Ken Borland

Mitchell Starc celebrates another wicket as the Sydney Sixers march on to the title

The Sydney Sixers sealed the title in the fourth edition of the Champions League T20 in a flurry of hefty blows from openers Michael Lumb and Brad Haddin at the Wanderers, but it was the consistent excellence of their pace attack that had vanquished all opposition before that.

Left-armer Mitchell Starc was the leading wicket-taker in the competition, with Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Moises Henriques all in the top-10 as well. Hazlewood was also the most economical of the bowlers who delivered at least 10 overs in the tournament.

Josh Hazlewood - penetrative & economical

The Highveld Lions were the beaten team in the final, but still emerged with much credit as the Australians were the only side to beat them during the competition.

The Titans were the other South African representatives and they also did not let the country down as they reached the semi-finals, where they were beaten by two wickets by the Sixers in a last-ball thriller.

Four venues – SuperSport Park, the Wanderers, Newlands and Kingsmead – were used as South Africa hosted the tournament for the second time, but rain unfortunately also made an unwanted appearance at the start of a wet summer as four games were washed out.

Both the Lions and Titans were away to fast starts as they won their opening two matches.

Jacques Rudolph and CJ de Villiers blew away the Perth Scorchers in Centurion, while the Lions once again claimed the scalp of the Mumbai Indians at the Wanderers on the opening weekend of action, thanks to the batting of Neil McKenzie and Quinton de Kock, and the superb bowling of Dirk Nannes and Aaron Phangiso.

It soon became obvious that Phangiso was able to outwit international-class batsmen as he continued to excel in victories over the Chennai Super Kings and Yorkshire, and the semi-final against the Delhi Daredevils. The left-arm spinner finished the tournament with 10 wickets and an economy rate of just 5.36.

The Titans brushed aside the challenge of the Auckland Aces in their second match, but were then blown off course by a heavy defeat at the hands of the Kolkata Knight Riders. Their final pool game, against the Daredevils, was washed out and they were then devastated to lose their semi-final off the last ball of the match.

The final was a one-sided affair as the Sixers, who best understood the value of a powerful, adaptable bowling attack, surprised the Lions by starting with spin.

Semi-final 1: Highveld Lions v Delhi Daredevils

Neil McKenzie, who was dropped twice off Morne Morkel, ensured that the Lions had a defendable score as he spearheaded a late charge of 54 runs off the last five overs. Morris was then superb on a Kingsmead pitch that provided him with pace and bounce.

Semi-final 2: Titans v Sydney Sixers

The Sixers needed eight runs off the final over and Pat Cummins scrambled a leg-bye off the last delivery. Titans spinners Roelof van der Merwe and Eden Links had earlier bowled them back into the match after a roaring start by the Australians.

Cummins had earlier suffered terribly at the hands of David Wiese, who notched the fastest half-century of the tournament, off just 25 balls, while Henry Davids played an anchor role brilliantly.

Final: Highveld Lions v Sydney Sixers

The Highveld Lions were also-rans in a one-sided final, never recovering from a horror start after the Sixers had surprised them by opening the bowling with spinners. Openers Bodi and Petersen fell to offie McCullum and left-armer O’Keefe respectively, and with Hazlewood also chipping in with the key wickets of De Kock and McKenzie in the third over, the Lions had crashed to nine for four.

Symes, with the help of Tsolekile and Pretorius in the lower-order, gave them something to bowl at, but the Lions were also poor in the field, both Lumb, who also finished as the tournament’s leading run-scorer, and Haddin being dropped in the seventh and eighth overs.

Off-spinner Simon Harmer claimed the best-ever figures for SA A - 8-87 - to clinch the series against Australia A

The development of the country’s second tier of top cricketers was shown by the way they improved in winter conditions that were much more suited to the Indian tourists.

Off-spinner Simon Harmer claimed the best innings figures for SA A to bowl them to a series-clinching victory over Australia A in Rustenburg, while left-arm swing bowler Beuran Hendricks produced the best ever match analysis as they beat India A in Pretoria to level that series.

SA A failed to make the final of the limited-overs triangular series against the two touring sides, but it took a record-breaking innings of 248 by Shikhar Dhawan to keep the hosts out of the finale, in which the Indians cruised to victory over Australia A by 50 runs.

The 50-over matches were all played at the L.C. de Villiers Oval at the University of Pretoria, which failed to offer any assistance to the bowlers and SA A coach Vincent Barnes said his players were going to have to learn how to play in such sub-continental conditions if they wished to play at the highest level.

