Ken Borland

The Proteas batsmen are prepared for flat wickets or tricky pitches at the T20 World Cup in the UAE, and are also willing to shoulder the responsibility of the top six scoring the majority of the runs due to the bottom of South Africa’s batting line-up being rather large, veteran slugger David Miller said on Wednesday.

South Africa’s strength during their recent winning run in T20 cricket has definitely been their bowling attack, especially their trio of spinners, but that also means they have a long tail. Gone are the days of frontline bowlers like Lance Klusener, Shaun Pollock and Nicky Boje also being dangerous batsmen down the order.

“There’s been a lot of chat about the slower pitches and the one for our warm-up against Afghanistan was a bit low and slow,” Miller said in Abu Dhabi. “I expect they’ll get slower as we go along in the tournament too.

“The pitches in Dubai and Sharjah weren’t too bad in the IPL and if there’s dew then the ball slides on nicely. But only our last game is at night. We are also well-prepared though if the wicket is good.

“We have to be mindful of our tail, but we’ve had that for some time and we’re aware of it. But our all-rounders are seriously dangerous batsmen too and we feel we have a strong enough batting unit.

“Ultimately we want the bulk of our runs to come from the top six and if we don’t do that then we probably don’t deserve to win games. It’s the responsibility of the batsmen and lately we’ve been able to find ways of getting winning scores,” Miller said.

The powerful left-hander says his current role in the team is to guide the middle-order, as befits a man with his experience, even though he has had a spell batting in the top four and his figures there are actually better than his overall stats.

Miller has had 15 innings in the top four, bringing him 370 runs at an average of 33.63 and a strike-rate of 154.81, both better than his overall average of 31.67 and a strike-rate of 140.82 from 80 innings.

But Miller says he is enjoying his tricky, floating finishing role in the team.

“In the IPL games here we’ve seen really good starts and it’s important to control the middle overs. It’s something we’ve done really well over the last few months and it gives a very good platform for the last five overs.

“If we lose a couple of wickets up front, then I can bat for more overs. But it’s about having an open mindset because there will be different scenarios all the time. You need to be more flexible.

“I’ve done the finishing role for the last couple of years and I feel comfortable there now, but I could come in in the ninth or 10th over to keep a left/right combination, or attack a spinner with a short boundary,” Miller said in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

The 32-year-old tore his hamstring in Ireland and missed the ODIs in Sri Lanka, but returned for the first T20 and scored 26 off 15 balls. He continued that good form against Afghanistan this week with 20 not out off 10 deliveries.

While Northern Cape came within a whisker of upsetting the Lions, South-Western Districts suggested that Division II of local cricket will not be weak as they beat Western Province by three wickets with two balls to spare in the CSA Provincial T20 Cup at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley on Saturday.

A weak batting effort by Western Province after they elected to bat saw them slump to 49 for five as seamer Hershell America returned an outstanding three for 22 in his four overs. Western Province were lifted to 130 for seven by Aviwe Mgijima, with a run-a-ball 35, and Kyle Simmonds, who struck a determined 46 not out off 32 balls.

SWD’s other new-ball bowler, Renaldo Meyer, was also excellent, taking one for 20 in his four overs, while off-sinner Pheko Moletsane took two for 12 in two overs.

SWD were indebted in their run-chase to opener Yaseen Valli, who has been around the block for more than a week, as he steered them home with his run-a-ball 55 not out. SWD were five for two inside the first two overs, but Valli and the experienced Andre Malan (21) added 48 for the third wicket to settle them down.

Heath Richards, Moletsane, Meyer and Sean Whitehead then all reached double-figures as they helped Valli seal a big win over their local rivals. Western Province’s three left-arm quicks – Nandre Burger (2-21), Beuran Hendricks (4-1-18-1) and Wayne Parnell (1-29) all bowled well but had too much to do. 

The Central Gauteng Lions avoided an enormous upset and an early exit from the CSA Provincial T20 Cup by the narrowest of margins as they sneaked past Northern Cape in a Super Over after their match was tied after 40 overs of regular play at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley.

Sisanda Magala was the hero as his 25 off 15 balls snuck the Lions into the Super Over and he then conceded just five runs when he was defending eight, courtesy of a six by Ryan Rickelton.

