DP Lions suffered a second successive batting catastrophe when they collapsed to 128 all out after choosing to bat first in their CSA One-Day Cup match against the Six Gun Grill Western Province at the Wanderers on Saturday.
The visitors completed a resounding 10-wicket victory with openers Tony de Zorzi (68*) and Jono Bird (61*) completing victory in just 16.2 overs to finish on 129-0 with both men hitting three sixes and a combined 14 fours at well above a run-a-ball.
Only an astonishing 96 from 93 balls from Wiaan Mulder kept the Lions from disappearing completely with a remarkable scorecard showed that ‘extras’ was comfortably the second highest scorer with a grand total of 18 although the total would have been humiliating had number 11 Nqaba Peter (1* from 20 balls) not stayed long enough to add 54 for the last wicket with Mulder.
Having been dismissed for just 89 in their opening fixture against the AET Tuskers in Pitermaritzburg on Wednesday it was an even worse performance from the defending champions as left-arm seamer Nandre Burger claiming a remarkable 6-38 from his 10 overs.
Fellow left-armer Beuran Hendricks wasn’t far behind with 3-40 and when the scoreboard read 21-7 after nine overs there was a real chance the two bowlers would get the job done themselves.
Opener Joshua Richards (1) was bowled around his legs by Burger before fellow opener Ryan Rickelton (6) edged Hendricks to Jono Bird at slip.
Captain Dom Hendricks (0) edged his third ball from Hendricks to ‘keeper Kyle Verreynne and Zubayr Hamza (1) toe-ended a drive against Burger to cover.
Burger took three more wickets, at no cost, in the ninth over and was on a hat-trick when he had Mitchell van Buuren (0) and Delano Potgieter (0) caught off the first two deliveries and Bjorn Fortuin (0) caught off the fifth ball.
The brilliant Mulder employed sporadic bursts of counter-attacking which earned him 15 fours and two sixes but it was a dismal effort from the home side.
Tsepo Moreki (0) blocked 17 deliveries as he gamely survived to keep Mulder company before a Burger yorker ripped through his defences.
Western Province comfortably beat the North West Dragons in their opening game on the back of a dazzling century from captain Verreynne and it would be stunning shock if they did not add a second win in Johannesburg.
Lions: Joshua Richards, Ryan Rickelton (wkt), Dominic Hendricks (captain), Zubayr Hamza, Mitchell Van Buuren, Wiaan Mulder, Delano Potgieter, Bjorn Fortuin, Malusi Siboto, Nqaba Peter, Tshepo Moreki
Western Province: Tony de Zorzi, Jonathan Bird, Yaseen Valli, Kyle Verreynne (captain, wkt), Edward Moore, George Linde, Mihlali Mpongwana, Beuran Hendricks, Nandre Burger, Mthiwekhaya Nabe, Abdullah Bayoumy