The on-field success of a team will often hinge on what is said off the park, and for our triumphant DP World Lions ladies team, their brilliant Pro50 Series campaign revolved around everyone knowing their job and then doing it.
The DP World Lions beat Gauteng arch-rivals the Fidelity Titans by 101 runs in Johannesburg at the weekend to finish top of the final Pro50 Series standings by a commanding margin of six points.
"The key was being able to execute our batting and bowling skills together," beaming captain Kgomotso Rapoo said on the DP World Wanderers Stadium outfield after being presented with the trophy.
"Both departments were able to do their jobs in the second half of the season, instead of just the batting doing well one game but not the bowling, and the other way around the next game.
"We spoke a lot about all knowing what our jobs are, so that when we walk through that gate on to the field, we know what we are out here for.
"We follow our KPIs and take each phase of the match step-by-step. That aspect of our game improved a lot through the season and it was about believing in each other and we never gave up," Rapoo said.
Proteas star Tazmin Brits was the star of the final with her brilliant 118 and there was a hint of the 34-year-old being especially determined to put in a huge performance in the last match that would decide whether #ThePrideOfJozi would bag the silverware.
Before the game, Brits had scored just 126 runs in six innings in the Pro50, passing 50 only once.
Her innings was brilliantly paced. Brits was patient in the powerplay and her half-century took 85 balls. She then accelerated superbly, adding her next 68 runs off just 42 deliveries before being dismissed in the penultimate over.
"I felt like I hadn't scored enough runs for the DP World Lions and I felt bad about that. So I wanted to show up when it really mattered and I also knew there would be a lot of Proteas playing in this match and you want to produce your best when you're on the same field as them," Brits said.
"There's also a lot of people who say I can't play test or ODI cricket, so I had another point to prove. There were times when I really wanted to come down the pitch and smash the ball, but I know what I can do at the end so I made sure I batted deep.
"The great thing about the team is that we don't rely on just one or two people. Everyone sticks up their hand at some stage, you can see that if you look at the stats. But we did have the top two bowlers in Kgomotso Rapoo and Raisibe Ntozakhe.
"The DP World Lions are an amazing bunch of people and I've enjoyed my move here so much. I've had no hesitation in staying for another season," Brits said.
The decision to hire Brits, previously playing for South-Western Districts Badgers, has certainly paid off, but Karabo Meso, who scored a sparkling 76 against the Titans, Sunette Viljoen-Louw, Nonkhululeko Thabethe and Sinalo Jafta all featured high up in the overall batting averages as well, while Fay Cowling had a tournament-leading strike-rate of 143.
On the bowling front, nobody took more wickets than Rapoo (18) and Ntozakhe (16), while Cowling showed her great all-round promise by taking 10 wickets, and Jenna Evans was also a strong contributor with bat and ball. Ayabonga Khaka had a brilliant economy rate of just 3.81 runs-per-over through the competition.
"Slice and I bowl in the nets like we do in the game," Rapoo said of Ntozakhe, "and our bowling partnership is really grand. Without Slice, I would not have been the No 1 wicket-taker; the dot balls from her side helped me to take wickets."