The Lions were initially chasing 158, and Mitchell van Buuren announced himself on the senior domestic stage as he kept the Lions on target with an outstanding 61 off 31 balls after fiery fast bowler Jan van Dyk had struck twice in the powerplay. But all-rounder Evan Jones took two wickets in the 14^th over and added a third in his next over, and when Van Buuren was dismissed by Andrew Rasemene, Beyers Swanepoel taking a steepling catch at cow-corner, in the 17^th over, the Lions were left needing 26 off the last three overs.

Magala played some fine aggressive strikes though to almost get them over the line. But Rasemene also had him caught in the deep with a wide slower-ball to ensure Northern Cape briefly stayed alive.

In the Super Over, Van Buuren was dismissed first ball by Jones, Jerome Xaba taking a superb running catch at deep square-leg. Rickelton hit his six, was dropped next ball as the Lions ran two, and then edged behind to leave his team ‘all out’ for 8.

But that was enough for Magala, who produced an impressive display of skill, relying on slower balls and a fuller length to bamboozle Jones and Qaasim Adams.

Jones did however take the bowling honours for Northern Cape with three for 28 and then his Super Over brace, while Van Dyk was highly impressive with three for 16 in four overs. Spinner Aubrey Swanepoel took one for 19 in four overs.

Earlier, opening batsman Ernest Kemm had taken charge of the Northern Cape innings, batting through to score a brilliantly-compiled 83 not out off 55 balls, leading them to a competitive total of 157 for seven after electing to bat first on a slowish pitch.

It was a top-class innings by a 30-year-old who had a taste of franchise cricket with the Titans, and pretty much a lone hand as the next highest score was fellow opener Jonathan Vandiar’s 23.

Ruan Haasbroek, who represented North-West in angling as a teen, netted four big fish with his off-breaks and conceded just 28 runs in his four overs as he led the Lions bowling, while Lutho Sipamla was excellent with two for 31 and spinner Tshepo Ntuli (4-0-24-0) and paceman Magala (4-0-29-0) were tidy.

Leinster gave an emphatic demonstration of why they are considered by many to be the No.1 side in Europe as they scored 17 points in the first 13 minutes and went on to demolish South Africa’s top team, the Bulls, 31-3 in the opening round of the United Rugby Championship in Dublin on Saturday.

It was not even the Bulls’ first experience of European rugby as they travelled to Treviso for the Rainbow Cup final in June. They got hammered that day and they weren’t competitive on Saturday either. Especially after a nightmare first quarter in which they conceded two tries.

It was one mistake after the other from the start as flyhalf Johan Goosen sent the kickoff straight into touch and the Bulls were then penalised at the resulting scrum. Jonathan Sexton set the lineout and then knocked over the penalty that resulted from that to give Leinster an early lead.

Three minutes later, a good dart by former Kiwi wing James Lowe put Leinster on attack and a superb run by flank George van der Flier brought the first try.

The second try came six minutes later as the Bulls won a lineout – which did not happen as often as it should have – but there was no halfback to take the tap-down. Leinster claimed the ball and a little dink over the top was regathered before the brilliant outside centre Garry Ringrose fed Andrew Porter, a Bulls defence in disarray allowing the prop to cross an open tryline.

The Bulls showed good tenacity to stay in the contest after such a torrid start, and they produced some excellent rugby. But they lacked the polish and clinical efficiency of their opponents, who just did everything quicker and better than they did. There as a noticeable gap in skills under pressure, especially at the breakdown, where Leinster went hard and pounced on every little inaccuracy.

The Bulls wasted two excellent try-scoring opportunities in the second quarter. But the brilliant Van der Flier stripped Cornal Hendricks of the ball on the tryline after great work by wing Madosh Tambwe, who had a fine game. Goosen was at least able to kick a penalty, but then the Bulls were pressing hard when the ball was just left unguarded next to the line and Leinster pounced and were able to clear their lines.

Leinster, with classy flyhalf Sexton pulling the strings, varied their game in impressive fashion and, in the second half, replacement hooker James Tracy scored from a lineout maul. The Irish powerhouses then completed the scoring with an excellent try to Sexton’s replacement Ross Byrne that showcased their superb support play, offloading skills and use of space.

Scorers

Leinster – Tries: George van der Flier, Andrew Porter, James Tracy, Ross Byrne. Conversions: Jonathan Sexton (3), Byrne. Penalty: Sexton.

Bulls – Penalty: Johan Goosen.