The DP World Lions Ladies team has had a month off from Hollywoodbets Pro Series action, but it\u2019s not as if they have been enjoying tubs of ice-cream and refreshing swimming pools during this festive period: the focus has been squarely on preparing for this weekend\u2019s crucial visit to Durban to take on the Hollywoodbets Dolphins.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a vital weekend for the DP World Lions with their hosts enjoying an unbeaten season in both the Hollywoodbets Pro50 and Pro20 competitions. World Sports Betting Western Province are also unbeaten in the shortest format, so victory for #ThePrideOfJozi in Sunday\u2019s T20 match will keep us in touch with the leaders.<\/p>\n
In the 50-over competition, victory for the DP World Lions will bring us within one win of the Dolphins, with a game in hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cINTENT\u201d is the message coach Shaun Pretorius has been thumping home in the DP World Lions\u2019 build-up to this crunch weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter playing Western Province, we had a week off and then we did some nice team-building and played some golf. But we started three weeks ago with our prep for the visit to Kingsmead, just to make sure the players keep their loads up. It\u2019s been good to have a bit of a break, but if there\u2019s any sort of holiday mindset then we won\u2019t achieve success,\u201d Pretorius says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to be switched on all the time, that\u2019s when things tend to go your way. Against the unbeaten Dolphins, it\u2019s going to be all about intent and I keep reminding the ladies of that and the way we finished last season. We didn\u2019t beat the Dolphins in the 50-over match, but in the T20 we really took them on and the results were phenomenal.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we need the same mindset this weekend and we can\u2019t allow their bowlers to settle. As #ThePrideOfJozi, we are happy to take on that challenge. We need to take away their ability to dictate terms by manipulating the field, we must determine the pace of the game,\u201d Pretorius says.<\/p>\n
Shorn of the batting abilities of Tazmin Brits, Karabo Meso, Diara Ramlakan and Sinalo Jafta (who are all away with the Proteas or the SA U19 team in India), there is obviously some pressure on the experienced duo of Kirstie Thomson and Sunette Viljoen-Louw to lead the charge of the DP World Lions batting line-up.<\/p>\n
So far the contributions of the top-order have been dwarfed by the middle and lower-order, but Pretorius is hoping the run of good starts not being converted comes to an end this weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce our top-order comes through then we will really be a major force to be reckoned with. We\u2019re just missing those valuable partnerships up front at the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cKirstie and Sunette are obviously vital for us. It\u2019s been really good to see Sunette take responsibility in the middle-order and she is the leading run-scorer in the Pro50. Sunette just wants to embrace every moment that\u2019s left in her career, and that\u2019s why, after we signed Tazmin Brits, we wanted to keep her in the squad. We asked her to move to the middle-order and she has worked really hard on her skills there,\u201d Pretorius says.<\/p>\n
The absence of Proteas pace bowler Tumi Sekhukhune and SA U19 all-rounder Fay Cowling has been offset by the availability of Ayabonga Khaka, who continues to perform impressively in white-ball cricket for the national team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"