Ken Borland

Rudi Second’s growth as one of the best batsmen in South African domestic cricket was shown on Thursday as he scored a magnificent 171 that at one point had the Warriors entertaining thoughts of chasing down a record target of 513 against the Imperial Lions in Port Elizabeth.

The Warriors began the final day of their 4-Day Domestic Series match on 219 for five and Second, with the help of Lesiba Ngoepe (51) and Tshepo Ntuli (40*) took them past the 400 mark before Malusi Siboto bowled a superb delivery to nip back and beat him, hitting the top of off stump.

With Second out of the way, the Lions were able to bowl out the Warriors for 436 and claim victory by 76 runs.

Second’s 171 off 246 balls may not have resulted in a miracle win, but it was nevertheless a memorable effort against the defending champions, studded with 15 fours and three sixes.

Sisanda Magala and Delano Potgieter took three wickets apiece for the Lions, while Siboto claimed two for 43.

Opener Pieter Malan’s properties of work ethic, sound judgement and perseverance saw him bat the Cape Cobras to the safety of a draw in their match against the Titans at SuperSport Park.

The Cobras began the final day on 33 without loss, a lead of just four runs, but Malan, who made his Proteas debut at the beginning of the year, batted through to lunch as he and young Jonathan Bird (47) put on 100 for the first wicket.

Malan’s three-and-a-half hour innings of 57 was enough to quell the Titans’ hopes, although the home side did throw everything at the Cobras in a fiery burst after lunch.

Dayyaan Galiem set the tone with an excellent spell that went unrewarded, before Thando Ntini produced an impressive stint to remove Aviwe Mgijima (7) and Calvin Savage (3). With spinner Neil Brand having Zubayr Hamza caught behind for 26, the Cobras had some anxious moments as they slipped to 180 for five.

But Tony de Zorzi, who dug in for two hours to score 31 not out, and Brendon Louw (11*) weathered the storm by batting through to tea, taken on 207 for five, after which the teams shook hands on the draw.

Pressure at the highest level of sport often equates to a lack of time and space and Proteas bowling coach Charl Langeveldt is hopeful that his charges will be able to execute their skills better as they move from T20s to ODIs against England.

The first ODI in the three-match series is at Newlands on Friday afternoon and South Africa will be desperate to put their 3-0 hammering in the T20s behind them. Time is on their side, as their 50-over form has generally been better than their T20 efforts in recent times.

“Most of the guys have been playing four-day cricket and got some bowling in there, but we haven’t had a lot of T20 cricket recently and we missed out on two of our warm-up games because of Covid. It’s about match-fitness and T20 is very difficult because it comes down to execution under pressure. You can train as much as you want in the nets, but it’s not the same intensity.

“We’ve got work to do to be able to execute under pressure, but the first two T20s came down to two big moments, just two overs, and we have learnt from it to identify the big moment and embrace it. Fifty-over cricket is still high intensity but it’s longer time. The batsmen take more time to settle in so that means more time for the bowlers to settle into a rhythm and get used to the pitch,” Langeveldt said on Thursday.

There will be at least two changes in South Africa’s batting line-up with the in-form Faf du Plessis being rested for the ODIs and Reeza Hendricks released from the squad. The Proteas will be eager to get the experienced duo of David Miller and Andile Phehlukwayo back into action after they were in Covid quarantine.

The absence of the injured Kagiso Rabada means the Proteas could well bring Junior Dala in, with Langeveldt saying a big part of their ODI strategy is to be in the opposing batsmen’s faces and try to strike in the early overs.

“KG is a massive loss for us because he always strikes with the new ball and we speak a lot about taking wickets in the first 10 overs so we can shift pressure on to the opposition. We see Junior as purely a 50-over bowler because he hits hard lengths and is aggressive, he can use the two bouncers and two new balls you get in ODIs. We’ve worked on upskilling him with slower balls and yorkers.

“Junior gives us that extra pace and aggression and to have Andile back would give us six bowlers which is great for us in 50-over cricket. He has a special one-day record and is also an option bowling at the back end. We need to be clever and be able to have that next level of intensity. We must be aggressive in both our batting and our bowling, you can’t sit back against England,” Langeveldt said.

Growing the depth of the T20 team ahead of the World Cup in less than a year’s time is meant to be one of the key aims of the Proteas, but their series against England saw them neither achieve that nor get results as they were beaten 3-0.

The only new face to further his chances of being in the squad that goes to Australia next October was spin-bowling all-rounder George Linde.

