Ken Borland

Being very poor in short periods of play and not being desperate enough in the field were the two main concerns Proteas coach Mark Boucher has after the ODI series loss to Pakistan, but he is also worried about injuries to captain Temba Bavuma and key batsman Rassie van der Dussen heading into the T20 series.

South Africa lost the decisive 50-over match at Centurion on Wednesday evening by 28 runs but were competitive for almost the entire contest despite missing six first-choice players. They were not only deprived of their five IPL stars, but Van der Dussen had to pull out due to a quad strain.

“We want to start winning series, especially at home, so it is very disappointing to lose this one. We knew a while ago that the IPL guys would be leaving, so the players coming in were prepared. It was unfortunate to lose Rassie to injury, that was another blow, and although a couple of the guys coming in did really well, it’s not about individuals but about the team, and we lost.

“The problem is when we’re not good in certain pockets of the game we are really bad. For example the last two overs today going for 43 runs … if we had kept that down to 25 then we would have had a much better chance of winning. I would also like to see higher intensity and more desperation in the field; we maybe would have won the first ODI if we had been better in the field,” Boucher said after Wednesday’s match.

The coach said Van der Dussen and Bavuma, who injured his hamstring while batting, are both doubtful for the T20 series that starts on Saturday at the Wanderers.

“Rassie has between a Grade I and Grade II quad strain so he’s probably out for 10 days. We hope for a quick turnaround but it would be stupid to try and push him, so he’s not likely to get on the park. Temba is a tough guy but he’s hobbling in the changeroom and in quite a bit of pain, so I’m afraid it’s quite bad. But those are the cards we’ve been dealt and we have to find a way.

“The senior players need to stand up in those tough, pressurised moments. Even when we’ve played at only 50%, we’ve still had a chance to win if it were not for disappointing little things. But it was good to see we have some depth, we’ve got backup players who can stamp their mark on international cricket. Kyle Verreynne, Janneman Malan and Keshav Maharaj all did really well,” Boucher said.

Kyle Verreynne and Andile Phehlukwayo scored valiant half-centuries in a record sixth-wicket stand, but once that partnership was over, the Proteas bowed to the inevitable and lost the series-deciding third ODI against Pakistan by 28 runs at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Wednesday.

Chasing a testing 321 for victory, South Africa started brightly with openers Janneman Malan and Aiden Markram putting on 54 in nine overs. But although Markram (18) and Jon-Jon Smuts (17) looked good, the slow pitch and the Pakistan spinners began to take effect, with the required run-rate quickly climbing to above seven to the over.

Captain Temba Bavuma added a run-a-ball 50 with Malan to regain some momentum, but the 24^th over, bowled by left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz, was pivotal. A magnificent delivery that drifted in, gripped and turned, trapped Malan lbw for an impressive 70 off 81 deliveries. Given that he has now scored 222 runs in four innings, it may be difficult to overlook Malan in future.

Three balls later, Bavuma over-ran a quicker delivery and was bowled for 20. Heinrich Klaasen (4) quickly fell to Nawaz (7-0-34-3) as well, and at 140 for five in the 28^th over, South Africa’s hopes of winning seemed over.

But Verreynne, playing in just his fourth ODI, looked an accomplished veteran with a composed 62 off 53 balls, Phehlukwayo showing his experience and a welcome return to best form with the bat as he made 54 off 61 deliveries. Together they added 108 for the sixth wicket in 16 overs, a record for SuperSport Park.

It was asking too much for them to win the match though as both eventually fell to attempted big hits.

In the final analysis, South Africa’s last two overs going for 43 runs provided much food for thought.

After opener Fakhar Zaman had feasted again with a superbly controlled 101 off 104 balls, putting on 112 for the first wicket with Imam-ul-Haq (57), South Africa, led by Keshav Maharaj’s outstanding three for 45, fought back as they reduced Pakistan from 206 for one after 35 overs to 277 for six after 48 overs.

The back-up spinners had also contributed well, off-spinner Markram bowling his full 10 overs for the first time in an ODI and taking two for 48, while left-armer Smuts had gone for a run-a-ball through seven overs. His eighth over, though, the penultimate one of the innings, went for 25 as Hasan Ali (32* off 11) blazed four sixes.

