Ken Borland

Reeza Hendricks has surely now sealed his World Cup spot as he and Aiden Markram banded together in a dominating century stand that allowed South Africa to score 211/5 in the first T20 against Ireland in Bristol, a score that was safe as houses with ace spinners Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi doing their usual hustle in the middle overs.

After the Proteas had elected to bat first and Quinton de Kock (7) ran himself out in the fourth over, Hendricks notched his fourth successive half-century, scoring a beautifully-paced 74 off 53 balls, scoring freely through the off-side in particular as he collected 10 fours and a six.

South Africa were 47/2 in the powerplay, but Hendricks and Markram then combined superbly for a stand of 112 off just 62 balls for the third wicket.

Markram was explosive, blasting a punishing 56 off just 27 deliveries, including five sixes, but he and Hendricks fell in successive deliveries to leg-spinner Gareth Delany in the 16^th over.

That left South Africa on 158/4 after 16 overs, but Tristan Stubbs showed he has the priceless finishing gift as he scored a spectacular 24 off just 11 balls, filled with remarkable strokes. Dwaine Pretorius also did his job with a dashing 21 not out off only seven deliveries, the Proteas scoring 53 runs in the last four overs.

Maharaj, deputising as captain because David Miller had a back spasm, and Shamsi were then the two best South African bowlers. Maharaj struck in the eighth and 10^th overs to take 2/29 in his four overs, while Shamsi was also excellent at the other end with 1/22 in his first three overs.

They reduced Ireland to 111/5 after 12 overs, but Lorcan Tucker won himself many fans as he did not sit back, lashing a destructive 78 off just 38 balls.

George Dockrell supported him brilliantly with a defiant 43 off 28 as Ireland regrouped to need 71 off the last six overs.

Shamsi had to stand up and bowl the 17^th over and he claimed the key wicket of Tucker, top-edging a sweep, and Dockrell fell to Pretorius next ball.

Lungi Ngidi bowled an effective array of slower balls at the death and conceded just 16 runs in his last two overs, while Pretorius went for just five off the 18^th over and Wayne Parnell six off the last, restricting Ireland to 190/9 and a 21-run victory.

An autumnal sun may be shining over SuperSport Park on Friday and the pitch could be a bit slower than usual, but Proteas coach Mark Boucher is still expecting good conditions and for wicket-taking firepower to be crucial in the middle overs of the first ODI against Pakistan.

The last time South Africa played a home ODI series in April was against Australia in 2009, the Proteas winning the rubber 3-2. While spinners played a big role in the series, the most interesting result came at Centurion when Australia were destroyed by early-morning swing, Dale Steyn and Wayne Parnell sharing eight wickets, to be bowled out for just 131. Friday’s match has a 10am start time.

“It’s certainly cooling down, it’s why I’m wearing my tracksuit top and a couple of the guys have come down with a bit of flu,” Boucher said in his virtual interview on Thursday. “Generally, the colder it gets up here the slower the pitch, but it still looks pretty good. There hasn’t been as much cricket played on it this summer so it probably is a bit fresher than usual. And it’s a day game so I expect good conditions, but just a touch slower to what we’re used to.

“We’ve got the pace though and we need wickets in the middle overs. From overs 11-40 we want to be nice and aggressive, make the play and not just sit back and wait for things to happen. So I hope the quicks run in and be really aggressive. You tend to win games if you take wickets in that period and we’ve got the firepower and the spinner to do that.”

Boucher confirmed that all 22 members of the ODI squad are fit and available, including all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo, who injured his ankle in the first game of the domestic T20 competition and has not played since February 19.

The last time the Proteas played ODI cricket was when they whitewashed Australia 3-0 a year ago, but not all of those star performers are going to be in the starting XI on Friday.

“A lot of guys were rested from that series and there were a couple of injuries, plus it was a long time ago. So by rights certain players will come back and have got to fill their spots again, but we will also take form into consideration. It’s nice to have a full-strength squad to choose from and the guys who were given an opportunity really performed. But there will be honest conversations about who is first in line.

“Temba Bavuma will probably bat three and we see Aiden Markram as someone we can juggle, but he will probably start up front although he can bat three or four. We’ve selected a squad in line with what we want to do in the 2023 World Cup, but it’s more important to win now and we want give guys opportunities where they have really done well for their franchises,” Boucher said.

Dwaine Pretorius was obviously the star of the show as South Africa levelled the T20 series against Pakistan on Saturday with the best figures in the history of Proteas T20 cricket, but the all-rounder said the efforts of spin bowlers Tabraiz Shamsi and Jon-Jon Smuts in the middle overs of the innings were as worthy of reward as his incredible return of five for 17.

Pretorius broke the record for best T20 figures for South Africa, previously held by Ryan McLaren, who took five for 19 against the West Indies at North Sound. He bowled the second over of the innings, trapping Pakistan kingpin Babar Azam lbw with his second ball and then returned in the 14^th over of the innings to remove top-scorer Mohammad Rizwan for 51 and claiming three other wickets in the closing stages of the innings.

But before his second spell, wrist-spinner Shamsi bowled brilliantly in the middle overs to take one for 16 in his four overs, while Smuts conceded just 20 runs in his four overs of canny left-arm orthodox.

“That was next-level bowing by Shamo and Jon-Jon and they could easily have taken the wickets instead of me. That’s why I say it was a collective effort by the attack and the two spinners tightened the noose superbly. And Heinrich Klaasen captained the team really well, changing the bowlers around a lot so no-one could get settled on the batting side.

