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Ken Borland



No walk in the park for Northerns Titans – Mashimbyi 0

Posted on March 28, 2022 by Ken

The Titans may be on a six-game winning streak while the KZN Dolphins just scraped into the last four by winning their last game, but Northerns coach Mandla Mashimbyi knows Friday’s CSA T20 Challenge semi-final is going to be no walk in the park for his high-flying team.

The Dolphins are still waiting on the fitness of ace batsman David Miller, who has a hamstring strain, but they have other potent potential matchwinners in paceman Eathan Bosch, spinner Prenelan Subrayen, all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo and batting kingpin Khaya Zondo.

“Winning six-out-of-seven games is no small feat and we need to enjoy that,” Mashimbyi told The Citizen on Thursday, “but the Dolphins are a formidable team in their own right.

“They have been the best white-ball team in the country for the last three years and we know that they are going to bring everything. The fact they are in the semis means they are doing something right as well.

“It’s going to be all about what you bring on the day and we will never take them lightly. We have to make sure we bring the intensity,” Mashimbyi said.

Working in the Titans’ favour, however, is that they seem to be on a similarly high-flying trajectory to when they won the T20 competition three times in a row between 2015/16 and 2017/18. They are playing with the confidence of a team that knows and executes its plan, and how to adapt when necessary.

“We must have done something right to get here, so the guys can take confidence out of that instead of feeling pressure in a knockout game. It’s a good opportunity to go out and have some fun,” Mashimbyi said.

“The guys should feel good about themselves and what is pleasing is the work they have put into what was initially a bumpy process. Different guys are putting their hands up.

“And I look forward to seeing who will be the game-changer in the semi-final, if one of our players can get the man of the match award then we will probably win.

“We are a team of 15 and we are in a good space with everyone playing a role. So it could be anyone who plays a matchwinning hand, we believe they are all capable and we have a lot still in the tank,” Mashimbyi said.

Most notably, Proteas stars Quinton de Kock and Tabraiz Shamsi have had good tournaments without ever really taking flight. They are both clearly in good form again and the big stage of a knockout match could well see them at their best.

Western Province take on neighbours Boland in Friday’s other semi-final.

Emotional return for Leus, but 3 internationals back for Titans could have bigger impact 0

Posted on November 15, 2021 by Ken

Leus du Plooy will make an emotional return to South African cricket as he turns out as the overseas pro for South-Western Districts in their CSA T20 Knockout Cup quarterfinal against Northerns in Kimberley on Tuesday, but it is three returning full internationals for the Titans who will probably have a greater impact.

Du Plooy’s last appearance in South Africa came in April 2019 when he scored a century for Northerns against Eastern Province at St George’s Park. He then joined Derbyshire as a Kolpak player and did well enough to receive a contract until the end of next season, as well as being chosen to play in The Hundred for Welsh Fire.

But Northerns will welcome back an even bigger star of English county cricket in off-spinner Simon Harmer, as well as batsman Theunis de Bruyn and fast bowler Junior Dala.

De Bruyn has had a wretched time with injury lately and will be eager to stamp his mark on the early-season with big runs, while Dala gives the Titans a trio of fearsome fast bowlers as he joins Corbin Bosch and the in-form Okuhle Cele.

With Dean Elgar still injured, left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso will lead the Titans. He may be 37-years-old, but he showed in the pool stages in Bloemfontein, as he took four for 52 in his 10 overs overall, that there is no mould on his skills and he is still quite capable of keeping batsmen in the dark.

The hard-hitting Donovan Ferreira and opener Jandre Pretorius are two young guys who grew their reputations in Bloemfontein.

The Free State Knights take on Western Province in Tuesday’s other quarterfinal, while Wednesday morning’s clash between the high-flying KZN Dolphins and the aggressive Eastern Province Warriors should be fun.

The Boland Rocks play the last quarterfinal against North-West in a match that will showcase what CSA are hoping are two growth areas of the game.

Poor weather means match that decided whether Northerns or KZN Inland go through the only 1 to be completed 0

Posted on October 26, 2021 by Ken

Poor weather meant only one match was possible on the final day of Pool B action in the CSA Provincial T20 Cup in Bloemfontein on Thursday and it was the game that decided whether it would be the Northerns Titans or the KZN Inland Tuskers who joined the Free State Knights in going through to the quarterfinals.

