Ken Borland

Seven wickets from the spinners bowled the Northerns Titans to a 38-run victory over the Free State Knights in their CSA T20 Challenge semi-final in Potchefstroom on Wednesday.

A vastly-improved Knights attack meant the Titans could only score 158 from their 20 overs, compared to the record 271/3 they made just two days earlier.

Free State were well in the game on 92/3, having benefited from a bright start from openers Gihahn Cloete (21) and Jacques Snyman (33), but from the 15^th over onwards it was one-way traffic as the Northerns spinners took control.

Five wickets were claimed in the space of 22 deliveries as the Knights crashed to 111/8, and they eventually closed on 120/8.

Left-arm spinner Neil Brand did the bulk of the damage with 3/24 from his four overs, but there was much pressure exerted from the other end as well, with orthodox left-armer Aaron Phangiso (3-0-16-1), off-spinner Simon Harmer (4-0-22-2) and leggie Dewald Brevis (3-0-15-1) all emerging from the match with excellent figures.

Northerns had elected to bat first, but with fast bowler Gerald Coetzee roaring in with impressive pace, the Knights turned their frustrations and humiliation from their previous meeting into redemption.

Coetzee roughed up their nemesis Brevis, and fellow quick Migael Pretorius then roared with delight as he had the prodigious talent caught at mid-on for just 9, trying to drive on the up.

It was a real arm-wrestle for the Titans, but Jiveshan Pillay scored a composed 33 off 24 balls, and the experienced Theunis de Bruyn (36 off 28) and Sibonelo Makhanya (45 off 34) shared a key partnership of 48 for the third wicket in 6.2 overs.

Coetzee (4-0-28-2) was outstanding in leading a Knights attack that was as smart as it was ferocious, with Mbulelo Budaza (4-0-22-1) and Alfred Mothoa (4-0-31-0) also impressive.

Off-spinner Jacques Snyman (3-0-17-1) was also hard to get away, but the Titans had given themselves enough of a total for their spinners to run rampant once again.

David Miller knows that Pakistan will be at their most dangerous in South Africa’s crunch T20 World Cup game against them in Sydney on Thursday, but he feels he and the Proteas team have learned how to win in various pressure situations.

Pakistan have only won one of their three matches so far in the tournament, and if they lose on Thursday they are officially out of contention for semi-final qualification.

If South Africa win, they are guaranteed a semifinal place following Zimbabwe’s defeat on Wednesday. Either India or Bangladesh will join them in the last four.

“Pakistan are definitely more dangerous because it is a must-win game for them. They have some serious matchwinners and they are going to come in charging against us,” Miller said on Wednesday.

“So we’ll have to make sure we’re on our A-game, we stick to our processes and what has worked in the past. We are finding lots of different ways to win and have been doing that for the last year.

“In tricky situations we’ve managed to get over the line, thanks to the continuity of the squad. We’ve all found our roles and if one player doesn’t do well then others pick up the slack.

“For me personally it’s been a good ride over the last couple of years and being able to draw on past experience has been really valuable. I’ve been in a lot of different situations and I understand what’s required,” Miller, who averages 55.46 at a strike-rate of 158.81 since the start of 2021, said.

The Sydney Cricket Ground usually offers some purchase for the spinners and, as always when South Africa take on a subcontinental side, questions over their playing of spin have been asked. Miller feels it is an examination they have passed several times in recent history.

“We’ve played quite a lot in Indian conditions, we went to Pakistan not that long ago, and we have competed very well. Our focus in the last couple of years has been on playing spin.

“We have prepared well and we have lots of options against the turning ball now. We’ve definitely got the skills to perform against the Pakistan spin team.

“Then again, the conditions might not provide spin. Especially in Australian conditions, our pace attack has come into its own, they’ve brought a lot of energy and pace.

“We’re in a good space, we’re definitely in a good position in the tournament, but we know there is still lots to do. Playing as a team has allowed us to do well,” Miller said.

