Buccaneering all-round displays by Fay Cowling and Shabnim Ismail led the way for the DP World Lions ladies team on the weekend as they posted bonus point wins over the Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers in their Hollywoodbets Pro Series matches in Johannesburg.
Cowling, an SA Under-19 representative, was magnificent in the Hollywoodbets Pro50 match, scoring 82 off just 54 balls and then taking four for 38 in her 10 overs with the ball as #ThePrideOfJozi stormed home by 116 runs.
Having been sent in to bat, the Lions started well enough as Nonkululeko Thabethe (24) and Diara Ramlakan (25) added 43 for the second wicket. But they had sunk into some difficulty on 135/6 when Cowling joined senior stateswoman Sunette Viljoen-Louw at the crease. The pair added a phenomenal 151 for the seventh wicket in 18 overs, with Viljoen being run out off the last ball of the innings for a feisty 95 off 107 deliveries.
Cowling blasted nine fours and four sixes as she played a match winning hand in the lower-order, lifting the Lions to a formidable 299/8 in their 50 overs.
The South-Western Districts side made a brisk start, reaching 40/1 after five overs, but Jenna Evans and wicketkeeper Karabo Meso combined superbly in the field to make the breakthrough via a run out.
The tall and pacey Cowling then claimed the next three wickets, all bowled, as the Badgers slid to 125/5. She then returned to have the SWD star player, SA Emerging all-rounder Micaela Andrews, caught behind for a duck as the visitors were bowled out for 183 inside 39 overs.
Spinner Nettleton was also outstanding with the ball, conceding just 22 runs in her 10 overs.
Proteas legend Ismail, still one of the most sought-after cricketers in women’s franchise cricket, then played the key innings of 37 off just 21 balls to lift the Pride to 141 in the Hollywoodbets Pro20 match, scoring 18 runs in the last over.
Kirstie Thomson, Madison Landsman and Karabo Meso all scored 19 but none of the Lions top-order were able to go on to a substantial score and Ismail’s late contribution with the bat was crucial.
Fast bowler Ismail then struck in the third and fifth overs and, with Cowling chipping in with a maiden over and 2/18 in her four overs, 142 was too much of an ask for the Badgers, as they could only manage 99/9.
Ismail took 3/18 and there were also a couple of wickets for Relebohile Mkhize and Landsman (3-1-3-2), while Nettleton was again very economical, conceding just 17 runs in her four overs.
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