Ken Borland

The Sharks will continue to hide their leading URC players away from doing dual duty in the Currie Cup even though they are hosting the table-topping Free State Cheetahs in a vital match at Kings Park on Wednesday, but one star player who will feature, albeit off the bench, is Dylan Richardson.

Following their defeat to a star-studded Bulls team last week, the Sharks have slipped to third place on the log and are four points behind the unbeaten Cheetahs. But while the Bulls have regularly targeted key Currie Cup games by fielding several URC starters, the KwaZulu-Natalians are following a different policy.

But Richardson, named as a replacement loose forward on Tuesday, will certainly bring some quality. The 23-year-old Scottish international is a bit of a hoodlum on the field and he has already been bringing an edge to the Sharks’ training sessions following his return from a stress fracture in his leg.

“Dylan has been out for a while with a succession of unfortunate injuries and we can see he is really champing at the bit,” Sharks Currie Cup coach Etienne Fynn said on Tuesday.

“We’ve had a bit of niggle in training recently and it has been driven by him mostly,” Fynn added with a smile.

The feisty Richardson, who made his debut for Scotland towards the end of last year, will bring dynamism and power to the Sharks team and targets the breakdown hard, all valuable assets against a free-flowing Free State side.

As for the Sharks’ decision to not load their side – they also have a United Rugby Championship match against Edinburgh on Saturday evening – Fynn says the union’s management are rating the Currie Cup players just as highly as the URC regulars.

“I told the forwards today after a lineout session that not one of them is not good enough to be picked for the URC,” Fynn said. “We have a decent side with quality individuals.

“The opposition does not matter, we still have proper rugby players like Dian Bleuler, Hyron Andrews, James Venter and Fez Mbatha. We just try to field our most competitive team every time.

“Because of the URC, and playing two competitions at once, sometimes players have to double up and then it’s tough. The Free State Cheetahs are privileged to have consistency of selection.

“So we decided to go with the same pack as against the Bulls last week. That way you have the understanding of what the guy next to you is doing. The Cheetahs are really polished in the opposition 22 and that comes with playing together,” Fynn said.

Sharks team – Jordan Chait, Yaw Penxe, Jeremy Ward, Ethan Fisher, Curwin Gertse, Tito Bonilla, Cameron Wright (v/c), Celimpilo Gumede, Thembelani Bholi, James Venter (c), Hyron Andrews, Emile van Heerden, Wiehahn Herbst, Fez Mbatha, Dian Bleuler. Replacements: Dan Jooste, Braam Reyneke, Lourens Adriaanse, Jeandre Labuschagne, Dylan Richardson, OJ Noah, Sanele Nohamba, Lloyd Koster.

Bangladesh’s batsmen discovered at the Wanderers that there are no vaccinations against the pace and bounce of Kagiso Rabada when he is at his fiery best, and South Africa’s ace fast bowler is hopeful that they won’t have time to figure out how to handle him and his fellow quicks before the ODI series decider at Centurion on Wednesday.

With Rabada leading the way with an outstanding 5/39, Bangladesh were restricted to just 194/9 in the second ODI, South Africa levelling the series when they chased down that target with seven wickets and 76 deliveries to spare. After a slightly flat performance in the first match at SuperSport Park, this time the Proteas pacemen came out firing.

While Rabada said he was still not sure why they struggled for wickets in the first ODI, he did say the extra pace and bounce of the Wanderers pitch made them more lethal.

“It’s a question I’m still asking myself,” Rabada said at the Wanderers after his man-of-the-match display. “I guess this pitch did a bit more with the new ball.

“I thought we bowled very well in the first 10 overs of the previous game too, but were just unfortunate not to get the breakthrough. And on the Highveld, you’re guaranteed to score quicker once you’re in, as the ball gets older it’s better to bat.

“But there was more bounce at the Wanderers, we got the ball in the right areas and it was good to us. You generally want to use the extra bounce and pace at the Wanderers.

“The talk is that the subcontinent teams are not able to deal with the bounce as well as we do because we’ve grown up here. You can’t just rock up and expect to bounce them out, but you try use the conditions to the best of your ability,” Rabada said.

While the Proteas were delighted with their all-round performance at the Wanderers, they are dismayed by their continued tendency to start series poorly, a destructive habit when it comes to a growing side developing consistency.

“It is a concern because we always want to throw the first punch but we keep finding ourselves in this position.

“We don’t do it on purpose and we don’t want to make our job even harder. So we still hve a bit of work to do before we go back to Centurion,” Rabada said.

