Ken Borland

The Imperial Lions had a daunting target of 334 to chase down and several in-form Knights bowlers to contend with, but a remarkable opening stand of 256 between Josh Richards and Dominic Hendricks paved the way for an incredible come-from-behind victory by the home side in their 4-Day Domestic Series match at the Wanderers on Thursday.

In the end the Lions lost a few wickets to debutant paceman Andrew Rasemene (3-44), but their four-wicket victory was never in doubt after the brilliant batting of Richards and Hendricks.

The 21-year-old Richards notched his maiden franchise century and went on to score a memorable 136 off 181 balls, with 19 fours and a six, while the in-form Hendricks anchored the chase with a determined 119 off 217 deliveries.

At Centurion, the Warriors had a much smaller final-day target of 217 to contend with, and they squeezed home by three wickets thanks to captain Yaseen Vallie’s fluent 55, 39 from Rudi Second and a blazing 38 off just 19 balls by Lesiba Ngoepe, which brought a late Titans comeback to a sudden halt.

The Warriors were cruising as they reached 121 for two but seamer Dayyaan Galiem took three for 34 and left-arm spinner Neil Brand claimed four for 37 to cause some late anxiety for the visitors.

The Titans had begun the final day on 265 for seven and would have been disappointed to be bowled out for 289 inside seven overs.

Left-arm quick Marco Jansen (4-66) and fellow new-ball bowler Basheer Walters (3-59) did a great job on Thursday morning, building on the great work of left-arm spinner Ngoepe on the third afternoon, taking three wickets.

At Kingsmead, the Dolphins top three of Sarel Erwee, Senuran Muthusamy and Keegan Petersen all scored 56s in a fine entrée to the final day’s play and, with Ruan de Swardt scoring a quickfire 32 not out, the home side were able to declare at lunch on 217 for four, setting the Cape Cobras an unlikely 295 for victory.

The Cobras started their second innings solidly enough, but the arrival of spin, and especially Muthusamy’s left-arm orthodox, saw them hit troubled waters.

Muthusamy took four for 56, including the key wicket of Proteas opener Pieter Malan for 45, leaving the Cobras on 107 for four.

But Aviwe Mgijima, who had earlier claimed all four Dolphins second innings wickets, hung around for 32 overs in scoring 36, Calvin Savage also helping with 23 as the Cobras batted to safety, finishing on 155 for six.

Muthusamy, with two half-centuries and eight wickets in the match, was an obvious choice for man of the match.

In-form spin-bowling all-rounder George Linde could be welcomed into the Proteas T20 starting XI for the first time on Friday night as South Africa look to play a sixth bowler against a typically high-scoring England team in the first match of the series at Newlands.

South Africa’s last T20 outing was also in Cape Town back in February when they were thumped by 97 runs by Australia to lose the series 2-1. Australia managed to rack up a sizeable 193 for five batting first, and then skittled the Proteas for just 96, with spinners Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa sharing five of the wickets.

One of South Africa’s chief problems that day was that they only had five bowlers – spinner Tabraiz Shamsi was the pick of the attack, but three of the four seamers went for more than 10-runs-per-over. Linde, whose left-arm orthodox complements Shamsi’s wrist-spin, has been in great form this season with the bat, so he could comfortably slot in at number six in the order. On what is expected to be another slow Newlands pitch, a second spinner is probably going to be more useful than another paceman.

With Dwaine Pretorius ruled out of the matches against England due to a hamstring strain, Andile Phehlukwayo is likely to return to the side as the lead all-rounder.

Given the importance of making a good start to the season against the powerful English side and the eight months of inactivity for the Proteas team, coach Mark Boucher is likely to defy those calling for a new-look team and IPL stars like Kagiso Rabada, Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje and Faf du Plessis will surely feature because they have form and match-fitness on their side.

Lungi Ngidi was outstanding in the T20s South Africa played at the end of last summer and should play on that basis, while Temba Bavuma was also excellent as De Kock’s opening partner and should get the nod, having missed the previous Newlands game because of injury. He would replace Pite van Biljon, while David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen are probably fighting it out for one place in the middle-order.

Probable Proteas XI – Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma, Faf du Plessis, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller/Heinrich Klaasen, George Linde, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi.

Marius Louw v Wayne van der Bank

Modern rugby and the vastly-improved defensive structures means inside centres no longer play with the same electrical intent to spread the ball like they used to, but Louw and exciting 23-year-old Van der Bank were two of the better No.12s in Super Rugby Unlocked.

