Cricket South Africa T20 Challenge win – Coach catchup: Russell Domingo

With the successful defense of the CSA T20 Challenge championship over the weekend, our DP World Lions men's team's investment in playing depth paid off, as head coach Russell Domingo expressed his satisfaction with the performance of the team's younger players.

After #ThePrideOfJozi played nine games and won seven of them, the DP World Lions triumphantly ended the campaign by defeating the Titans by eight wickets with 29 balls remaining. Only Connor Esterhuizen, Evan Jones, Delano Potgieter, and Mitchell van Buuren played in all nine games for the victors, who utilized 17 players overall.

Domingo utilized 18 players during the double-round of games that resulted in last season's victory. Proteas players that were able to play in almost every game included Ryan Rickelton, Rassie van der Dussen, Wiaan Mulder, Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma, and Bjorn Fortuin.

Our DP World Lions had to use a little more of their resources because this season's CSA T20 Challenge took place at the beginning of the season rather than at the end of the 2023–24 campaign.

Last season, Mulder, Rickelton, Hendricks, and Van der Dussen all scored more than 200 runs. This season, Esterhuizen led the pack with 199, followed closely by Hendricks and Van der Dussen, who played together in 10 games. Another top scorer was Wandile Makwetu.

With 20 wickets in 10 games last season, Nqaba Peter was the top wicket-taker and was duly called up to the Proteas team, limiting his playing time to five games this season. The other top wicket-takers in 2023–2024 were Lutho Sipamla (14) Codi Yusuf (16), and Bjorn Fortuin (18).

This season, Sipamla and Evan Jones combined for 16 wickets, while Junaid Dawood and Kwena Maphaka took 13 each, making our Pride the two top wicket-takers in the competition.

Domingo remarked, "Every trophy is special, but it feels really special to defend the title with a largely different team." Other players were given opportunities when many Proteas were away, and I'm glad they raised their hands. Connor and Wandile performed admirably, Mitch did a fantastic job as captain prior to Bjorn's comeback, while Junaid and Kwena were the top wicket-takers.

Whether we win or lose, we make sure to learn something new every day. In the first game, we were humiliated by the Titans, but it served as a reminder to keep us from becoming complacent. The boys had to step up, and they did, because this is a difficult competition," Domingo remarked.

Despite Domingo's plan to rotate seamers Sipamla, Yusuf, and Tshepo Moreki throughout the season, Sipamla used the tournament's conclusion to make history. His four-for-12 performance at the DP World Wanderers Stadium over the weekend was the best in a CSA T20 Challenge final.

"Lutho put on a pretty strong performance; he missed a lot of previous season due to injuries. Although I had hoped that every seamer would play five games, Lutho has excelled at the back end. It was a wonderful spell, and he works really hard," Domingo remarked.

The bowling was as good as we could have hoped for, and we wanted to hit hard lengths rather than bowl too full on that ground. Before the final, we discussed tactics in great detail.

"I'm a little outdated in that I prefer to be cautious up front and have wickets in hand, especially at the DP World Wanderers where the ball does a little bit." The last six overs, in my opinion, are more significant than the first six, which many believe to be the case.

We have found success by aiming for about 40 in the powerplay. With this collection of players, it was the proper recipe, but we may need to do it differently the following season. Domingo, who was ecstatic, added, "We also worked hard on batting well in the middle overs, running the ones and twos, being smart, and also had to cut down on the extras in the field."