Johannesburg, Mar 1 (IANS): Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Sunday congratulated the Imperial Lions for winning the T20 Challenge title at the Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium in Durban.

Wandile Gwavu's team beat hosts Hollywoodbets Dolphins by four wickets in the competition decider, with Kagiso Rabada (3/12) and Reeza Hendricks (39) playing key roles.

The entire tournament was played within a bio-secure environment (BSE) in the coastal city from February 19-28.

A total of 17 matches were played with the Dolphins topping the table with five wins from five matches, automatically qualifying for the final while the Lions ended second and beat the third-placed Dafabet Warriors in the play-off on Saturday.

"Cricket South Africa would like to congratulate the Lions on winning the Betway T20 Challenge," said Pholetsi Moseki, the acting CEO of Cricket South Africa.

"They overcame a Dolphins team that was previously unbeaten in the competition and showed good mental strength to do that after losing to the KwaZulu-Natal side earlier in the week. Their performances throughout the competition have also been very consistent and they fully deserve their success," he added.

Moseki said that Lions had a quality squad which was led extremely well by captain Temba Bavuma. The top run-scorer in the competition, Reeza Hendricks, was from the Lions and so was the leading wicket-taker, Sisanda Magala.

"All in all, it was a good week for the Lions. They now have two trophies this season after sharing the Momentum One-Day Cup with the Dolphins earlier this month," he said.

Moseki also thanked the hosts, the KwaZulu-Natal Cricket Union (KZNCU), for staging a successful event.