Ken Borland

Proteas spearhead Kagiso Rabada has expressed his delight at playing in his first Indian Premier League final for the Delhi Capitals on Tuesday and is in prime position to finish the most prestigious T20 tournament with the Purple Cap for leading wicket-taker.

Rabada has been in wonderful form throughout the competition and the four for 29 he took against the Hyderabad Sunrisers in the second qualifying final in Abu Dhabi at the weekend took him to 29 wickets in 16 matches. The Delhi Capitals will come up against the Mumbai Indians in the final, the defending champions being inspired by impressive fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who is the second highest wicket-taker behind Rabada, with 27 scalps. It would be a massive feather in Rabada’s cap if he hangs on to the Purple Cap, especially since his World Cup performance last year in England when he was very much in the shadow of pacemen such as Bumrah, Trent Boult, Jofra Archer and Pat Cummins.

“It’s going to be surreal to be in the final but hopefully we can go all the way, it’s just one more big push. We have a very young team with a good captain [Shreyas Iyer] and since I came here in 2016, it’s been the same faces and we have been building up a good team. We play for the fans because it’s thanks to their constant support that we are here.

“We’ve all played some good cricket and individuals have put up their hands when needed. We’ve had a never-say-die attitude, we’ve planned and played well and no-one can say a place in the final was given to us, we’ve earned it and we should give each other a pat on the back. Delhi have not been in the final before, so it feels great to help them there and I’m just glad to be part of it,” Rabada told the Capitals’ website.

Rabada’s fellow South African paceman Anrich Nortje has also been an integral part of Delhi’s success, taking 20 wickets, while Quinton de Kock has been the joint leading run-scorer for the Mumbai Indians with Ishan Kishan, scoring 483 at an average of 37.15 and a strike-rate of 139.59.

Rabada versus De Kock is going to be an important battle within the final since they are good mates but fiercely competitive towards each other.

Bangalore Royal Challengers and the Chennai Super Kings have been amongst the also-rans in the tournament, but one could certainly pardon their South African stars for their failings.

AB de Villiers scored 454 runs at an average of 45.40 and a strike-rate of 158.74 for Bangalore, for whom Chris Morris was the best seamer with 11 wickets in nine matches.

Faf du Plessis was the leading run-scorer for the Chennai Super Kings with 449 at 40.81 and a strike-rate of 140.75, while Lungi Ngidi took nine wickets in four matches for the three-time champions.

Young fast bowler Lutho Sipamla was signed amidst much fanfare by the Imperial Lions in mid-year and coach Wandile Gwavu is hopeful that they will now be able to get him on the park after an injury niggle and give their attack greater penetration in their second 4-Day Domestic Series match, against the Cape Cobras at the Wanderers from Monday.

The defending champions lost by nine wickets to the Dolphins in Durban in the opening round and they took just four wickets in the match, so they certainly need a sharper edge to their attack. Sipamla, a rising star for the Proteas, should certainly provide the pace that is usually a necessity at the Wanderers, but Gwavu said a change in personnel alone will not turn around their fortunes.

“We created chances in the Dolphins game, but then we basically made it a 30-wicket game by missing seven of those chances. If we had taken those then we wouldn’t have to complain about the umpires or anything else. We were outplayed in foreign conditions and we have to give credit to the Dolphins where it is due. There’s a quick turnaround and now we play another good side in the Cobras.

“We have to show patience, we must not go searching for things too quickly, especially with the ball. It’s vitally important that we look within ourselves and it will require a mindset change more than anything else. It’s very important that we improve our batting under pressure, we need to build an innings, and we need more consistent bowling,” Gwavu told The Citizen.

All-rounder Wiaan Mulder is also now fully fit and available for selection.

The Titans will have another coastal pitch to contend with as they now travel to Port Elizabeth to take on the Warriors, but coach Mandla Mashimbyi says their close shave against the Cape Cobras at Newlands has given them a clearer idea of the processes that work for them.

A fantastic century by Theunis de Bruyn, and valuable innings by Aiden Mrkram, Dean Elgar and Junior Dala, saw them chase down a target of more than 300 with just two wickets in hand. But Mashimbyi said they felt in control of the game for much of the time, but a catastrophic collapse in one session put them behind on the scoreboard.

“We’ve identified the processes that work for us and we believe a bit more in those processes now. In the end we had to show a lot of fight and I commend the character shown, but we put ourselves under pressure with one hour of madness when we just did not pitch up with the bat. But that was an opportunity to learn and grow, which we showed in the second innings.

