Ken Borland

KITWE (Zambia) – Overnight leader MJ Viljoen went out in three-under 33 but would follow that with an even better four-under-par 32 coming in, to cruise to a six-stroke victory in the Mopani Zambia Open at Nkana Golf Club on Sunday.

Viljoen’s brilliant final-round 65 lifted him to 16-under-par for the R2.5 million event, well clear of local favourite Dayne Moore, who shot 70 on Sunday to finish on 10-under-par.

The Serengeti Estates golfer has not won since September 2022 and his emotional triumph on Sunday follows a tough time in which he finished 64^th in last season’s Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy, the first time he had finished outside the top-30 since 2018/19.

“I needed this win big time and I am very proud of myself for pulling it through. I’ve worked hard for the last few months and it feels really good to get this result. I lost a lot of playing rights last season, so it’s really good to be back in the winner’s circle,” Viljoen said.

The 29-year-old had started the final round with a one-stroke lead over Jacques P. de Villiers and Moore, with the next closest contenders being five strokes back in Heinrich Bruiners, Fredrik From and Kyle Barker.

But neither De Villiers nor Moore were able to keep up with Viljoen as he birdied the fourth, sixth and seventh holes. Viljoen’s only bogey on Sunday came on the par-four 10^th hole, cutting his lead to two strokes, but he rebounded superbly with three successive birdies. The coup de grace was an eagle on the 527m par-five 17^th.

Having secured an albatross on the fourth on the first day, he birdied the 484m par-five in the last two rounds, and he said his shots on that hole will be one of his favourite memories when he thinks back on his third Sunshine Tour title.

“My shots on four, I almost had a hole-in-one today on the seventh, and the eagle on 17 nearly went in for another albatross, those will be my favourite memories. And also the fans. I played with Dayne Moore on Saturday and so many youngsters were following us around, there was just noise all the time and it was awesome,” Viljoen said.

Zambia’s Moore birdied the first hole to draw level with Viljoen on nine-under, but was four behind by the turn, having dropped a shot on the par-four eighth. A birdie on the 10^th saw a two-shot swing and he matched Viljoen with birdies on the 11^th and 12^th holes, but bogeys on 13 and 16 were his undoing.

Despite an eagle on the par-five 12^th, De Villiers battled to build momentum as he mixed two bogeys and a double on the last with three birdies, posting a 71 that left him in third place on nine-under-par.

South Africans Daniel van Tonder (-6) and Barker (-5) rounded out the top five.

Leinster are in pain, according to Leo Cullen, after their disappointing exit at the semi-final stage of the United Rugby Championship, but the head coach said the group are still confident they have the ability to continue winning trophies.

Leinster were edged out 25-20 by the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday evening and are now trophyless for a third season, having also been beaten by Toulouse in a Champions Cup final that went to extra time.

The Bulls claimed the winning try in the 67^th minute when wing Sergeal Petersen used one hand to snatch an up-and-under out of the grasp of replacement centre Ciaran Frawley and dived over the line.

“It’s a sixth playoff game we have now lost and it is painful to go through, there is a pretty empty feeling in the dressing room. But there is still a strong belief in the group, as a club we are still highly ambitious and everyone wants to win trophies,” Cullen said after the gripping semifinal.

“It was an unbelievably tight game and really just a moment separated the teams, an aerial contest, just a hand in the air, so there was nothing in it in terms of the result. An individual moment won the game, we were all-square and then there was one big moment, an unbelievable piece of skill at the end.

“The players should be proud of their efforts, I cannot fault that or their character, but there are fine margins in knockout rugby. When you lose, you feel a million miles away, but in the Champions Cup final we were just a drop goal away from the win as well.

“We’ve had some special moments this season, but we’ve just not quite been good enough in the final or this playoff game. We’ve picked up experience of how to navigate at a tough place to come, but it’s disappointing to have the same result. Both of them have been one-score losses and we will go away and reflect, build and go again. Our focus will be on making sure we are better in the big moments. We will get back to work and we’re the ones chasing now,” Cullen said.

The Bulls made 163 tackles with an 88% success rate, compared to Leinster’s 126 at 86%, and the visitors also shaded possession and beat more defenders, leading Cullen to praise the home side for how well they stood up to the attacking pressure piled on to them. A crowd of more than 31 000 roared them on.

