Zaahier Adams
Lions coach Russell Domingo is expecting a backlash from the Titans when they start their CSA 4-Day Series title defence at the Wanderers today.
The Lions trounced their neighbours from across the Jukskei in last week’s T20 Challenge final. They had also beaten their Gauteng rivals earlier in the week in Qualifier 1 after suffering a heavy defeat to the Sky Blues in the tournament opener at the Bullring.
It will be the fourth time the two Highveld teams meet already this season, with all matches being played in Johannesburg. With the Lions staging a miraculous comeback against Western Province in last season’s final, courtesy of heroics from all-rounder Delano Potgieter, the home team will be eager to start on a positive note again.
Domingo feels preparation has been going well, as his team gears up for the competition they cherish the most.
“We played a warm-up game and we’ve had net sessions in the last week, so it has been good prep. There’s a good vibe in the squad and the energy levels are high. If you asked us what was the trophy we most want to win, it would be the red-ball one,” Domingo said.
“It would have been a nightmare week if we had lost the final, but the Titans will bring a really good team and they will be hurting. There are never any easy games against them, but we are all up for the challenge.”
Unlike previously, the Lions will only lose two players to the Proteas T20I squad to face India over the weekend in wicket-keeper/batter Ryan Rickleton and leg-spinner Nqaba Peter. Seamer Lutho Sipamla will be available for this week’s four-day clash against the Titans as he only joins the Proteas next week for the third and fourth T20I against the world champions.
In fact, it is the Titans that will be bereft of a host of regulars with Aiden Markram, Gerald Coetzee, Donovan Ferreira and Heinrich Klaasen all on national duty.
Domingo will, though, rely on the youthful opening batting pair of Josh Richards and Mohammed Manack followed by the experience of Dominic Hendricks, Zubayr Hamza and Mitchel van Buuren.
Potgieter is back to fill the allround slot and will compliment the bowling unit of Sipamla, whose demolition job on the Titans in the T20 final earned him a recall to the Proteas squad, Tshepo Moreki and Codi Yusuf, while Bjorn Fortuin and Junaid Dawood, the joint leading wicket-taker in the T20 competition, are the spin bowlers in the squad.
Connor Esterhuizen, who finished as the DP World Lions’ leading run-scorer in the triumphant T20 campaign, will again be wearing the wicketkeeper’s gloves with Wandile Makwetu still recovering from his broken finger.
Proteas Test captain Temba Bavuma is also still not available to the Lions as he continues his recovery from the elbow injury that ruled him out of the recent series against Bangladesh.
FULL LIONS SQUAD: Josh Richards, Mohammed Manack, Dominic Hendricks, Zubayr Hamza, Mitchel van Buuren, Connor Esterhuizen (wk), Delano Potgieter, Bjorn Fortuin, Codi Yusuf, Lutho Sipamla, Tshepo Moreki, Junaid Dawood, Khaya Fakude.