Johannesburg - Obtaining silverware is the central ambition for all six franchises, but this summer in particular for the Highveld Lions, a trophy is desperately required to illustrate tangible proof of their development.
In his three years as the Lions’s coach Dave Nosworthy got them close - twice in the domestic T20 competition - and just months into his tenure, Nosworthy’s replacement, Geoffrey Toyana, thrilling oversaw their charge to the final of the Champions League.
All those performances were signs of progress, but as yet none of that progress has ended with the Lions’ name on a trophy. That has to change this season.
They made an awesome to start in the Momentum One-Day Cup Friday claiming a thumping 269-run win over neighbours the Titans in Centurion.
The Lions headed to Port Elizabeth yesterday to wrap up preparations for their second match of the competition against the Chevrolet Warriors to be played on Wednesday night.
The Eastern Cape franchise have had the kind of trophy success in recent seasons that the Lions crave - having won the domestic T20 tournament and the One-day Cup in 2009/10 and finishing as runners-up in last year’s one-day competition.
Unlike the Lions they got off to a sluggish start, copping a 91-run defeat against the Knights in Kimberley on Sunday.
They remain a powerful looking side however, with Davy Jacobs and Colin Ingram providing class with the bat and Wayne Parnell, Basheer Walters and Makhaya Ntini pace and swing with the ball.
The Star