on point, players roles and team strategies are clear,” Pretorius commented.
“We have certainly done our analysis and have plans for players in the Dolphins team but more importantly, we want to focus on our own controllables and our team unity.
“We want to win trophies as a team. We know where we have lacked in the past and have worked hard to bolster those areas. We are going for gold,” the coach added.
The Johannesburg-based side will be hoping for more key contributions from batter, Kristie Thomson, and right-arm unorthodox spinner, Kgomotso Rapoo after their impressive displays last year. The experience of the likes of Momentum Proteas trio Ayabonga Khaka, Tumi Sekhukhune and Raisibe Ntozakhe will be bring the match-winning temperament when needed throughout the season.
In the Dolphins’ camp, head coach Angelique Taai will be looking to build on from the mixed bag of results achieved last weekend when they took on the Dragons. The Durban outfit shocked the One-Day champions in the first game of the season, winning it by 13 runs before they went down to the same team in the T20 clash.
Ahead of tomorrow’s action, Coach Taai reflects on the positives taken out of the opening round of matches, highlighting the team’s calmness under pressure as well as Nicole de Klerk’s showing with the bat, before looking towards their next opponents.
“It was brilliant to watch how the ladies kept their cool and never gave up even when the Dragons needed just 35 runs from 100 plus balls with 5 wickets in hand. We stuck to our processes and game plans that eventually came off for us,” she began.
“Nicole De Klerk had a very good knock for the first game, ending on 95. She really played a splendid knock, well controlled and confident. I am really excited and can’t wait for the next game.
“The team is in a good space; confidence levels are high, and we are well prepared heading into the double header. Few niggles here and there but nothing too serious.
“We did our analysis, and we will play to our strengths. We have strategic plans in place and the ladies are looking forward to a good contest. We will be looking to improve in all departments as we want to improve each game as the season unfolds,” Taai continued.
Week 2 – Fixtures:
CSA Women’s Provincial One-Day Cup (All matches start at 10h00 SAST – except for Mpumalanga vs Limpopo – 09h30 SAST)
Saturday, 01 October –
Division One:
North West Dragons vs Six Gun Grill Western Province (Witrand, Potchefstroom) DP World Lions vs Hollywoodbets Dolphins (DP World Wanderers, Johannesburg) Fidelity Titans vs Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers (SuperSport Park, Centurion)
Division Two:
Boland vs Kei (Boland Park, Paarl)
Eastern Province vs Border (St George’s Park, Gqeberha)
Eastern Storm vs KZN Inland (Willowmoore Park, Benoni)
Mpumalanga vs Limpopo (MCU Oval, eMalahleni)
CSA Women’s Provincial T20 Cup (All matches start at 10h00 SAST – except for Mpumalanga vs Limpopo – 09h30 SAST)
Sunday, 02 October –
Division One:
North West Dragons vs Six Gun Grill Western Province (Witrand, Potchefstroom)
DP World Lions vs Hollywoodbets Dolphins (DP World Wanderers, Johannesburg)
Fidelity Titans vs Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers (SuperSport Park, Centurion)
Division Two:
Boland vs Kei (Boland Park, Paarl)
Eastern Province vs Border (St George’s Park, Gqeberha)
Eastern Storm vs KZN Inland (Willowmoore Park, Benoni)
Mpumalanga vs Limpopo (MCU Oval, eMalahleni)