“It was a harsh lesson for our bowlers, they had to work exceptionally hard. I can keep telling them that this is what Test cricket is like, but they have to actually experience playing on these decks. At domestic level, you don’t see reverse-swing and spin doesn’t play a major role.

“But in these conditions, seamers have to revert to other skills and reverse-swing plays a massive part. It helps that Australia and India sent two very strong sides as we tried to get as close as possible to Test conditions. It was a great measuring tool and, as a selector, I have a good idea where everybody is,” Barnes said.

Dean Elgar scored 268 to kick-start a prolific series for the left-hander, with Rilee Rossouw and Thami Tsolekile also scoring centuries against the Australians, while Vaughn van Jaarsveld and Reeza Hendricks managed to reach three figures in the limited-overs matches.

v Australia A @ L.C. de Villiers Oval, Pretoria

A determined Elgar equalled New Zealander Mathew Sinclair’s world record score for A internationals as he batted with tremendous application and concentration to give the national selectors a convincing display of his abilities. The left-hander shared a thoroughly dominating stand of 267 with Tsolekile, who made his best first-class score and joined Adam Gilchrist, Mike Hussey, Damian Martyn and Sir Garfield Sobers as the only players with three shares in sixth-wicket partnerships of over 250 in first-class cricket.

Warner had joined Elgar in making a point to his national selectors on the first day as, after being suspended from the Ashes tour and sent to Africa after trying to punch England batsman Joe Root in a pub, the left-hander hammered his way back into the Test team and shared a partnership of 204 in 38 overs with Maxwell, before being dismissed with what became the last ball of the first day. Warner did rather blot his copybook, however, on the final day as he and Tsolekile came together in an angry exchange.

v Australia A @Olympia Park, Rustenburg

Left-armer Hendricks snared the bulk of the wickets as the South African pacemen took advantage of swing-friendly conditions on the opening morning. The in-form Elgar and a composed Rossouw, who mixed watchfulness with aggression superbly, then overcame a pitch on which batsmen never really felt in to further batter the tourists on the second day.

Off-spinner Harmer then took control on a turning pitch to register the best ever figures for SA A. The 21-year-old Maddinson was the only Australian batsmen to bat with any authority in the match.

Triangular ODI series

6/8 Australia A bt SA A by three wickets

An opening victory for the home side looked a done deal after a fine opening stand between Hendricks and Rossouw of 87 in 15.3 overs had been converted into a formidable total by Ontong’s clean strokeplay, and a ferocious start to the Australia A reply had been weathered. But Shaun Marsh batted through the innings and, with Coulter-Nile playing a dramatic counter-attacking innings, the momentum was totally reversed by the tourists.

8/8 Australia A bt India A by seven runs

A phenomenal innings by Maxwell, who had never made a List A century before, and a top-class display of death bowling by Coulter-Nile clinched a thrilling victory for the Australians. Maxwell transformed an innings in disarray as six wickets had fallen for 32 runs and a devastating final assault saw him score his last 95 runs off just 32 balls, hitting Kaul for three successive sixes in the final over.

A solid Indian reply saw them needing just 23 from the last four overs with six wickets in hand, but a double-wicket maiden by Coulter-Nile in the penultimate over, after he had conceded just two runs in the 47^th over, snatched a dramatic victory.

9/8 India A bt SA A by 18 runs

A great effort with the bat by Rossouw, Elgar and Van Jaarsveld was not enough to save SA A from a poor bowling display after they had sent India A in first following morning rain that delayed the start of play, and then returned to end the contest with the hosts struggling against the visiting spinners.

10/8 SA A bt Australia A by 19 runs

Theron did an excellent all-round job in winning the match almost single-handedly, scoring 47 off 25 balls while in the company of last man Hendricks to lift a flagging innings. With Australia A needing less than four-an-over, Theron was then at the centre of a collapse that saw them crash from 160 for two to 183 for eight, Finch’s century not being enough to complete victory for the visitors.

11/8 Australia A bt India A by 25 runs

Australia A booked a place in the final thanks to another inspired effort by Maxwell, who shared a partnership of 139 in 16 overs with Shaun Marsh. His younger brother Mitchell and Coulter-Nile then ensured 54 runs were plundered in the last five overs. India A were in position needing 136 off 18 overs, with seven wickets in hand, but Hazlewood claimed two wickets in the 37^th over and then removed the dangerous Rayudu in the 43^rd to tip the balance Australia’s way.

12/8 India A bt SA A by 39 runs

A freakish innings by Dhawan set up a thrilling match which was reminiscent of South Africa’s memorable victory in the “438-game” against Australia in 2006.

