Ken Borland

The Sharks ensured their unbeaten record in the Currie Cup was not broken on Friday night but it required a mighty effort from last year’s finalists as a physical, combative Pumas side pushed them for the whole 82 minutes in Nelspruit.

The Sharks eventually prevailed 24-10 for their fourth successive win and their triumph, on the scoreboard at least, was entirely thanks to flyhalf Boeta Chamberlain, who succeeded with all eight of his penalty kicks at goal.

Although the Sharks shaded the territory battle and their scrum started to give the Pumas a really hard time in the second half, the visitors’ attack was disconnected and just lacking in the polish required to break down a manful Pumas defence.

The Pumas in fact scored the only try and a brilliant try it was, worthy of being try of the match even if half-a-dozen had been scored. It began deep inside their own 22 and was sparked by inside centre Eddie Fouche’s chip and regather. The end-to-end try saw 10 Pumas players handle, but scrumhalf Lucky Dlepu was prominent, before flank Anele Lungisa, who was a prominent figure with his huge work-rate throughout the match, went over for the try.

In a tough encounter in which any soft characters would have had to leave the field crying for mom, the Sharks were more clinical in terms of hanging on to the ball, although their failure to convert pressure into tries will be distressing for coach Etienne Fynn.

They kept their composure though and did not get blown off course by a Pumas side that was typically ferocious on their home turf.

Apart from Chamberlain, the likes of scrumhalf Sanele Nohamba, wing Yaw Penxe and flank Thembelani Bholi all advanced their cause in terms of getting into the Sharks’ URC side.

Mitchell van Buuren could have followed in the footsteps of his older cousin Graeme and become an émigré to the United Kingdom, but the 24-year-old batsman has decided to stick it out in South Africa and on Friday he was the saviour of the Central Gauteng Lions side in their crucial final round 4-Day Domestic Series fixture against the Northerns Titans in Centurion.

The Lions, frontrunners in the four-day competition for so long, are trying to hold off strong late challenges from Northerns as well as the Eastern Province Warriors, and they were in early trouble at SuperSport Park as they slumped to 79/4.

That was when Van Buuren came to the crease and he showed impressive discipline and composure even as the Lions slid further into the mire on 118/6. Sisanda Magala then joined him and the burly Proteas white-ball player was able to show his value with the bat as he fought hard for nearly two-and-a-half hours, playing some lovely strokes in his 61 and adding a vital 130 for the seventh wicket with Van Buuren.

With off-spinner Simon Harmer (31-7-84-3) wrapping up the tail, the Lions were bowled out for 270 on the stroke of stumps, with Van Buuren finishing unbeaten on a highly-responsible 103, which included 10 fours and three sixes.

Seamer Aya Gqamane was the pick of the Northerns bowlers, taking 3/45 in 16 overs, his victims being the star trio of Josh Richards (33), Ryan Rickelton (24) and Magala. Lizaad Williams was also slippery, taking 2/42 in 22 overs.

The Warriors, meanwhile, were in firm control of their match against the Free State Knights in Bloemfontein until the hosts were lifted to a tolerable 198/7 by a marvellous 107 not out by Patrick Botha.

The EP pacemen, Tiaan van Vuuren (14-4-32-3), Akhona Mnyaka (12-1-49-2) and Mthiwekhaya Nabe (11-1-35-2) quickly ripped through the Knights top-order, with only Raynard van Tonder (34) showing much resistance.

Coming in at 39/4, Botha shared successive partnerships of 54 with Van Tonder and 72 with Migael Pretorious (17). It lifted the mood in a Knights camp that is missing several key players and has been further rocked by the resignation of Allan Donald as coach. The Proteas great is taking up a role as bowling coach of Bangladesh.

Scores in brief for other games

Western Province 332/4 (Jonathan Bird 128, Yaseen Vallie 44, Gavin Kaplan 73, Daniel Smith 46*; Delano Potgieter 2/56) v North-West.

KZN Dolphins 272/5 (Grant Roelofsen 49, Keegan Petersen 115*, Andile Phehlukwayo 69*; Shaun von Berg 3/81) v Boland Rocks.

