Ken Borland

Stats guru Andrew Samson, AKA The Oracle, and Ken Borland discuss the thrilling opening round of the Four-Day Franchise Series that marked the return of professional cricket in South Africa.

With the help of esteemed guest, Firdose Moonda, the CricInfo correspondent, we look at the significant records that were set … and the controversies.

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Sarel Erwee and Keegan Petersen shared an unbeaten second-wicket stand of 181 and Ottniel Baartman wrapped up the Imperial Lions first innings quick-sticks on the second morning as the Dolphins took control of their 4-Day Domestic Series match at Kingsmead on Tuesday.

The Lions began the second day on a solid 152 for three with captain Temba Bavuma and Ryan Rickelton well set at the crease.

But Baartman had Bavuma caught behind for 43 and then dismissed Nicky van den Bergh in the same fashion for a single, sparking a collapse that saw the Lions dismissed for 258. They got that far thanks to Rickelton’s determined 60.

Baartman finished with an excellent four for 41 in 23 overs, 10 of which were maidens.

The Dolphins lost an early wicket when Grant Roelofsen was bowled by Beuran Hendricks for a duck, but Erwee then took control and ended the day on a classy 123 not out off just 146 balls.

He had stout support from Petersen, who went to stumps on 59 not out, with the Dolphins on 189 for one and just 69 runs behind.

In Bloemfontein, the Knights already had their sights on victory as they declared on 430 for six after Farhaan Behardien fell for 75, and then bowled the Warriors out within 75 overs for a paltry 158.

Matthew Breetzke scored 43 and Rudi Second 35 not out, but there was little other fight from a Warriors side that has been rocked by the Covid-19 virus.

Seven of the 10 wickets fell to spinners, with Jacques Snyman, who scored a blazing, record-breaking century on the first morning, taking three for 29 and leg-spinner Shaun von Berg, the man whose record for fastest four-day hundred he broke, causing much strife with four for 54.

The Knights were then 26 without loss in their second innings at stumps, already leading by 298 runs with two days to play.

In Cape Town, a top-class bowling display by George Linde held sway over a phenomenal century by Dean Elgar.

The Proteas opener scored a tremendous 101, but the Titans cold only manage a pitiful 150 all out, giving Elgar a new South African record for the lowest total to include a century, and only seven runs off the world record set by the great Clive Rice for Nottinghamshire in 1981.

Left-arm spinner Linde was consistently brilliant as he took five for 65 in 18 overs, with Tshepo Moreki taking three for 24 in a late burst that included the wicket of Elgar as the last one to fall, caught by Linde at cover-point.

The Cobras began their second innings with a lead of 114 and they extended that to 235 by stumps as they reached 121 for five thanks to a valuable 50 not out from Kyle Verreynne.

Both Central Gauteng Lions Cricket and their title sponsors Imperial have stated that the advancement of women’s cricket is one of their main priorities and on Tuesday they put their money where their mouths are as the franchise’s women’s team became one of the first to get proper contracts.

Not only does the groundbreaking move see all senior women’s team players get a contract but Imperial are also sponsoring the two women’s premier club leagues.

Lions captain Yolani Fourie has been one of the stalwarts of women’s cricket who has soldiered on trying to balance work demands with playing high-performance sport and she said the move will be a game-changer for the team.

“It’s brilliant to now get some reward for playing and it’s a definite step in the right direction. I started playing provincial cricket in 2008 and I’ve been with the Lions for the last seven years and it is so motivating to think that I’m going to get my first actual contract. The national team gives out 14 contracts and they are professional, but the next step is to do that at provincial level.

“We just want to be able to focus on our cricket and this shows that there is hope for the youngsters, a lot more of them will stick to playing cricket because they can see a future career in it for themselves,” Fourie told The Citizen at the Wanderers on Tuesday.

CGL chief executive Jono Leaf-Wright said he was confident the partnership with Imperial would result in more Lions players making the step up to international level, joining current Central Gauteng Proteas Ayabonga Khaka, who is playing at the IPL, and Raisibe Ntozakhe.

“We want to place women’s sport on the platform they deserve and create a high-performance space for them as well, because we know we have a championship side. Imperial really see the value in our women and also want to take women’s sport to the next level. We are very thankful for their investment, which means for the first time in our history, we can give our women’s team contracts, which means the world to us,” Leaf-Wright said.

South Africa’s leading cricketers have been counting the minutes until they could return to proper action and their wait will finally be over at 10h00 on Monday morning as the CSA 4-Day Domestic Series gets underway and marks the return of serious competitive action for the first time since March.

And the opening round of action is full of interest as the defending champion Imperial Lions travel to Durban to take on the fast-rising Dolphins, last season’s runners-up, the Titans travel to Cape Town to play their arch-rivals the Cobras and a rapidly-developing Knights side host the Warriors in Bloemfontein.

In a star-studded Titans team, reliable all-rounder Grant Thomson is wearing the captain’s armband and he gave a taste of the enthusiasm with which his team is approaching their return to action.

“Playing at Newlands there will always be good cricket and I’ve yet to experience an easy game against the Cobras, they are always highly competitive. And I think the competition as a whole is going to have a phenomenal standard because there are great players in all the teams, and Proteas scattered throughout. To play the Cobras first up is going to be a great test for us and we will see where we are first up.

“We’ll be able to test our skills and also see what our new players have to offer, hopefully we can step up together and put together a good performance, our Proteas have been working really hard and Aiden Markram and Theunis de Bruyn are both special hungry and Dean Elgar looks in fantastic nick and Heinrich Klaasen scored a double-hundred in a warm-up game,” Thomson said.

Lions captain Temba Bavuma is expecting similarly fiercely-congested cricket, starting with the Dolphins at Kingsmead and then from all other the teams as they try to stop his team from becoming the first in the franchise era to win three successsive four-day titles.

“All the Proteas are taking part for at least the first two rounds, so it’s going to be massive and the sort of standard we look forward to – strength versus strength and the type of cricket from which we can really test ourselves. We need to try and win back the confidence from the public after a lot of uncertainty and we are all raring to go after what has felt like a really long time off the field,” Bavuma said.