Dhawan made the second highest score ever recorded in a List A game, joining Sehwag and Tendulkar as the only Indians to score a limited-overs double century. He survived a chance on 154, but it was still one of the greatest innings seen on African soil.

Top-class centuries by Hendricks and Van Jaarsveld gave SA A hope as they kept the required run-rate to less than 10 for 31 overs, but a burst of wickets from Pandey ended the brave challenge as India A earned a place in the final.

14/8 India A bt Australia A by 50 runs

Australia A succumbed with barely a whimper after performing well with the ball. The India A innings looked set for bigger things when Dhawan, playing another fine innings, and Karthik were in full flow, but it rather faded away with Hazlewood and Coulter-Nile once again announcing their talents in the death overs.

But the Australian reply was stymied by a combination of Shami’s two early strikes and the wiles of the spinners.

SA A v India A, Rustenburg

SA A failed to meet the challenge of playing in conditions that were as sub-continental as could probably be reproduced in South Africa, India A’s attack impressing as they sealed victory by bowling the hosts out for the second time in two days to seal victory with just eight overs remaining.

The India A batsmen were willing to be patient against the new ball on the first two mornings, with Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina playing out six successive maidens to start the second day. The SA A batsmen, except for Duminy, were unable to replicate that sort of application and in both innings their top-order was dismissed quickly. Pandey was particularly impressive as he hit the deck hard and often used cutters to take advantage of the dry pitch.

SA A v India A, Pretoria 4-dayer

Beuran Hendricks’ excellent control of swing – in particular of the reverse variety – brought him match figures of 11 for 63, the best ever for SA A. He was able to bring the ball into the batsman as well as angle it away and he was well-supported by off-spinner Simon Harmer, who took seven wickets in the match.

SA A had made a disastrous start to the match as unfocused strokeplay saw them crash to 97 for six. But Parnell and Harmer then batted together for the second half of the first day and for more than an hour on the second, before Birch added more misery for the Indian bowlers at the end of the innings.

The post-tea session on the second day brought a dramatic Indian collapse from 95 for one to 145 for six at stumps and they were sent in again for four overs before stumps on the third day, losing Vijay to a Hendricks yorker as they chased 307 in 94 overs.

Pujara was run out off the first ball of the last day, heralding a dramatic collapse to 18 for five, before Rahane and Saha batted through to tea. But Hendricks then returned and swung a delivery back through Rahane’s defences to knock over his leg stump. The end came quickly thereafter for the tourists.

Chris Morris ... just loving his cricket

Chris Morris says the contrast between the squalor on the pavements of India and the billionaire lifestyle of the IPL gave him clarity about what he wanted to do with his life.

“India made a massive impact on me and I learnt a huge amount, especially about lifestyle things. I realised how fortunate I was to be paid so well to play cricket, something I love doing. It was a humbling experience,” Morris says.

The way the Highveld Lions paceman ended up playing for the powerhouse Chennai Super Kings side in the IPL is the stuff of dreams. He literally bowled well enough in one spell for the Lions against the Chennai Super Kings in the 2012 Champions League for coach Stephen Fleming to convince the T20 team’s management that they had to sign the young bowling all-rounder. His fee was an astonishing $625 000, but word from the CSK camp is that they were willing to pay a million dollars for him.

But before his Indian adventure, Morris had already played a couple of T20 internationals for South Africa and he made his ODI debut for the Proteas after the IPL as he was called into the Champions League squad as a replacement for the injured Morne Morkel.

That’s because Morris’s passion for the game, his aggression and determination had already been clear to the South African selectors, even without any Indian epiphanies.

For Proteas bowling coach Allan Donald, attitude is Morris’s stand-out feature.

“What I really do like about Chris is that he gives it a crack, I like his attitude, he’s cocky, he’s got that arrogance towards what he does that all fast bowlers need. He gives so much on the field and it’s not put on, he wears his heart on his sleeve,” Donald says.

CHRISTOPHER HENRY MORRIS is the son of former Northerns left-arm spinner Willie Morris, who took 208 wickets in 74 first-class matches, and they are one of only three father-and-son pairs to have taken a first-class hat-trick anywhere in the world. Morris junior was born in Pretoria on 30 April 1987, attended Pretoria Boys’ High School and played for Northerns Schools in 2004, but he roamed in the relative wilderness of amateur provincial cricket for three years playing for North-West.

The Highveld Lions eventually contracted him for the 2011/12 season and he took the T20 competition by storm, but also showed the penetration needed to succeed in all formats as he claimed 23 wickets in five four-day matches.

