Eastern Storm

Eastern Storm analysis, CSA Pro T20 2026

Lions at the Wanderers

Chasing sides won 3 of 4 games here and the average first-innings total is 150. Every toss winner bowled first. Plan: bowl first, attack the stumps, squeeze overs 7–15.

Avg first-innings score
150
Wanderers, 2026
Games won chasing
3 of 4
Batting first won the rest
Toss winners who bowled
4 of 4
Decision at the toss
Toss winner won
3 of 4
All after bowling first
Powerplay run rate, chasing
11.08
Runs per over, overs 1–6
Highest total
207/4
Successful chase

Team plan

How to bowl at the Lions as a unit.

Strengths
Explosive when chasing: both Wanderers chases were done inside 12.1 overs, with powerplays of 83/1 and 66/1. Deep batting with power from 1 to 7.
Weaknesses
Batting first they have been squeezed: Border held them to 138/8, losing 4 wickets in the middle overs (82/1 to 91/5 in 11 balls). Nearly half their dismissals here are bowled or lbw.
Seam plan
Win the toss and bowl first. Powerplay: hard length on the 4th–5th stump line, no width. Overs 7–15: attack the stumps and take pace off; this is where they have collapsed. Death: wide yorkers to the left-hander, stump yorkers to the right-handers.
Spin plan
Bowl spin into the stumps in overs 7–15 with a ring field; squeeze singles and make them hit to the long boundary.
Field and template
Template: four of Border’s bowlers each went for 6.25 an over or less and held Lions to 138/8.

How Lions batters got out

6 of 14 dismissals at the Wanderers were bowled or lbw: attack the stumps.

Team target areas

TargetAvoid
Wide offOff stumpStumpsLeg
Yorker
Target
Full
Avoid
Avoid
Good length
Target
Target
Back of length
Target
Short
Avoid

Seam bowling. Lines are relative to the batter’s stance; the yorker row is nearest the stumps.

Batter plans

Pick a batter. Plans are analyst recommendations from this season’s scorecards and commentary; confidence shows how much batting sits behind each.

Zubayr Hamza

Right-hand bat, opener / anchor. Confidence: Medium
Runs
149
Balls
114
Strike rate
130.7
Average
49.67
High score
70*
Innings
4
Strengths
Cashes in once set in the powerplay: 42 off 22 balls in the Northern Cape chase, including sixes. Strong season overall, with an unbeaten 70 away.
Weaknesses
Slow starter: 1 off 6 v North West, 10 off his first 10 v Limpopo. Strike rate drops to about 104 in the middle overs. Bowled once, caught twice.
Where to bowl: seam
New ball hard length on and just outside off stump, hitting the top of off; bring one back into the stumps. Deny width early while he is scratchy.
Where to bowl: spin
Spin early in the middle overs (7–11): he has scored at around a run a ball there. Bowl stump-to-stump, flat and quick, to keep him on strike without boundaries.
Field
Catching mid-off and point in the first 3 overs; once set, protect the square boundaries.

Seam target areas

TargetAvoid
Wide offOff stumpStumpsLeg
Yorker
Full
Avoid
Good length
Target
Target
Back of length
Target
Short
Avoid

Seam bowling. Lines are relative to the batter’s stance; the yorker row is nearest the stumps.

How he got out at the Wanderers

DateDismissalRunsBallsOver
2 Octc ME Prince b O Nyaku163.2
18 Octb T Ntuli52319.3
24 Octc T Mayes b A Bayoumy262611.1

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