Photo Credit: Lions Cricket
DP World Lions Women’s coach Shaun Pretorius has painted the picture of how seizing the moment is key. That’s what will be needed in order to maintain tour unbeaten start to the season when we travel to Bloemfontein this weekend to take on the Itec Knights.
First up we play the Free Staters in a one-day game at St Andrew’s School on Saturday, before moving to the main Mangaung Oval for Sunday’s T20 match.
While the batters have successfully chased down four targets so far this season, Pretorius is looking for more sharpness in the bowling and especially the fielding;
“I’m definitely pleased with the batters and the way they have come to the party. Even when we lost wickets early against the Titans last weekend, the seniors were able to step up and take away the game from the opposition. We have been doing a lot of work this week on the bowling and fielding. The fielding has definitely not been up to standard. So I’ve been trying to instil in the team that the amount of hours they put in at practice, is all geared towards that one brilliant moment in the field. It could be the defining moment of the match. I’ve been telling them that the moment will suddenly come when they have the chance to make their name, and it’s about being ready and stepping up when that moment comes,” Pretorius said.
While the experienced trio of Kirstie Thomson, Nonkhululeko Thabethe and Sunette Viljoen-Louw are all averaging over 50 with the bat this season, youngster Jenna Evans certainly seized the moment in the one-day win over the Titans. The 19-year-old scored a phenomenal 104 off just 97 balls to take the Lions from 58 for four to a stiff target of 265, decorating her amazing knock with 12 fours and a six.
Thabethe was her partner in setting up victory as the opener produced a rock-solid innings of 94, adding 143 for the fifth wicket with Evans.
“We have chased well but now we get to see how we perform outside our normal environment,” Pretorius said. “It’s our first away fixture and if we get sent in to bat first, then we will see how we go about setting a target. But our batters are mature enough to know exactly what is required.”