In many ways, Malibongwe Maketa is the coach that just refuses to go away and his patience and consistent excellence has finally seen him rewarded with the post of Proteas interim head coach for their Test tour of Australia.

The three Tests in Australia, between December 17 and January 8, are South Africa’s penultimate series in the ICC World Test Championship, in which they currently lie second, 10 percentage points behind Australia. So if the Proteas win the series 2-1 or 1-0 then they will catch Australia up, but any bigger victory will see South Africa take top spot. Their final series is against the West Indies at home early next year.

The 42-year-old Maketa has long been highly-rated as a coach ever since his work as head coach of the Eastern Cape Warriors team from 2014/15 to the end of 2017, especially in white-ball cricket in which he steered the under-resourced franchise to two finals and a share of the One-Day Cup title.

He then became an assistant coach for the Proteas under Ottis Gibson, unfortunately a poisoned chalice for his career. Not only was he tarnished by the under-performance and eventual collapse of the national team in 2019, but his talents as a head coach were lying dormant.

When he lost his job at the same time as Gibson was let go, it seemed that Maketa would have to go back to the bottom of the coaching pecking order again. Fortunately, former director of cricket Graeme Smith restored Maketa to his rightful place as a head coach, giving him the SA A job that he has held up till now.

After his own unsatisfactory experience as an assistant coach, current director of cricket Enoch Nkwe fully understands Maketa’s struggle, but the fact that he has spent a lot of time around international cricket and is also heavily involved in the growth of the next generation of Proteas will stand him in good stead.

“Malibongwe … is a familiar face to the environment and has worked in the same space previously when he served as assistant coach,” Nkwe said in a CSA statement.

“Mali knows most of the players well, they know him too; and with such a short time between now and the tour, we as Cricket South Africa felt we needed someone who could step in immediately and lead us through what is an important series for the Proteas. We have no doubt he will do South Africans proud in this series.”

CSA chief executive officer Pholetsi Moseki said: “Malibongwe has earned respect and acclaim as a coach and a leader. This interim appointment is in recognition of his ability to integrate himself into any system and assure continuity.

“As no stranger to the Proteas set-up, I am confident that he will acquit himself well and hit the ground running.”

After the Australia series, South Africa’s next international commitment is an ODI series at home against England at the end of January.

Lungi Ngidi was left out of the Proteas XI for their previous game at the Sydney Cricket Ground, but he is coming off a man-of-the-match performance against India in Perth, so South Africa’s selection team face something of a quandary for their crunch T20 World Cup meeting with Pakistan on Thursday.

The pitch for the comprehensive win over Bangladesh in Sydney was certainly slower than the one in Perth, where Ngidi absolutely revelled with figures of 4/29. But pace was still effective against Bangladesh, with Anrich Nortje taking 4/10. But spinner Tabraiz Shamsi also shone with 3/20, so conditions on the day could be the decider.

Ngidi admitted after his demolition job on India that he was by no means certain he would even be playing the match.

“I was a bit surprised, I’ve not played much in this World Cup, so to come in on the day and perform against India … I couldn’t have asked for a better day,” Ngidi said.

“I’m very happy and it is probably one of my best performances. You could see there was pace in the pitch. The plan was to not give any width and try to keep it as tight as possible. Dig it into the wicket.”

South Africa will also be very happy with the way all-rounder Wayne Parnell is performing, and he also enjoyed himself against India with 3/15 in his four overs.

“It was about hitting good areas. Sometimes you can get carried away with bowling short. Personally, it was just trying to hit the top of the stumps and keep things simple.

“We have a group of bowlers who are all capable of winning games. Each of us believes that and we know someone can step up on any given day,” Parnell said.

South Africa also know that if they beat Pakistan, then their semifinal place is almost certainly secure because they will have seven points and only one of India or Bangladesh, who play each other on Wednesday, can get to eight points if they win both their remaining matches. Zimbabwe would have to beat both the Netherlands and India, and substantially improve their nett run-rate, to finish on seven points and edge out the Proteas.