Lions paceman Codi Yusuf claimed 5/71 against Western Province last week. Photo: BackpagePix
The CSA Four-Day Series is slowly starting to take shape, and the Lions have set the early pace in defence of their title as they prepare to welcome the Warriors at the Wanderers today (10am start).
The table-toppers will be out to carry their momentum against the winless Eastern Cape side at the Bullring, where they have maintained a 100% record, with wins against the Titans in the first round by 153 runs and Western Province by 125 runs last week.
The Joburg side, currently on 60.40 points, lead the Titans (46.4), followed closely by the Knights (44.18), with Western Province rounding off the top four on 39.5 points.
One of the stars for the Lions this season has been fast bowler Codi Yusuf, who claimed 5/71 against WP.
The Knysna-born paceman claimed 21 wickets in six games last season, and has backed it up with 13 scalps in three matches in the current campaign at an average of 23.61.
“We are in a good position at the moment and you want to give yourself the best chance of winning the title, like we did last season when we had a home final,” the 26-year-old Yusuf said in a Lions press release yesterday.
“We’ve got the majority of our games in the early part of the competition at home, and that stands us in good stead. We are the defending champions, and obviously we want to hang on to that trophy.
“We are gelling very well as an attack, so we will look to bring a lot more of the same. We look to play hard in the field, not give the opposition as much freedom to do their thing.
“You don’t want to bowl full (at the Wanderers), but slightly fuller than back-of-a-length. You want to challenge the top of off-stump, get the batsman on the front foot as much as possible. And you also need energy on the ball.”
Next Up!
— DP World Lions (@LionsCricketSA) November 26, 2024
Our DP World Lions take on the Warriors in our next 4-Day Series encounter. 🦁🏏
Home-ground advantage again as we look to maintain our unbeaten record and climb the log standings!👊
Entrance is FREE!🏟️
📺 Stream the action live on PitchVision & the CSA Youtube… pic.twitter.com/hg0c9iby66
The Warriors, on the other hand, will want to taste the sweet feeling of victory as they have lost all three of their fixtures so far this season.
To break their duck, they will have the tough task of securing victory against an in-form Lions team in their backyard.
The visitors will look for motivation from the batting duo Jordan Hermann (389) and Matthew de Villiers (266), who currently occupy two spots in the top five batters so far, while the home side will hope captain Bjorn Fortuin (274) continues his form with the bat and quality off-spinners.
Meanwhile, the Knights will welcome the Dolphins at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein today (10am start).
Fresh off their crushing 118-run loss at the hands of former champions, the Titans, the newly promoted outfit will be out to tighten their grip on their third position by adding on to the one victory they have secured so far this season.
The KZN side are currently last on the log, and will make the trip to the Free State in search of their first win, following their opening round 51-run loss against Western Province and a drawn match against the Titans in their home fixture last week.
Elsewhere, the North West Dragons have looked good in the few matches that they have played, but they have also had to contend with a lot of bad weather in all their three fixtures, resulting in three draws from as many matches.
The Dragons will host Boland at the JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom (10am start) today.
The Paarl-based side have had a fairly decent start to the season, with a win and a loss from their two matches, and they will be pleased with the contributions of spinner Shaun von Berg, who currently finds himself among the top three wicket-takers with 17 wickets.