Star-studded Lions need batters to fire as T20 Challenge enters home straight

Rather than concerned, Lions captain Bjorn Fortuin says his side’s performances in the first half of the CSA T20 Challenge have been frustrating.

The Lions sit in third place having won four out of seven matches and begin the second half of the tournament with a weeklong trip to Cape Town next week, where they will face Boland and Western Province.

“If I had to mark that first half of the campaign out of 10, I’d give us a five, even a four for some matches,” said Fortuin, who was given the captaincy for this tournament. 

The Lions slipped to a second consecutive home defeat to the Warriors on Wednesday night, coming out on the wrong side of a tight match to lose by two runs. Two of their four wins have been in tight affairs too — a one-run victory against the Titans, secured in the final over by Kagiso Rabada, while Kwena Maphaka defended 10 runs in a super over against WP.

“We got the points in those games, but if we were honest with ourselves we should have been more convincing,” said Fortuin.

“We have had our fair share of luck and if we look at the bigger picture, we know there is room for improvement.” 

The fielding is one department that needs work. The Lions dropped four catches on Wednesday, three of those chances falling to Andile Mogakane, who eventually finished as the Warriors’ top scorer with an unbeaten 73.

“There are a variety of factors that could be at play there. I just felt on Wednesday that the bowlers missed their lines, gave them 20 to 30 easy runs and then our body language and energy just got bad in the field.” 

One key area that has been a source of annoyance is the batting, which on paper looks potent but has so far failed to fire in the manner the Lions would have hoped given the personnel at their disposal, especially the top four.

“I don’t think concerning is the right word, it’s more frustrating because of the experience and skill that those guys possess.”

Ryan Rickelton is the only one of the top four to feature in the 10 leading run scorers in the tournament, with an aggregate of 177 runs. Between them, Rickelton, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen and Reeza Hendricks have made only three half-centuries and with all of them pushing for spots in the Proteas squad for the T20 World Cup, those returns are well below par. 

“There is a lot of expectation on them because of their skill and experience, and you just have to believe it will be a matter of time before they click,” said Fortuin.

It's not something he wants to leave to chance, however. The Lions, despite losing Rabada and Maphaka to the IPL, are still a very powerful unit and the players will believe, given the length of the tournament which only concludes at the end of April, that they will be able to get their house in order. 

“We know there are still a lot of games to go but it's too simple to say, ‘We will just peak at the right time.’ If there are games to be won, you want to win them.”