“You have to give the Bulls a lot of credit for the way they fought. They would get stuck into the contest, get back on their feet and barge the breakdown again. Defence was maybe the difference tonight, they showed more intensity and fight than us.

“We created lots of opportunities, but you have to give credit to the Bulls for the way they defended, they threw their bodies on the line. You could see the response from the Bulls players to the crowd, as it lifted up their energy.

“We pounded away on attack but the Bulls held firm. You have to give them a lot of credit for the way they stood up in defence. We were very close to breaking them, but we could just not quite do it,” Cullen said.

Leinster had absorbed a strong start to the match by the Bulls, keeping the first quarter scoreless before wing James Lowe crossed over for the opening try as a blindside move took advantage of a yellow card to Petersen for a deliberate knock-on.

But they were unable to build on that lead, with the Bulls levelling matters on the half-hour, and then stretching a 10-7 halftime lead to 17-7 with a try by Petersen two minutes into the second half. Although Leinster fought back to go into the last 15 minutes at 20-20, they were doomed not to add to their tally.

“When we went seven ahead we needed to ram home that advantage, but if you don’t get the back-field right then a guy like Willie le Roux is able to manipulate that and he exposed us with a 50/22.

“But then we were able to fight our way back into the contest and build more pressure, when we were 10 points down we actually had a dominant 15-minute period as our bench made a good impact. But there were a couple of big turnovers and vital moments, and then you don’t get that opportunity again.

“It’s frustrating that we had our chances, but in the first half we weren’t able to build a bigger lead and force the Bulls to play differently and chase the lead. We just made a couple of key errors,” Cullen said.

Sunrisers Eastern Cape coach Adrian Birrell is ever-pragmatic and measured, and he did not need to ruminate long for the reasons behind his team’s 76-run defeat at the hands of MI Cape Town in the SA20 final at the Wanderers on Saturday evening: They were simply the better team.

MI Cape Town were just better on the night (and probably all season, to be fair) in all three departments as the two-time defending champions failed to pull off what would have been an incredible hat-trick of titles. To win a T20 competition three seasons in a row is incredibly rare; locally, only the Titans have managed it (2015/16-2017/18) and Jaffna Kings in Sri Lanka and Sialkot Stallions in Pakistan are believed to be the only other franchises to have pulled it off.

Everything went right for MI Cape Town as they won the toss and bucked the recent trend and elected to bat first at the Wanderers. Runs on the board in a final are worth more and Ryan Rickelton (33 off 15) and Rassie van der Dussen (23 off 25), the best opening pair in the competition, wasted no time in claiming the advantage. They hit an astonishing six sixes in the first five overs in a first-wicket stand of 51, and although Sunrisers fought back well to claim four wickets in the next six overs, MI Cape Town had important contributions from Connor Esterhuizen (39 off 26) and Dewald Brevis (38 off 18) which enabled them to post 181 for eight.

It was a good score on a Wanderers pitch on which the ball sometimes gripped and turned; the class new-ball bowling of Trent Boult and Kagiso Rabada soon turned it into a formidable score. While MI Cape Town had raced to 51 without loss in the first five overs, Sunrisers struggled to 25 for two.

From there it was always going to be an uphill task for the defending champions, and they were eventually bowled out for 105 in the 19^th over.

Left-armer Boult set the tone with two for nine in his four overs, while Rabada wrapped up the victory to claim four for 25. In between, spinners Rashid Khan (4-0-19-1) and George Linde (4-0-20-2) bowled brilliantly.

“Credit to MI Cape Town, they played a really good game of cricket,” Birrell said afterwards. “They have been the most consistent side and they deserve the trophy. I thought 180 was about par, but the ball swung a bit tonight and they have a formidable attack which was really good tonight.

“It’s very difficult to chase 180 when you get behind the game and they bowled very well. And they played a different brand to us with the bat – they hit 15 sixes and only eight fours, usually it’s the other way round. The ball carried well here and that hurt us,” Birrell said.

