T20 champs Lions underline status as SA’s best provincial union

Relief overwhelmed joy as the principle feeling among the Lions players as they reflected on winning their second trophy of the season, with skipper Bjorn Fortuin claiming there were plenty of moments of insecurity for him.

The Lions beat the Dolphins by seven wickets in Sunday’s CSA T20 Challenge final, claiming their second trophy of the season to stamp their status as the country’s pre-eminent provincial union. 

It was Fortuin’s first stint as captain, a job he joked he would never want to do again. “Hey, if I looked good it was a case of ‘fake it till you make it'.” 

On a more serious note, Fortuin was worried that in a changeroom packed with international players his might not be a voice they’d listen to.

“Captaincy genuinely has been mentally taxing. There aren’t many egos in this team but there are established players and captaining for the first time, for me one of the biggest challenges was self-doubt,” said Fortuin.

“I thought a lot of the players would second-guess decisions I made but that hasn’t been the case. I’ve had four or five senior players who have guided me nicely. At the end of the day I don’t want to leave any stone unturned, so being responsible for the team's performance set me at ease a bit.”

The Lions chased down a target of 166 with 20 balls to spare, with two of their big name players producing the sort of performances which warrant their status as internationals. Reeza Hendricks, who is certain to be in the Proteas squad for the T20 World Cup, scored an unbeaten 73, sharing a partnership of 85 runs for the fourth wicket with Wiaan Mulder, who finished with 55 not out.

Mulder, who flew to Leicester on Monday morning to fulfil the second year of his contract with the English county, said the players felt the responsibility of being successful, given all the resources at their disposal. 

Besides the squad’s depth, the high-powered coaching staff, led by Russell Domingo and including Hashim Amla and Allan Donald, meant finishing a season without success would have been an embarrassing failure.

“There is a lot of pressure on us to win and to perform well every week, purely based on our support staff and our players. The important thing is, however, not so much the expectation to win but the expectation to upskill,” said Mulder. 

After missing out on the One-Day Cup earlier in the season, Mulder said plenty of tough conversations took place between the players and Domingo, with the experienced head coach, who previously was at the helm for the Proteas and later Bangladesh, demanding the players improve their skills while also showing more tactical awareness.

“We were pushed to upskill and we realised we had to change or someone would replace us,” said Mulder.

Fortuin highlighted how the Lions were able to use the wider squad with the likes of Nqaba Peter and Codi Yusuf becoming essential components in their success. “Codi showed it with the Paarl Royals and then for us with the red ball, he was in and out of the side at the beginning of the competition. It’s tough for a youngish player to come in, especially when you come in and then you’re dropped, then you’re back and you’re expected to do well,” said Fortuin.

Yusuf finished the competition with 16 wickets, but his overall contribution which saw him bowl in the power play and at the “death” was indicative of the type of improvement from a skills perspective Domingo was so keen on. 

Peter was the tournament’s breakout star and though he bowled arguably his worst over in the final — conceding 24 runs in the 18th over of the Dolphins innings to give the KwaZulu-Natal outfit a sniff — there was no denying his impact overall.

“It is rewarding, it's nice to see younger players develop under your captaincy,” said Fortuin. “We’ve had Nqaba, he stepped up and became one of the most important cogs in our attack and the guys who have come in from the [outside] have all been responsible for us winning games.”