Lions' fighting spirit secures Four-Day title after epic final victory

Lions head coach Russell Domingo described his team’s thrilling “come from behind” championship win in the Four-Day Series final as one of the most memorable he’s been a part of in his career. 

Domingo, who’s coached the Proteas and Bangladesh, praised his team’s fighting spirit as they claimed a 99-run win against Western Province after five pulsating days of play at the Wanderers. 

“I’ve been fortunate as a coach to be involved in some amazing wins — Test matches in New Zealand with Bangladesh (2022) or in Australia with South Africa (2016) — but this was really cool,” said Domingo.

“We’d lost the toss, were on our knees, down and out and WP have a good side ... It’s definitely one of the most memorable wins I have been a part of.”

From being 35/5 on the first morning, very few would have seen victory for the home team as possible, but two magnificent innings from player of the match Delano Potgieter, including a career-best 155 not out, along with gutsy contributions from the Lions lower order and then five wicket hauls for Tshepo Moreki in WP’s first innings and Bjorn Fortuin in their second, saw the Lions achieve one of the most stunning turnarounds in recent memory. 

“It was a proper roller-coaster,” said Lions skipper Dominic Hendricks.

“We just dug super deep and kept fighting. Our backs were against the wall for 80% of this game. I’m just really chuffed for the boys. It wasn’t just this game but throughout the campaign, at numerous points we’ve had guys putting their hands up.” 

Coming into the final day on Sunday, both sides would have felt victory was within their grasp. Western Province needed 210 runs, with their skipper Kyle Verreynne at the crease alongside Tony de Zorzi, while the Lions needed seven wickets. But tight bowling from Moreki and Codi Yusuf allowed the home side to maintain control throughout the first session. 

Their reward came when Verreynne was adjudged lbw by umpire Stephen Harris, another contentious decision in a match which had many. Then Fortuin got to work. He too had a couple of lbw decisions from Harris go his way, including the crucial dismissal of De Zorzi for 55. 

The Lions would have felt they were on top at that stage, but it would not have been in keeping with the way this match unfolded were there not another fightback from WP. That came from young Daniel Smith, who followed his first innings 60 with 52 in the second, before he too was given out lbw. 

Fortuin finished with 5/69, and gave the Lions control and a wicket-taking option in the second innings. He topped the charts as the leading wicket-taker in the tournament, with 35. However, nearly as important as his wickets in this match were the runs he scored in the second innings. 

“That partnership with Delano and Bjorn was one of the turning points,” said Hendriks.

It was worth 86 runs, with Potgieter’s 118-run ninth-wicket partnership with Yusuf the next major turning point.

“You could see the energy go out of them at that stage,” Hendricks added.

Potgieter, playing in just his fourth match in the competition this season, said the trust he showed in his lower-order partners resulted from more than just training with them.

“I’ve played against them the last two years when I was in North West and bowling to them, it was tough to get them out. They put trust in me, so I showed trust in them. I can’t be more proud of them,” he said.

Their contributions were significant, and as Potgieter explained, included Moreki’s second-innings 57 as nightwatchman. 

The Lions picked up R1.5m for their victory. Long after that money has been spent, it is the memories of a great game — one that Temba Bavuma afterwards said was close to a Test match given the intensity — that will linger.

“I was telling the guys that one day, when they think about it, they were [effectively] 70/7 [in the second innings] — they will wonder, how did we do that?” said Domingo.