The national selectors responded to the exciting talent he displayed by choosing him for the South Africa XI that played in a triangular T20 tournament with hosts Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in June 2012 and Morris then produced one of the most sensational spells of fast bowling seen at the Wanderers during the Lions’ first game there of the summer.

The Dolphins were chasing 241 for victory but Morris took eight for 44 in 21 overs – the best figures in the franchise’s history – to send the visitors crashing to 187 all out.

The Champions League was his next assignment and, in the Lions’ second match, he produced the spell – 4-1-24-1 – at Newlands against Chennai that changed his life.

Morris continued to be the spearhead of the powerful Lions attack in the Sunfoil Series, taking 32 wickets in six matches at an average of just 16, while he also shone in the Momentum One-Day Cup and the RamSlam T20 Challenge.

Having dreamt of being a professional cricketer, Morris has now been to the streets of India and back, but what lies ahead for the 26-year-old?

Donald is convinced Morris has a very exciting future and is the sort of attacking bowler who he wants to groom for Test cricket.

“He can certainly play Test cricket and it’s great that he’s not just focusing on T20 and thinks the IPL is the be-all and end-all for him. Chris has genuine pace and he swings the new ball away a bit, but bounce is his biggest asset. When he hits the right areas hard, then he’s very awkward to play.

“I spoke to Willie and told him what a lekker oke his son is to have in the team for what he brings to the group. I love his work, he’s a keen listener and eager to learn.

“I’m going to keep him tight on my shoulder and teach him how to think about his bowling and how to go about setting batsmen up. But he’s exciting,” Donald says.

Banker Farhaan Behardien and his beautiful extra cover drive

There is nothing overly ornate about Farhaan Behardien as a batsman, but he gets the job done.

That’s not to say that his lofted drive over extra cover is not a thing of immense beauty or skill, but he has become the banker for the Titans, producing the goods in the middle-order whether it be in four-day, 50-over or T20 cricket.

His amazing consistency and his nerveless finishing as the Titans claimed the MiWayT20 Challenge title caught the eye of national coach Gary Kirsten, who is reputed to have said: “Who does that?” when he saw Behardien’s  stats of 333 runs at an average of 66.60 and a strike-rate of 143.53. The 29-year-old was not out in seven of his 12 innings.

Behardien made his international debut in a T20 match against India in March but he could so easily have slipped through the net had he stayed in Cape Town, with all its batting riches.

Having only played for Western Province B in Nuffield Week, Behardien spent three seasons playing sporadically for the Western Province amateur team before being sent to the National Academy in 2006.

It was there that Richard Pybus spotted him and Behardien soon had his first professional contract, with the Titans.

Cape Town is where the family is, FARHAAN BEHARDIEN having moved there when he was five, after being born in Johannesburg on 9 October 1983, but Centurion is where he has made his name.

A wiry, amiable fellow, Behardien wears the weight of pressure as a designated “finisher” well.

“Batting at the death, under pressure, is a job you have to love and I’ve grown to love it,” he says.

“It’s not easy, because it’s all-or-nothing, but I’ve grown to love that risk or reward aspect. I think it’s just a natural part of my temperament and character, I have a very high will to compete.”

While Pybus gave Behardien his break, it was Chris van Noordwyk who gave him extra responsibility by batting him higher up the order, while he has now fitted comfortably under the wing of Englishman Matthew Maynard, who guided the Titans to two titles last season and was a brilliant limited-overs player in his day.

“Matthew is vastly experienced, he was Duncan Fletcher’s assistant coach with England so he has been involved with so many great players. He has taught me to keep a calm head,” Behardien says.

The brilliant fielder and part-time medium-pacer was sent to Westerford High School in Cape Town, which is better known for its academics, so Behardien has had to fight for every bit of recognition, which will buttress him well against the vagaries of form and expectation as an international batsman.

“He’s someone who came through the hard school, it’s been a hard road to where he is. But that means that when you go to war, you take him with you. He’s a fantastic player, very consistent and I’m very impressed by him,” national selector Vinnie Barnes says.

Behardien’s morale has certainly never been dented by his slow rise to national colours.

“I’ve had to build up steadily and gain experience, but I’m not too disappointed that I had to wait a while. I’ve shown glimpses in the past of what I can do, but last season I had consistency.

“The experience will hold me in good stead and now every opportunity is just a chance to showcase my skills. I’ll keep working hard and keep knocking on the door with my performances.

“I’ve done the hard yards and I’ve got nothing against the process. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed it!” Behardien says.