Bragging rights and a T20 Challenge title will be on the line when the Lions look to defend their title against neighbours, the Titans, at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg today (2pm start).
The Lions beat the Dolphins by seven wickets to win the 2023/24 title, and they have only lost two matches since then en route to this season’s final. Both sides each own a victory over the other this season, making today’s clash a high-stakes tiebreaker.
The visitors had to take the long route to the final after finishing second at the conclusion of the round-robin matches.
A seven-wicket loss in the first play-off qualifier against their opponents in the final delayed their progress as they first had to navigate a tricky Western Province fixture in the eliminator play-off on Friday as they eased to a 19-run win.
The Lions will have the advantage of playing in familiar surroundings, but having played five matches at home so far this season, they lost two and won three. Captain Bjorn Fortuin believes playing at home does not make it any easier for them, but they need to use the powerplay wisely.
“T20 cricket is quite unpredictable and it’s also a final, so there will be a lot of external factors at play. Be it emotions or gameplans, but playing at home does not give us any advantage. What will, though, be our know-how in getting the job done in our conditions, but the Titans have just as much quality to do the same. So I would say it’s even going into the match.
“What we have done well, especially playing at home in the past few games, has been picking up wickets in the powerplay; we saw that against Province even though that game didn’t go our way, but in saying that, it doesn’t guarantee that it will always happen.
“The plans that we have put in place link towards that sort of gameplan; we have tried to restrict teams early on and sort of build pressure in the middle, and hopefully we can strangle them at the backend.”
The Titans found it hard the previous season as they uncharacteristically went through a season without tasting any success, and the final on Sunday will be their first chance to reclaim their status.
Captain Heinrich Klaasen has asked his side to seize every advantage they get against a very strong Lions side.
“The intensity that the boys have played with throughout the tournament has been phenomenal. The moment our intensity is up, teams struggle to compete against us, but once it drops, we are a completely different side and not at the same level we are supposed to be on.”
“We know what we need to do to beat them; they are a very strong side; they have won a lot of white ball trophies over the last couple of seasons; that doesn't put any less pressure on us; we are a very proud franchise that demands winning trophies.
“The only way we measure success is to put trophies in our cabinet, and we haven’t done that over the last couple of years, and we pride ourselves on lifting silverware, and that is the only goal we will have today.”