The Titans were again indebted to Donovan Ferreira for turning an iffy total into something matchwinning as the 23-year-old lashed 43 not out off 24 balls to lift them to 157-7.

The 21-year-old Jandre Pretorius, standing in for injured captain Dean Elgar, opened the batting and scored 40 off 39 balls to allow a solid start.

KZN Inland were then restricted to 133 for seven, with Okuhle Cele (4-0-24-2) and Aaron Phangiso (4-0-19-1) again the stars with the ball after their heroics at the death kept the Titans in the competition on the second day as they defended 70 in seven overs against Mpumalanga.

Corbin Bosch (4-0-25-0) was also very tidy.

The Titans’ composure in the closing overs of both their games against KZN Inland and the Mpumalanga Rhinos made all the difference for them.

Mpumalanga had their game against the unbeaten Free State Knights on Thursday afternoon washed out without a ball being bowled, leaving the Knights and Titans to advance from Pool B.

Can John & Co really stop cricket from being flushed down the toilet? 0

Posted on June 28, 2021 by Ken

John Mogodi of Limpopo, Daniel Govender of KZN, Craig Nel of Mpumalanga, Tebogo Siko of Northerns and Simphiwe Ndzundza of Border are the people elected by the Cricket South Africa Members Council, the body that pushed the sport in this country to the edge of the precipice before eventually seeing some sense, to the new Board that will run cricket.

Of those five, it is fair to say Nel and Siko are the only two who have not been opposed to the efforts of the Interim Board and, by extension, the sports minister, to rescue cricket from being flushed down the toilet. While that reflects on the embarrassing quality of leadership on the Members Council, it is a relief that the new Board appointed this week will be dominated by eight independent directors and there is plenty of leadership, financial and legal expertise and governance experience amongst that lot.

Andrew Hudson, whose post-playing career has been centred on the banking world, is the only director with top-level cricket experience and it perhaps would have been nice if more former players had been appointed.

And the lack of female representation is an even bigger blot on the Board. Independent director Ntambi Ravele and acting chief financial officer Christelle Janse van Rensburg are the only two women out of a board of 15, and that’s even after sports minister Nathi Mthethwa made it clear that he wanted to see a greater push towards gender equality.

It is typical of the double-speak nature of the Members Council that president Rihan Richards should speak of their full commitment to greater female representation and then, when the vote was tied for the fifth non-independent director’s post between Anne Vilas and Simphiwe Ndzundzu, they chose the man.

And Ndzundzu is not just any man. He is president of one of the most dysfunctional provinces on and off the field, and someone who is being investigated over a charge of assault involving the elderly mother of a colleague he had a dispute with as well as a broken arm for his rival’s sister.

And Vilas is not just any woman. Acknowledged as one of the best administrators in South African cricket and very successful in business, as president of Central Gauteng Lions she has overseen their rise to arguably the best team in the country.

So it is fair to say that there will still be small pockets of resistance to progress in South African cricket, but hopefully our cricketing family can start to heal. CSA has been a dysfunctional organisation and the events of the last few years have demoralised so many people involved in the game. Good leadership was replaced by an environment of suspicion.

Hopefully this new Board can bring some much-needed stability after their predecessors did so much to kill the hopes and dreams of young cricket fans. Critical to that becoming a reality is for the right person to be elected chair of the Board and also whoever represents CSA at the International Cricket Council requires much thought.

It’s been a depressing time for those cricket lovers looking for moral leadership as the CSA Board and incompetent Members Council were captured by vested interests and a downright crooked culture developed in the running of the game. But this new, majority independent board will hopefully ensure good governance.

Cricket’s governance issues have, without a doubt, affected the on-field performance of the men’s national team as well, but after a lean period, the victory in the first Test against the West Indies provided some encouraging signs that the Proteas might just be regaining their mojo.

So let the healing begin, and thank you to the six members of the Interim Board for their top-class work which saw their vital task through to completion, shouldering a massive burden in the process.

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    1 John 2:5 – “But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him.”

    James 2:14 – “What good is it if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?”.

    Love without action is useless.

    If you love God unreservedly, you will offer your best to him and be willing to serve him wherever he wishes to use you.

    Love has to manifest itself practically.

    “Love requires uplifting and inspirational deeds.

    “How genuine can your love for God truly be if you are aware of a serious need and do nothing to alleviate it?”- Solly Ozrovech, A Shelter From The Storm



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