“Sometimes you can want to do well too badly and you end up just not bringing your best. But our engine room came right, they made sure that Dean [who scored a century out of a total of just 150 – a South African record] had someone to bat with in the second innings and we’ll make sure that first innings does not happen again. Our bowlers did exceptionally well, they had things under control and I commend them because they made it possible for us to have a target of just over 300,” Mashimbyi said.

The other teams gunning for top spot on the log clash in Bloemfontein as the Knights host the Dolphins.

Theunis de Bruyn said he had to call upon the services of all his willpower and cricketing intelligence on his way to his matchwinning century that took the Titans to a daunting target of 316 in their 4-Day Domestic Series match against the Cape Cobras at Newlands this week.

On a coastal pitch that was much slower than the Highveld wickets De Bruyn is used to, with the ball turning from Day One and a quality spinner brimming with confidence in George Linde, the 28-year-old knew it would be a mental challenge as much as anything to get the Titans to a total that was more than double what they had managed in the first innings.

“It was more about character than skill and we really wanted to win because it’s always nice beating the Cobras. There was just that will to win even though it was an above-par total to chase and it wasn’t easy – if you bowled tight lines then it wasn’t easy to score because there was no pace and there was turn from Day One.

“We messed up tactically in the first innings, but we made clever decisions in the second knock, even with simple things like where we took guard. So I felt in control but the heart was still pumping all the time, the game was on a knife-edge and you know that if something happens to you then you’ll probably lose. Junior Dala and I took it in 10-run blocks, but it felt like forever,” De Bruyn, who scored an heroic 127, told The Citizen on Friday.

As a leader in the Titans team, De Bruyn says the mood in the new-look squad, with coach Mandla Mashimbyi now in charge from the start of the season for the first time, is especially good at the moment.

“We’re in a very good space and I’m enjoying the new okes in the team. Our bowlers did very well and I haven’t played in a four-day game for a very long time in which I’ve seen the consistent skill and intensity that Lizaad Williams and Okuhle Cele bowled with. And we have okes with experience in the side and there’s that transfer of information. We actually played a great game apart from 45 minutes of chaos in the first innings.”

While openers Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram played a key role with their fluent opening stand of 105 on the third afternoon and are likely to feature in the Proteas Test squad in December, De Bruyn wants to get himself back into the international picture and his masterful display against spin will surely be noticed.

“On my last tour to India, Amol Muzumdar [batting consultant] gave me some good hints on front-foot play against spin. Now I’m playing with a bit more wristiness and it felt like I could access the off-side better, with more intensity but less effort. Coming from Pretoria, I’ve always been good against quick bowling, so at the start of my career I worked hard on how to play spin, especially when the ball is turning.

“That Test hundred in Sri Lanka gave me a lot of confidence, but I still feel I can improve a lot against spin, even more so than against pace,” De Bruyn said.

The fairytale rise to prestige is a staple of children’s books and for Glenton Stuurman those dreams just keep coming true as the 28-year-old paceman was named in a  Proteas squad for the first time, when new convenor of selectors Victor Mpitsang on Friday announced a 24-man group for both the ODIs and the T20 internationals against England starting on November 27.

Stuurman, born in Oudtshoorn, plied his trade for South-Western Districts before making his franchise debut for the Warriors in 2018/19. He has only played five 50-over franchise games in his career, taking four wickets at an average of 53.50 and an economy rate of 6.11, and he has not played in a single franchise T20 match.

Nevertheless, Stuurman is certainly a rising star in South African cricket and his skills are reminiscent of those of the recently-retired Vernon Philander.

Stuurman is the only player in the expanded (due to the Covid bubble they will be in) 24-man squad who has not yet appeared for the Proteas, so Mpitsang has not arrived with a new broom just yet.

A powerful contingent of fast bowlers is led by IPL stars Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, and also includes Lungi Ngidi, Lutho Sipamla and Beuran Hendricks, while Titans white-ball star Junior Dala is fully fit again and recalled to the Proteas set-up.

Former captain Faf du Plessis, who has shown some evergreen form in the IPL, is also included, and neutrals will be looking on with some amusement as the selectors try and fit him, Jon-Jon Smuts, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Rassie van der Dussen and Kyle Verreynne all into the same middle-order. Klaasen, Miller, Smuts and Verreynne all shone in the 3-0 whitewash of Australia in March.

Captain Quinton de Kock’s opening partner will also be a toss-up between Janneman Malan, who scored a superb 129 not out against the Aussies, Temba Bavuma and Reeza Hendricks.

Squad -Quinton de Kock (captain), Temba Bavuma, Junior Dala, Faf du Plessis, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Janneman Malan, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lutho Sipamla, Jon-Jon Smuts, Glenton Stuurman, Pite van Biljon, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne.