Lions elect to bowl first against the Knights

The DP World Lions won the toss and elected to bat first in their CSA T20 Challenge match against the Itec Knights at the Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein, on Wednesday.

The Lions had a slow start to the season by collapsing to a 117-run defeat at the hands of the Titans. Russell Domingo's side dusted themselves up and registered back-to-back victories over the Dafabet Warriors and the Hollywoodbets Dolphins.

Wandile Makwetu scored a 41-ball 55 to set the platform for the Lions' victory against the Warriors before Mitchell van Buuren (41*) and Connor Esterhuizen (40*) smashed 81 runs off 33 deliveries. Against the Dolphins Evan Jones arrived at the crease in the 17th over and creamed 29 runs from 10 balls to help his side chalk an unassailable total. Jones has the second-highest strike rate in the competition, he is striking at a rate of 193.1.

The common denominator in both victories was Junaid Dawood. The legspinner is on a hot streak. The spinner bagged a five-wicket haul as he spun his side to victory over the Warriors and took three wickets for 22 runs against the Dolphins.

The Lions' big hitters will be up against a side with two of the best-performing bowlers in the competition. The Knights have been playing two spinners, Aaron Phangiso and Dane Piedt. The pair has five wickets between them and Piedt has the second-best economy in the league, going at 5.5 runs an over. Malusi Siboto, on the other hand, has the joint-most wickets in the league. He is tied on eight with Junaid Dawood.

The Knights won their last match thanks to a brilliant 28-ball 50 from Garnett Tarr and a solid 42 off 26 from Jacques Snyman. They need another victory if they are to work their way out of the bottom three.

KNIGHTS: Rilee Rossouw, Garnett Tarr, Jacques Snyman, Tiaan van Vuuren, Dian Forrester, Gihahn Cloete (wk), Dane Piedt (c), Sithembile Langa, Aaron Phangiso, Lesego Senokwane, Malusi Siboto.

LIONS: Wandile Makwetu, Joshua Richards (wk), Zubayr Hamza, Mitchell van Buuren (C), Connor Esterhuizen, Delano Potgieter, Evan Jones, Codi Yusuf, Tshepo Moreki, Lutho Sipamla, Junaid Dawood.