MI Cape Town captain Rashid Khan was delighted by the most dominant SA20 campaign yet. His team were able to amass the most log points (35) in the history of the competition and then won their qualifier by 39 runs and the final by 76.

“I’m definitely happy because last year and the year before we finished bottom, now we have won the final and scored the most points in the group stage, to win five matches with bonus points is unbelievable. Everyone contributed, we won as a team and did not depend on one or two guys,” Rashid said.

New Zealand star Boult, who claimed 11 wickets in the tournament and conceded just 6.94 runs-per-over, certainly did not mean it in any derogatory way when he said MI Cape Town had a very simple on-field approach and a harmonious changeroom that ensured a positive environment.

“We just tried to keep things very simple: bat first and put runs on the board and then unleash our experienced bowling attack. I could sense the unity when I walked into the changeroom on January 1 and we were able to keep things similar through the whole competition. It was a true collective effort.

“I’m very fortunate to play for such a great franchise as the Mumbai Indians group and this is my fourth trophy with them. We have very great owners and they provide a great environment to perform, while expecting us to do a good job,” Boult said.

If Saturday’s SA20 final at the Wanderers is like the wedding feast to celebrate the successful conclusion of the third edition of the tournament that has changed South African cricket, then Thursday night was a wonderful bachelor party for the Sunrisers Eastern Cape as they romped to an eight-wicket win over the Paarl Royals in Qualifier 2 at Centurion.

The comfortable victory, with four balls to spare, puts Sunrisers into their third successive final and the two-time champions will be taking on MI Cape Town in a mouthwatering final clash.

It was 23-year-old Jordan Hermann who took the Eastern Cape side to their target of 176 with his marvellous 69 not out off 48 balls. But it was another left-hander who set up the victory, Tony de Zorzi opening the batting and stroking a beautiful 78 off just 49 deliveries, with 11 fours and two sixes. His play through the off-side was particularly elegant and he reminded everyone what a serious player he is.

Kwena Maphaka snatched up the wicket of David Bedingham (9) for Paarl Royals in the fourth over, but De Zorzi and Hermann then feasted, adding 111 off 73 deliveries for the second wicket.

Jordan Hermann’s older brother Rubin was also involved in a wonderful second-wicket partnership for the Royals, adding 99 off 65 balls with Lhuan-dre Pretorius, whose time in the limelight will surely come.

Rubin Hermann was also unbeaten, scoring 81 not out off 53 deliveries to take Paarl to a competitive 175 for four in their 20 overs, after electing to bat first. Opener Pretorius batted with great maturity, scoring 59 off 41 balls, to show he is ready for bigger things.

They ensured that the Royals started well, while Hermann and Andile Phehlukwayo (22* off 11) provided the big finish they needed. But it was in the middle overs that they faltered, as the admirable Sunrisers attack gobbled up three wickets in four overs, Paarl slipping from 105 for one in the 13^th to 126 for four after 16 overs.

The key breakthroughs were by English paceman Craig Overton, who had Pretorius caught behind, and captain Aiden Markram, who trapped opposite number David Miller lbw, missing a sweep, for just 6. They both ended with excellent figures of one for 24 in four overs.

The Paarl Royals were the form team in the competition, being the first to qualify for the playoffs, but Sunrisers Eastern Cape have been able to supplant them with a trademark surge in the final week.

“The Sunrisers always seem to be slow starters, but the most important thing is that they catch up in the end,” Miller said after another playoffs disappointment for the Royals. “Once you develop a winning squad like they have, then there’s a lot of trust and they really back each other.

“They are clever and gutsy cricketers, they never say die and that goes a long way in T20. They give everything in the field, they have amazing bowlers, especially the three-metre guys with height and pace in these conditions, and the batsmen have stepped up at certain stages when needed,” Miller graciously said.

De Zorzi thanked Markram for his backing, but in truth the 27-year-old deserves credit for his tenacity in smashing down the door once it was left ajar.

“I’m really grateful for the chance and to Aiden for showing faith in me, even though it’s not really warranted in this format. I haven’t played that many T20 games and you need to play more to find your rhythm and blueprint. Sometimes you have doubts, but I am still relatively young and I need to keep believing. I was glad to do it tonight because it gives me hope and this is an unforgiving format,” De Zorzi said.