Ken Borland

Pressure at the highest level of sport often equates to a lack of time and space and Proteas bowling coach Charl Langeveldt is hopeful that his charges will be able to execute their skills better as they move from T20s to ODIs against England.

The first ODI in the three-match series is at Newlands on Friday afternoon and South Africa will be desperate to put their 3-0 hammering in the T20s behind them. Time is on their side, as their 50-over form has generally been better than their T20 efforts in recent times.

“Most of the guys have been playing four-day cricket and got some bowling in there, but we haven’t had a lot of T20 cricket recently and we missed out on two of our warm-up games because of Covid. It’s about match-fitness and T20 is very difficult because it comes down to execution under pressure. You can train as much as you want in the nets, but it’s not the same intensity.

“We’ve got work to do to be able to execute under pressure, but the first two T20s came down to two big moments, just two overs, and we have learnt from it to identify the big moment and embrace it. Fifty-over cricket is still high intensity but it’s longer time. The batsmen take more time to settle in so that means more time for the bowlers to settle into a rhythm and get used to the pitch,” Langeveldt said on Thursday.

There will be at least two changes in South Africa’s batting line-up with the in-form Faf du Plessis being rested for the ODIs and Reeza Hendricks released from the squad. The Proteas will be eager to get the experienced duo of David Miller and Andile Phehlukwayo back into action after they were in Covid quarantine.

The absence of the injured Kagiso Rabada means the Proteas could well bring Junior Dala in, with Langeveldt saying a big part of their ODI strategy is to be in the opposing batsmen’s faces and try to strike in the early overs.

“KG is a massive loss for us because he always strikes with the new ball and we speak a lot about taking wickets in the first 10 overs so we can shift pressure on to the opposition. We see Junior as purely a 50-over bowler because he hits hard lengths and is aggressive, he can use the two bouncers and two new balls you get in ODIs. We’ve worked on upskilling him with slower balls and yorkers.

“Junior gives us that extra pace and aggression and to have Andile back would give us six bowlers which is great for us in 50-over cricket. He has a special one-day record and is also an option bowling at the back end. We need to be clever and be able to have that next level of intensity. We must be aggressive in both our batting and our bowling, you can’t sit back against England,” Langeveldt said.

Growing the depth of the T20 team ahead of the World Cup in less than a year’s time is meant to be one of the key aims of the Proteas, but their series against England saw them neither achieve that nor get results as they were beaten 3-0.

The only new face to further his chances of being in the squad that goes to Australia next October was spin-bowling all-rounder George Linde.

Linde was South Africa’s most economical bowler as his left-arm orthodox only conceded 73 runs in 12 overs. And he also picked up a couple of wickets, dismissing Jason Roy and Dawid Malan to show he can get quality batsmen out.

Linde also contributed with the bat, showing the ability to accelerate the run-rate in the closing overs. On debut he faced just six balls but hit a four and a six on his way to 12 runs, while in the second game he scored 29 off 20 balls, only Quinton de Kock, Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler being able to score at a better strike-rate on the sluggish Paarl pitch.

Linde is certainly someone to persevere with, especially since his all-round skill-set will be well-suited to the subcontinent, where so much international cricket is now played. He is the ideal candidate to fulfil the second spinner role that JP Duminy performed so well. Linde is obviously not as good a batsman as Duminy, but he is a better bowler.

The whitewash provided more questions than answers though and these are the weaknesses exposed by England that demand rectifying –

• A more commanding top-order display: Quinton de Kock had three starts but failed to go on and Temba Bavuma was looking very promising in the last match but was then dismissed for 32. Reeza Hendricks, with a strike-rate of just 90.62 does not seem to fit the bill and the Proteas would be better served by having Faf du Plessis, the Proteas’ most consistent batsman, at number three, followed by Rassie van der Dussen, who really blossomed in the last game, at four.
• The finishers: David Miller was sorely missed and not just because he would have provided a second left-hand option in the top five. Linde showed promise in the finishing role and the return of Andile Phehlukwayo will not only give the Proteas six bowlers (avoiding the unedifying sight of wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen bowling) but another left-handed power-hitter with experience.
• Fast-bowling depth: Lungi Ngidi keeps taking wickets and Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje were tidy, but when one of them does not play, then there is always a vulnerability in the attack that the opposition is able to target. Between them, back-up pacemen Lutho Sipamla and Beuran Hendricks bowled 6.4 overs for 101 runs.

A career-best 11-wicket haul for fast bowler Daryn Dupavillon paved the way for the Dolphins to beat the Knights by five wickets in their 4-Day Domestic Series match at Kingsmead in Durban on Wednesday.

