• Domingo’s pitch wish for 4-Day Series final

    Central Gauteng Lions coach Russell Domingo hopes that a “good cricket wicket” will be produced for the 4-Day Domestic Series final against Western Province.

    The five-day match starts at the Wanderers on Wednesday (10am, SuperSport channel 207).

    The Lions secured top spot on the log with an away win against the Northerns Titans last week.

    While the Centurion pitch certainly favoured the bowlers, Domingo was happy with the surface and says he hopes for another result pitch, but one that is fair to the batsmen.

    “The guys were fantastic against the Titans on what I thought was a good pitch. I was really pleased with the way we played and now we can take that confidence into the final.

    “We’ve played some really good cricket lately, despite having had some flat pitches where we’ve struggled to finish off teams.

    “All I want at home for the final now is a good cricket wicket – one that rewards good batting and if you bowl well then you’ll get wickets. I will always advocate that because I believe the guys need to learn how to play long innings and how to dismiss batsmen on good pitches. We don’t want anything extreme and over five days I have no doubt we’ll get a result.”

    With Lutho Sipamla making an impressive return to action last week, and Duanne Olivier and Tshepo Moreki available again after Proteas Test duty in New Zealand, Domingo may consider fielding five seamers and spinner Bjorn Fortuin.

    The batting unit should be confident of putting enough runs on the board, especially with Zubayr Hamza set to return from Test duty and Proteas Test captain Temba Bavuma also available.

    Central Gauteng Lions squad: Dominic Hendricks (c), Joshua Richards, Zubayr Hamza, Tshepo Moreki, Duanne Olivier, Wandile Makwetu, Temba Bavuma, Ryan Rickelton, Codi Yusuf, Mitchell van Buuren, Delano Potgieter, Bjorn Fortuin, Malusi Siboto, Lutho Sipamla, Wiaan Mulder, Connor Esterhuizen, Muhammad Manack.

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    Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images

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    Simon Borchardt