The Proteas dare not reproduce their performance of the first ODI.

Coach Jake White says the Bulls are sitting pretty not only inside the top eight on the United Rugby Championship log but also in terms of the confidence in the squad and the depth that has been created by utilising the services of practically all of his players.

The Bulls take on the second-from-bottom Dragons in Pretoria on Saturday, fresh off a 57-12 dismantling of Scarlets at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend, which White described as being “probably the best we’ve played”. It was their third successive URC win.

“A couple of weeks ago we were 14^th on the log and now we’re challenging for top place in the South African Shield,” White pointed out. “And we are improving every week.

“It’s also nice that we have created some depth, we’ve used everyone in our squad now except for Diego Appollis and Stravino Jacobs. I’m pleased there’s competition in every position, that brings out the best in the team.

“We’ve had three tough games in the last week but we’ve proved we got it right in terms of player management and selection. There’s an easier week coming up and we have a lot of confidence now,” White said.

Like fighter jets and 747s doing aerobatics together in the sky, the Bulls also scored some fabulous tries against Scarlets through the dazzling interplay of their backs and forwards.

“I said before the game that we wanted to see some enterprising play between forwards and backs and we saw that,” White said.

“We got good returns from the scrums as well, Jacques van Rooyen was good at tighthead and Robert Hunt is improving. I was very happy with Cyle Brink, the way he carries and defends, and Elrigh Louw and Ruan Nortje are backing up such good rugby week in, week out.

“There were moments in which we played really well. It was easier because we started well, scoring early takes the wind out of their sails, we probably caught them a bit.

“It’s very difficult then to play catch-up rugby, especially at altitude, in your second week up here and you have a few injuries,” White said.

The Proteas summoned up the most appropriate of responses to their shock defeat in the series opener as they hammered Bangladesh by seven wickets with 12.4 overs to spare in the second ODI at the Wanderers on Sunday.

Having been beaten by 38 runs at Centurion, the Proteas were led to victory by their big guns on Sunday, with Kagiso Rabada and Quinton de Kock both producing special performances.

Rabada’s outstanding new-ball burst reduced Bangladesh to 34/5, and the tourists needed Afif Hossain’s defiant 72 off 107 balls to get them to a respectable 194/9 on a Wanderers pitch that was tricky to bat on in the early stages with inconsistent bounce.

Bounce was the chief weapon of Rabada, who was hostile and controlled as he took 5/39, removing key batsmen Liton Das (15), Shakib al-Hasan (0) and Yasir Ali (2). Rabada, languid but fiery, then claimed the vital wickets of Afif and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (38) in the 46^th over, both batsmen being well-set to make merry at the death as they had already added 86 for the seventh wicket.

Lungi Ngidi (10-2-34-1) and Wayne Parnell (2.5-0-6-1) also fitted the bill as anti-social fast bowlers, but left-arm quick Parnell had just taken the fifth wicket, trapping Mushfiqur Rahim lbw for 11, when he limped off the field with a hamstring injury, never to return.

It meant, with Aiden Markram left out of the starting XI as De Kock returned and Kyle Verreynne kept his place, that South Africa, with only five frontline bowlers, had to employ the friendly, part-time seam of Temba Bavuma.

The Proteas captain actually did a very tidy job, conceding just 22 runs in his 6.1 overs, and he should have had a maiden white-ball international wicket but Janneman Malan dropped Miraz on 21 at long-on. Rassie van der Dussen was even pressed into service to bowl the penultimate over and his gentle off-spin did snare a first wicket as 12^th man Markram caught Shoriful Islam (2) at long-on.

Regular spinner Tabraiz Shamsi showed his omission from the first ODI was a mistake as he claimed 1/26 in 10 excellent overs, getting the wicket of Mahmudullah (25), caught at leg-slip, to end a threatening sixth-wicket stand of 60 with Afif.

De Kock’s dashing approach at the top of the innings then put South Africa on the path to a comfortable victory from the outset, the left-hander stroking a dazzling 62 off just 41 balls, with nine fours and two sixes.

Fellow opener Malan scored 26 as 86 runs were briskly put on for the first wicket.

Coming together at 94/2 in the 16^th over, Verreynne and Bavuma then comfortably ticked off most of the remaining runs required with a third-wicket partnership of 82.

Bavuma was caught on the boundary off Afif’s off-spin for a well-played 37, but Verreynne finished the job with a classy 58 not out off 77 deliveries.