Phehlukwayo bowled the last over and conceded 18 as Babar Azam made merry to finish with a classy, composed 94 off 82 balls.

The Sunshine Ladies Tour returns to action on Wednesday with the Cape Town Ladies Open at Royal Cape Golf Club, giving South Africa’s women professional golfers some much needed-competitive action, and leading contender Lejan Lewthwaite is hoping to negotiate the next six weeks of action with considerably more ease than when she tried to do her job last year.

Due to Covid, there was only one Sunshine Ladies Tour event last year after the SA Open in March, the Investec Royal Swazi Open in October, for South Africa’s women professionals to earn a living. Lewthwaite, being one of the top women’s golfers in the country and a three-time winner on tour, is at least able to get invitations to play overseas. But even that did not work out as planned.

“I actually caught Covid in June but then I kept testing positive and then negative and then positive again, so it was very stressful and I couldn’t play the number of tournaments I wanted to overseas. There were plenty of false positives in those tests, but the authorities kept thinking that I had recontracted Covid. But my last pro tournament was in November in Spain.

“Since then I’ve just played a bit in Bushveld Tour events and with the men on the IGT Tour. I’ve just been trying to get back into competitive mode again, but it’s been a very difficult year. I’ve had to have lots of patience and just stick to my guns; there has been lots of practise, which does get quite frustrating at times. We’ve been out of proper competition for so long that I can’t wait to get those competitive juices flowing again,” Lewthwaite told The Citizen on Tuesday.

There is no substitute for tournament play and there was a definite air of tremendous excitement at Royal Cape on Tuesday, and not just because of the perfect, still day, for the 60 golfers who played their final practice rounds before teeing off the new season on Wednesday.

There will be four other events on the Sunshine Ladies Tour this season – at Glendower, Gary Player Country Club at Sun City, Soweto Country Club and Fancourt – before the circuit concludes with the Investec SA Women’s Open at Westlake Golf Club from May 13.

“We’re all extremely excited, it’s a great schedule ending with the Investec SA Open in May and a good stretch of tournaments before that on really nice courses. Personally I love all the courses we’ll be playing on and we all feel very blessed to be playing again. So thanks to the Sunshine Tour, the Women’s Professional Golf Association and Investec,” Lewthwaite said.

Daryn Dupavillon is as decent a gentleman and as kind a soul as you could hope to meet off the field, but the Proteas are hoping that on Wednesday on the field he turns into the sort of brutish fast bowler who would squash ants for fun as he has been earmarked for the enforcer role in the decisive third ODI at SuperSport Park.

Bowling coach Charl Langeveldt confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that Dupavillon, who played one ODI against Australia last year as a late replacement, is favoured to come into the side as the replacement for IPL-bound Anrich Nortje, the aggressive paceman who has caused the Pakistan batsmen the most problems, taking seven wickets for 114 runs in his 20 overs.

“To replace Anrich we need an enforcer, someone with good pace and that’s Dupavillon. He must be the enforcer now and do Anrich’s job. Daryn is quick and skiddy and brings something different, he takes wickets. He’s been brilliant in the nets, showing a lot of skill and pace. If we can bowl well in the middle overs and take wickets then hopefully that takes care of the back end,” Langeveldt said.

He added that work is ongoing to hone the skills of the bowlers at the death, but he has been pleased to see improvement in that department.

“Our skill at the back end is better, but we still need a lot of improvement if we’re going to win a world cup. At the end of the day it’s about executing well under pressure, and that comes with playing more games. So it’s a massive loss losing Rabada, Nortje and Ngidi to the IPL, but it’s an opportunity for the guys on the fringes to step up and do well,” Langeveldt said.

The bowling coach also hailed the work done by Andile Phehlukwayo, but he suggested South Africa would not bring in another out-and-out seam bowling all-rounder like Wiaan Mulder, the thinking being that left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj could replace Tabraiz Shamsi and therefore strengthen the lower-order batting a bit.

“It may be hard for Wiaan to get into the team because maybe we will replace Shamsi with Maharaj, who can also do an all-round role for us. Lutho Sipamla could also come in but there has been no final decision on the team yet, we’ll wait until we get to the ground in the morning. But Andile has been an important cog, coming on in pressure situations and he has shown he can close the game for us,” Langeveldt said.