Dupavillon claimed four for 66, to back up his phenomenal first-innings figures of seven for 38, as the Knights second innings collapsed from their overnight 150 for two to 213 all out, leaving the Dolphins with just 77 to get for victory on the third day.

It was a bit of a struggle for the home side as leg-spinner Shaun von Berg took three for 12, but Keegan Petersen scored 28 not out to ensure a five-wicket win for the Dolphins.

Dupavillon stamped his mark in his first over of the day when he had in-form nightwatchman Migael Pretorius caught behind for 8, off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen then bowled Patrick Botha for 6, and when opener Matthew Kleinveldt was run out for a tenacious 77, the Knights were really on the skids inside the first hour of play.

Left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy also chipped in with a three-wicket haul as the Knights lost their last eight wickets for just 63 runs on Wednesday.

The Imperial Lions, meanwhile, will have to put in another day at the office as a determined batting display by the Warriors held them up at St George’s Park.

Set a mammoth 513 for victory, the Warriors had reached 219 for five at stumps thanks to captain Yaseen Vallie’s defiant but positive 85 and Rudi Second’s obstinate 76 not out.

The in-form Sisanda Magala dismissed Vallie and claimed the big wicket of opener Ed Moore to lead the Lions bowling.

Earlier, Wiaan Mulder showed why he is one of the country’s most promising batting all-rounders as he cruised to a brilliant 100 not out off 109 balls to set up the Lions declaration on 241 for five shortly before lunch.

Mulder and Rickelton (59) put on 93 for the fourth wicket before Mulder cut loose with 13 fours and three sixes.

A draw looks the most likely result at Centurion, although there is still space for a Titans win as the Cape Cobras go into the final day on 33 without loss, a lead of just four runs.

The pitch is starting to misbehave, with Cobras openers Jonathan Bird and Pieter Malan having to keep their wits about them in the nine overs they had to face before stumps as deliveries started to keep low.

The Titans had earlier made it to 440 all out with two centuries being scored: Aiden Markram reached three figures for the third consecutive innings as he stroked a commanding 113, and Neil Brand showed great judgement in sticking around for six-and-a-half hours and scoring 115.

Sibonelo Makhanya played some marvellous strokes in his run-a-ball 55 and there were useful contributions too from Theunis de Bruyn (35) and Dayyaan Galiem (38) as the Titans took the lead.

New Cobras signing Calvin Savage was always at the batsmen in 22.4 persevering overs and was rewarded with five for 77, his first five-for for his new franchise.

Cricket South Africa company secretary Welsh Gwaza has been suspended by the interim board pending a disciplinary hearing and the allegation that he has paid his former employers Bowmans Gilfillan millions of rands over the last five months could well be one of the examples of maladministration used to fire him.

CSA have released a statement saying they have delivered a notice of disciplinary hearing to Gwaza regarding various allegations of misconduct against him. December 14 has been set as the date of the hearing.

Gwaza is mentioned several times in the Fundudzi Forensic Report and is accused of withholding crucial information from the then-Board over the improper Global Sports Commerce and Tinanati deals that could end up costing CSA millions of rand, and the step-in into the affairs of the Western Province Cricket Association over the Newlands development.

But insiders have told The Citizen that Gwaza has lost the trust of the interim board due to his dealings with Bowmans, who have recently had their services as legal advisors terminated.

“Gwaza has apparently spent R6 million in the last five months on Bowmans, including R1.2 million on a review of the Fundudzi Report that cost R4 million to implement. That led to the advice not to make the report public and to not recognise the interim board. There are also questions over whether he tried to get the report sanitized to protect himself.

“Either way, he has obstructed the interim board, misled the previous board and not informed them of key facts. So there could be an element of dishonesty involved, but what is certain is that his relationship has irretrievably broken down with the interim board. The previous board allowed him to become so powerful that he was the internal auditor, the head of legal and the chief operating officer,” one insider told The Citizen on Wednesday.

There have also been allegations that Gwaza has been manipulating the appointment of independent directors to the board.

Thabang Moroe and Naasei Appiah, Gwaza’s two allies in the CSA executive, have already been dismissed due to the findings of the Fundudzi Report.

CSA have also announced that through their recently appointed attorneys, Dingley Marshall, they have terminated the services provided by public relations independent contractor, PR Worx, with immediate effect. They have also delivered a notice of breach to their outsourced human resources service provider, People Link, due to the various procedural irregularities that took place when Chantel Moon was appointed by Moroe. The Fundudzi Report revealed that Moon lacks CSA’s minimum qualification requirements for the HR position. People Link has been afforded 48 hours to remedy the breach by appointing a properly-qualified representative.