“So the spinners did superbly and the other seamers also executed the plan really well, and I just tried to stick to my plan. Sometimes in T20, the simpler the better and I just tried to keep my plans simple, although I have learnt, especially from bowing coach Charl Langeveldt, that it’s vital that the batsman doesn’t know which ball is coming, you also don’t want the batsman to settle into facing one thing,” Pretorius said after the six-wicket win.

Pretorius also praised the batsmen, especially Reeza Hendricks and Pite van Biljon, who both scored 42 and played the spinners aggressively, showing that even a daunting leg-spinner like Usman Qadir is only human as he faltered under pressure, conceding 43 runs in his four overs.

“The batsmen have actually played a lot of good cricket lately, but then it’s just been one or two overs that we lose really badly. As a batting unit, they’ve tried to focus on making sure that when you hit a bad patch, you don’t lose a cluster of wickets. They’re trying to keep their intensity high and they did that unbelievably well today. It’s about the big moments and we played those better tonight,” Pretorius said.

Little went right for the bizhub Highveld Lions as they were hammered by seven wickets with 12 overs to spare by the Chevrolet Knights in their Momentum One-Day Cup match at the Wanderers on Friday night.

Set a mediocre 228 for victory, the Knights had little trouble registering a crucial bonus-point win, reaching 229 for three in 38 overs.

As disciplined and probing as they were with the ball in sunlight, the Knights were ruthless with the bat under floodlights, with Gerhardt Abrahams, Rudi Second and Pite van Biljon all scoring bright half-centuries.

Van Biljon was there at the end with 51 not out off 58 balls, alongside Obus Pienaar (25*), their unbeaten 53-run stand providing the finishing touches to a tremendous victory.

Having produced a terrible batting display in meandering to 227 for nine in their 50 overs, the Lions began awfully with the ball.

Hardus Viljoen, on his return from long-term injury, was here, there and everywhere. He bowled four wides in the first over, which went for 12 runs, and added three more wides and a couple of no-balls in his second.

Pumelela Matshikwe also struggled, conceding 31 runs in his opening spell of four overs, and the Knights were quickly away.

Viljoen managed to get one ball on target in his opening burst, Lefa Mosena edging to second slip to be caught for six, but there was precious little for the Lions to cheer about for the next 17 overs as Abrahams and Second added 107 off 108 balls.

Abrahams, who was brought into the side to replace SA A batsman Reeza Hendricks, was dashing and able to put away the bad delivery as he raced to 62 off 54 balls with 10 fours, before he was bowled by wrist-spinner Eddie Leie attempting a big slog-sweep.

There was no respite for the Lions, however, as Second and Van Biljon continued scoring freely, another 39 runs being added before Second was also bowled by Leie, although he was deceived by a yorker. The wicketkeeper scored a fine 55 off 78 balls, with seven fours.

The scoring slowed down during the partnership between Van Biljon and Pienaar, but the Knights had no reason to rush with the bonus point always well in their sights.

Viljoen returned and was struck for successive boundaries by Van Biljon to end the game, conceding 60 runs in his seven overs, to perhaps suggest he was rushed back into action too early.

Leie tried enthusiastically to get the Lions back in the game, taking two for 48 in nine overs, while Kagiso Rabada was tidy, conceding just 37 runs in his nine overs.

The five points for the win lifts the Knights back into contention on 13 points in fifth place, now just two behind the Lions.

The Highveld Lions never got out of first gear before falling away badly in the middle overs, and, on the same pitch on which South Africa scored billions of runs just two weeks ago, they could never get close to a run-a-ball, despite a solid platform laid by the top three.

The Knights won the toss and gave the Lions batsmen first use of a bare, bouncy pitch and openers Stephen Cook and Rassie van der Dussen gave the home side an ideal start by bringing up their fifty partnership off 66 balls.

A shifting of gears was required but Cook (34 off 39, 5×4) tried to pull a delivery from fast bowler Quinton Friend and, cramped for time and space, he could only dolly a simple catch to midwicket.

Alviro Petersen came in and looked top-class as he cruised to 39 off 51 balls, with five fours, before paceman Dillon du Preez held on to a sharp return catch.

The Lions were still in a strong position on 124 for two after 28 overs, but a dramatic middle-order collapse then ensued as they slumped to 162 for seven in the 41^st over.

Van der Dussen’s 57 off 90 balls was a passable effort in terms of building a foundation, but he needed to go on and anchor the innings. Instead he became one of three wickets to fall in four deliveries as he drove outside off stump and was caught behind off Shadley van Schalkwyk.

Temba Bavuma (3), caught trying to pull Du Preez, Neil McKenzie (15), top-edging a sweep off Werner Coetsee, and Dwaine Pretorius, caught behind for a duck off Van Schalkwyk as he wafted outside off stump, all made little impression.

Viljoen was brilliantly caught by a diving Michael Erlank in the covers for 10 off Du Preez.

Thami Tsolekile (34) and Rabada (22) did at least add 49 off 45 balls for the eighth wicket to give the Lions something to bowl at, but the probing Knights bowlers remained in control throughout the innings.

Du Preez was outstanding with four for 34 in 10 overs – yes, he even bowled yorkers regularly at the death – while Van Schalkwyk (10-2-43-2) and Friend (10-1-45-1) could also be happy with their contributions.

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