Proteas captain Dean Elgar is set to make an emotional plea to his IPL-bound team-mates to show their loyalty to South Africa and delay their departure to India so they can be available for both Tests against Bangladesh starting on March 31.

South Africa are currently fourth in the World Test Championship and two Tests at home against Bangladesh would normally be considered a prime opportunity to make further advances up the standings.

But the IPL starts on March 26 and the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen, Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen all have lucrative deals with Indian franchises. Elgar made it clear on Friday that he really wants them to be available for the Bangladesh Tests at Kingsmead and St George’s Park.

“The IPL is a headache and this morning CSA said the players need to give an indication whether they want to play for South Africa or go to the IPL,” Elgar said. “It’s a tough one to put in the players’ hands.

“So this will be the test of where their loyalty lies. I will be phoning them and reminding them that they got to the IPL because of their performances for the Proteas. I will be asking them not to forget where they came from.

“I wish I knew more about who will be available and who will not because most of my bowlers could potentially not be there for the Bangladesh Tests.

“Conditions are probably going to be more suited to the opposition on the coast and we’re not going to have our A side when I would like everyone at our disposal. It’s a tough one for me,” Elgar said.

Although the Proteas seem to have discovered their Test cricket mojo over the last nine months, Elgar stressed that Bangladesh cannot be underestimated, or else there could be a repeat of Sri Lanka’s notorious breakthrough triumph at the same venues in 2018/19.

About the only positive for the Proteas would be the chance the IPL players’ absence would provide for talents like Ryan Rickelton or Glenton Stuurman to get exposure at Test level.

“We need our best side because we can by no means be disrespectful to Bangladesh,” Elgar said. “On their day they can really give us a headache, as seen recently in their win in New Zealand.

“The talent pool and ability is there for them. I don’t want our players to miss out on the IPL, but I hope playing for the country is bigger for them. They all play a massive role in the team.

“We already play so little Test cricket so we can’t not have our best players available when we do play. I’m in for an interesting few days, no doubt,” Elgar said.

Travelling to Kimberley and not having the right preparation, cohesion and mindset is often disastrous and that is why the Bulls on Friday named a powerful, URC-strength side for their Currie Cup match against Griquas at Tafel Lager Park on Saturday.

Eight of the starting XV who played last week in Italy have been included for Saturday’s Currie Cup encounter, and another eight who were on the bench against Zebre Parma will also be travelling to the Northern Cape.

“You can never underestimate Griquas,” Bulls Currie Cup coach Gert Smal explained, “and going to Kimberley can be really difficult if you’re not prepared. That’s why our team looks like that.

“It’s an important match for us to win and we haven’t played Currie Cup for a month, we are trying to get some rhythm and so it’s important for the team to have played together a bit.

“It’s always tough playing Griquas on their home ground but we want to see if we can beat them there. They are the giant-killers, but we will be ready for whatever is thrown at us, ready for the challenge.

“There are four areas we need to concentrate on and if we do them well then we will get the result: Griquas maul quite a lot, contestables, the breakdown and our mindset,” Smal said on Friday.

The top-of-the-log Sharks played the Pumas in Nelspruit on Friday night, going into the match with a four-point lead over the Bulls in third place, so the importance of Smal’s team getting four points in Kimberley is clear, because the last thing they want is for the KwaZulu-Natalians to open an eight-point lead on them.

“We take the Currie Cup seriously, we want to make sure we can win it,” Smal said. “We look at each game and choose the best team for that specific match, depending on how badly we feel we need the points.”

With the schedule allowing the Bulls to pick many of their best players, they will be looking to unleash their full might on Griquas.

Bulls team:Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie, Stedman Gans, Cornal Hendricks, Richard Kriel, Chris Smith, Embrose Papier; Muller Uys, Arno Botha, Marcell Coetzee (CAPT), Janko Swanepoel, Walt Steenkamp, Robert Hunt, Bismarck du Plessis, Simphiwe Matanzima. IMPACT-Schalk Erasmus, Lizo Gqoboka, Kowie Roos, Reinhardt Ludwig, WJ Steenkamp, Keagan Johannes, Juan Mostert, Lionel Mapoe.