Louw has been an impressive mix of industrial strength, throwing himself into the physical collisions, and pleasing skills for the Sharks, and has arguably been their most consistent player as the pacesetters at the start of the year have struggled to regain their spark. The former flanker had the fifth-most carries, shared with Van der Bank the honour of beating the second-most defenders [15] and produced five offloads [T6th] in Super Rugby Unlocked. He was also tied-fourth for the most tackles won.

Van der Bank may be small in build [89kg] compared to some of the bruisers playing inside centre these days, but he has been a delight to watch as he has rewired the Pumas backline. He has also beaten 15 defenders [T2nd] and has shown his physicality by winning the third most tackles. He may be coming off the bench on Friday night, but such has been his impact that he will almost certainly come on and take on Louw in a thrilling head-to-head.

Thembelani Bholi v Phumzile Maqondwana

The 23-year-old Maqondwana has been in such powerful form lately in the back row for the Pumas that the Sharks can expect him to throw the kitchen sink and several other appliances at them. Bholi is a hardworking loose forward and he is going to need to be at his best to keep the powerhouse from the Eastern Cape in check.

Dylan Richardson v Francois Kleinhans

Retreaded hooker Richardson has been given a remit as openside flank and will have to neutralise former Sharks flank Kleinhans, who will definitely target the breakdowns hard even though he is playing eighthman. The Pumas were the most effective team at the rucks in Super Rugby Unlocked, with a 94% success rate, while the Sharks were towards the bottom of that ranking, which makes it likely the visitors will target them in that department at Kings Park on Friday night.

Curwin Bosch v Theo Boshoff

The Pumas flyhalf is fresh out of university where he played a starring role for Tuks in the Varsity Cup and, solid as he has been, Pumas coach Jimmy Stonehouse will be tempted to shout instructions down the radio when it comes to game management. Bosch, in contrast, has been an accomplished, polished general all year long. Given that the Pumas could well match the Sharks up front, the decision-making of the flyhalves will be crucial and Boshoff faces a big test in Durban.

While the Bulls know they will receive a typically fiery reception when their aircraft touches down in Cape Town, their talismanic captain Duane Vermeulen is apparently in a particularly combative mood ahead of their crunch Currie Cup opener against Western Province at Newlands on Saturday.

The Springbok colossus, man of the match in the 2019 World Cup final, played in the blue-and-white hoops from 2009 to 2015 but was strangely not wanted by the Stormers when he returned to South Africa in late 2018. Without suggesting Vermeulen has his mind on revenge, he takes immense pride in his performances and he will want to show his former team and his many Springbok colleagues playing for Western Province that he is still a major force. As if his considerable performances so far this season have not already proven that.

“I think Duane feels the best he has for a long time, he seems to have had added energy this week, he knows Newlands and the Western Province players well and it’s the most fired-up I’ve seen him for a long time. His family is still down in Cape Town, his kids are at school there, he lives in the hotel at Loftus and isn’t commuting. So it can’t be easy for him.

“But he’s played 80 minutes after 80 minutes, and he gives you the full 80 minutes every time. So there are no questions around his commitment and the team sees just how committed he is. Duane has been waiting a long time for this game, there are quite a few Springboks in the Western Province team and he really wants to play well against them,” Bulls coach Jake White said on Thursday.

White, for all his baiting and chirping of the Bulls’ greatest rivals, knows that Western Province will also be fully primed for action on Saturday, especially after they were hammered 39-6 in 64 minutes at Loftus Versfeld at the end of last month. There will be no monkeying about from the home side on Saturday.

“Western Province have had two weeks to prepare for this game and they are a very strong side, a fantastic side with settled coaches. Their World Cup winning captain [Siya Kolisi] is back and they have consistently been a form team in South African rugby. Plus they have an incredible record against the Bulls – we haven’t won there since 2009 – so there’s no doubt they’re going to be up for it.

“We beat them convincingly up here and there’s no doubt that will drive them. They’re playing at home, it could be the last time they play the Bulls at Newlands with all its history and memories, so they will have all the energy they need. We are going to need to be as good as we’ve been all year in our best games to give ourselves the best opportunity of winning,” White said from Pretoria.

Johan Grobbelaar returns to the Bulls pack and will start at hooker in the only change to their starting line-up announced on Thursday.

Bulls team: David Kriel, Travis Ismaiel, Stedman Gans, Cornal Hendricks, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Chris Smith, Ivan van Zyl, Duane Vermeulen (c), Arno Botha, Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Trevor Nyakane, Johan Grobbelaar, Jacques van Rooyen. Replacements – Corniel Els, Gerhard Steenekamp, Marcel van der Merwe, Sintu Manjezi, Nizaam Carr, Embrose Papier, Clinton Swart, Marco Jansen van Vuren.