Linde was South Africa’s most economical bowler as his left-arm orthodox only conceded 73 runs in 12 overs. And he also picked up a couple of wickets, dismissing Jason Roy and Dawid Malan to show he can get quality batsmen out.

Linde also contributed with the bat, showing the ability to accelerate the run-rate in the closing overs. On debut he faced just six balls but hit a four and a six on his way to 12 runs, while in the second game he scored 29 off 20 balls, only Quinton de Kock, Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler being able to score at a better strike-rate on the sluggish Paarl pitch.

Linde is certainly someone to persevere with, especially since his all-round skill-set will be well-suited to the subcontinent, where so much international cricket is now played. He is the ideal candidate to fulfil the second spinner role that JP Duminy performed so well. Linde is obviously not as good a batsman as Duminy, but he is a better bowler.

The whitewash provided more questions than answers though and these are the weaknesses exposed by England that demand rectifying –

• A more commanding top-order display: Quinton de Kock had three starts but failed to go on and Temba Bavuma was looking very promising in the last match but was then dismissed for 32. Reeza Hendricks, with a strike-rate of just 90.62 does not seem to fit the bill and the Proteas would be better served by having Faf du Plessis, the Proteas’ most consistent batsman, at number three, followed by Rassie van der Dussen, who really blossomed in the last game, at four.
• The finishers: David Miller was sorely missed and not just because he would have provided a second left-hand option in the top five. Linde showed promise in the finishing role and the return of Andile Phehlukwayo will not only give the Proteas six bowlers (avoiding the unedifying sight of wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen bowling) but another left-handed power-hitter with experience.
• Fast-bowling depth: Lungi Ngidi keeps taking wickets and Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje were tidy, but when one of them does not play, then there is always a vulnerability in the attack that the opposition is able to target. Between them, back-up pacemen Lutho Sipamla and Beuran Hendricks bowled 6.4 overs for 101 runs.

A career-best 11-wicket haul for fast bowler Daryn Dupavillon paved the way for the Dolphins to beat the Knights by five wickets in their 4-Day Domestic Series match at Kingsmead in Durban on Wednesday.

Dupavillon claimed four for 66, to back up his phenomenal first-innings figures of seven for 38, as the Knights second innings collapsed from their overnight 150 for two to 213 all out, leaving the Dolphins with just 77 to get for victory on the third day.

It was a bit of a struggle for the home side as leg-spinner Shaun von Berg took three for 12, but Keegan Petersen scored 28 not out to ensure a five-wicket win for the Dolphins.

Dupavillon stamped his mark in his first over of the day when he had in-form nightwatchman Migael Pretorius caught behind for 8, off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen then bowled Patrick Botha for 6, and when opener Matthew Kleinveldt was run out for a tenacious 77, the Knights were really on the skids inside the first hour of play.

Left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy also chipped in with a three-wicket haul as the Knights lost their last eight wickets for just 63 runs on Wednesday.

The Imperial Lions, meanwhile, will have to put in another day at the office as a determined batting display by the Warriors held them up at St George’s Park.

Set a mammoth 513 for victory, the Warriors had reached 219 for five at stumps thanks to captain Yaseen Vallie’s defiant but positive 85 and Rudi Second’s obstinate 76 not out.

The in-form Sisanda Magala dismissed Vallie and claimed the big wicket of opener Ed Moore to lead the Lions bowling.

Earlier, Wiaan Mulder showed why he is one of the country’s most promising batting all-rounders as he cruised to a brilliant 100 not out off 109 balls to set up the Lions declaration on 241 for five shortly before lunch.

Mulder and Rickelton (59) put on 93 for the fourth wicket before Mulder cut loose with 13 fours and three sixes.

A draw looks the most likely result at Centurion, although there is still space for a Titans win as the Cape Cobras go into the final day on 33 without loss, a lead of just four runs.

The pitch is starting to misbehave, with Cobras openers Jonathan Bird and Pieter Malan having to keep their wits about them in the nine overs they had to face before stumps as deliveries started to keep low.

The Titans had earlier made it to 440 all out with two centuries being scored: Aiden Markram reached three figures for the third consecutive innings as he stroked a commanding 113, and Neil Brand showed great judgement in sticking around for six-and-a-half hours and scoring 115.

Sibonelo Makhanya played some marvellous strokes in his run-a-ball 55 and there were useful contributions too from Theunis de Bruyn (35) and Dayyaan Galiem (38) as the Titans took the lead.

New Cobras signing Calvin Savage was always at the batsmen in 22.4 persevering overs and was rewarded with five for 77, his first five-for for his new franchise.