Lions beat Limpopo by eight wickets at The Wanderers Stadium, replying to 119/6 with 120/2 in 12.1 overs. Control with the ball laid the foundation for a commanding chase in the CSA T20 Challenge 2026.
Basson and Manack keep Limpopo in check
Lions chose to bowl and soon disrupted Limpopo's top order. Raynard Van Tonder struck two fours in his 11 from 6 balls before JJ Basson, who finished with 2/13 from four overs, had him caught at 16/1. Morteza Manack, whose return was 2/23, then bowled Ernest Kemm for 9 to leave the visitors 22/2.
Liam Peters offered some impetus, hitting four fours in his 24 from 23 balls. His third-wicket partnership with Abdullah Bayoumy added 27, but it did not develop into a sustained recovery. Bayoumy departed for 6 from 11 balls at the end of the eighth over, and Manack bowled Peters in the next. At 51/4, Limpopo needed to rebuild rather than accelerate.
Christoffel Klijnhans and Thomas Mayes supplied the innings' largest partnership, adding 42 for the fifth wicket. Klijnhans made 28 from 23 balls, including a four and a six, before Codi Yusuf bowled him at 93/5 in the 16th over. That dismissal removed Limpopo's leading scorer before the closing stages.
Mayes contributed 21 from 24 balls, with one six, before becoming Basson's second caught dismissal at 106/6. Shelton Ngobeni finished unbeaten on 13 and Atwell Mokgoloboto on 5, their unbroken stand adding 13. Limpopo retained wickets but could not build a substantial total; Lions also conceded no wides or no-balls across the innings.
Esterhuizen takes the chase away from Limpopo
Limpopo made an early breakthrough when Mokgoloboto had Neil Timmers caught by Mayes for 11 from 9 balls. Lions were 15/1 in the second over, but that wicket brought in the batter who would dominate the rest of the chase.
Connor Esterhuizen struck an unbeaten 74 from 37 balls, with six fours and five sixes. His boundary hitting gave Lions an attacking force that Limpopo had lacked, while Zubayr Hamza provided support at the other end. Their second-wicket stand of 98 left the visitors with little room to recover.
Hamza made 26 from 26 balls before Mayes caught him off Bayoumy at 113/2 in the 12th over. Bayoumy returned 1/8 from two overs, but his economical contribution could not offset the damage elsewhere: both Mayes and Mokgoloboto conceded 24 from their two-over spells.
Mitchell Van Buuren joined Esterhuizen and finished on 3 not out. By then, the decisive partnership had reduced the finish to a formality, and Lions completed a chase in which the early loss of Timmers had proved only a brief interruption.