Ken Borland

2014 Junior World Cup winner Kagiso Rabada is about to be unleashed on the international stage as he tours with the Proteas to Bangladesh, but what of his captain at that prestigious tournament, Aiden Markram?

Rated as one of the most promising young players in the country, Markram is learning the hard way that it takes much longer for batsmen to break through in the senior ranks than it does for bowlers. But the 20-year-old Northerns player is still full of optimism and says there is plenty of opportunity lying ahead for him.

“Obviously I’m happy that KG is with the national team, he completely deserves it. But it’s tough as a top-order batsman trying to play for your franchise and then your country, so I’m not concerned with my progress,” Markram told The Citizen.

The Tuks product has played 10 first-class games for Northerns, scoring 424 runs at an average of 30.28, including three half-centuries. His limited-overs returns have been more spectacular, scoring two List A centuries in five innings on his way to an average of 71.25, a strike-rate of 95.95 and a nomination for the CSA Provincial One-Day Cricketer of the Year award.

Markram was also brilliant in the T20 competition, scoring 165 runs in four innings, with two half-centuries, an average of 55 and a strike-rate of 146.

“I’ve played a lot more limited-overs cricket in my life. I have game-plans in place for those formats but in the longer format it was only towards the end of the season that I had identified a plan. So that was a big positive and I’m really looking forward to next season’s three-day competition. I don’t want to be labelled a limited-overs player, but I’m happy with the way the season went.

“In the season ahead, it would be nice to play franchise cricket for the Titans, that’s definitely a goal for me, in any format. But all I can control is scoring runs and putting myself in contention. If I’m selected, great, but if not then I want to make a big contribution for the Northerns team. I enjoy my role there and I’m looking forward to more responsibility,” Markram said.

For someone who has such a solid technique, it is surely only a matter of time before Markram makes his mark in first-class cricket, having already shown in the shorter formats that he has the measure of most bowlers in provincial cricket.

“I’d only played two three-day games in my life before this season, so it’s been a new challenge. As a top-order batsman, the bowlers are fresh and armed with a new ball, so if you get in then you must kick on. And it’s usually tough batting on day one.

“I just need to re-set myself more during my innings, make sure I get myself in properly and then just bat time,” Markram said.

For someone as talented as him, it is surely also only a matter of time before he is back playing on the same stage as his former team-mate Rabada.

AB de Villiers batted with all his former panache and authority upon his return to the domestic scene as he steered the Titans to a commanding seven-wicket win with 21.5 overs to spare over the Warriors in their Momentum One-Day Cup match at Willowmoore Park in Benoni on Tuesday.

The bonus point win returns the Titans to the top of the standings, leading the Dolphins by four points ahead of the final round of fixtures.

While the Titans will host the fading Cape Cobras at Centurion on Thursday, the KwaZulu-Natalians face the daunting task of beating the Knights with a bonus point in Durban in order to claim first place and a home final. And obviously the Cobras must beat the Titans.

While de Villiers utterly dominated the Warriors attack as he stroked a sublime 75 not out off 62 balls, the Titans were only chasing 148 thanks to the brilliant work of their attack, with another returning international, Chris Morris, leading the way with three for 30 in eight overs.

Morris set the tone as his second ball of the match curved like a bow and bowled Gihahn Cloete for a first-ball duck.

With Morris conceding just nine runs in his first four overs, Lungi Ngidi then put the Warriors further back with a double-strike in the sixth over.

Colin Ingram (4) latched on to a poor, short ball down leg, but swung it in the air to fine leg, where Junior Dala made good ground around the boundary and took a super catch.

Ngidi then produced a beauty four balls later to have Colin Ackermann caught behind for a duck, getting bounce and away movement from an excellent length.

Having won the toss and elected to bat, the Warriors were 18 for three inside the first half-hour, but Jon-Jon Smuts and Yaseen Vallie then added 66 for the fourth wicket. It wasn’t hang-on-to-your-hats breathtakingly quick, coming off 87 deliveries, but it did stop the bleeding.

Smuts, coming off successive centuries, scored 39 before getting a little tickle on a Malusi Siboto delivery that was sliding down leg and being well caught by wicketkeeper Heino Kuhn, and off-spinner Aiden Markram then won a short battle with Lesiba Ngoepe, having him smartly stumped by Kuhn for two.

Morris then returned to deliver another top-class spell of fast swing bowling, Vallie, who had scrapped his way to a dogged 44 off 61 balls, being caught behind and then Kelly Smuts being bowled for a duck as he shouldered arms to a superb delivery to the left-hander from over the wicket, pitching off and then swinging enough to hit the off stump.

The Warriors were a parlous 117 for seven, but Jerry Nqolo added 26 to the total and there was 16 from Andrew Birch before the visitors ran out of luck on 147 all out, Dala claiming two wickets with short balls and Ngidi picking up a third as he finished with fine figures of three for 32 in eight overs.

Wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi was able to build on the pressure created by the pacemen as he squeezed the Warriors batsmen further by bowling his 10 overs for just 28 runs.

The star attraction De Villiers came to the crease with the Warriors still in the game, having just reduced the Titans to 47 for two, Birch striking early by having Jonathan Vandiar caught in the slips for one, and Aya Gqamane then dismissing Kuhn for a busy 23.

De Villiers was dazzling from the outset, hitting his second and third deliveries for sumptuous boundaries and, even though Aiden Markram being bowled by a grubber from Birch for 23 in the next over provided some food for thought, the global superstar just cruised through the rest of the innings.

There were seven fours and a six in his 40-ball fifty, as De Villiers covered the entire map of the Willowmoore Park outfield with strokes of extraordinary placement and timing; Farhaan Behardien but a support act as he made 24 not out in their unbeaten stand of 87 off 94 balls.

De Villiers finished with 75 not out off 62 deliveries, with 10 fours and a six, proving once again that he has more talent in his big toe than most batsmen on their best day.

http://citizen.co.za/sport/sport-cricket/1464011/ab-de-villiers-returns-to-former-glory/

Aiden Markram hit the highest individual score in competition history as the Titans hammered the Highveld Lions by 169 runs in their Momentum One-Day Cup derby at the Wanderers on Friday night.

Markram belted 183 off 138 balls to steer the Titans to 415 for three after they had elected to bat first, beating the previous record for the highest total ever – the 400 for five they had made against the Cape Cobras at Newlands last month.

The previous highest individual score was the 181 Reeza Hendricks had scored when he was playing for the Knights against the Dolphins in Bloemfontein in 2014/15; it was a bad night in general for the Lions opener as he was dismissed first ball as the home team’s run-chase never really took off.

Markram and in-form fellow opener Henry Davids put on 222 off 203 balls for the first wicket, but they took their time at first against some threatening new-ball swing bowling from Beuran Hendricks, whose first five overs cost just eight runs.

But patience is rewarded even in limited-overs cricket and, after scoring just 41 in the 10 powerplay overs, Markram set the early pace, going to 50 for the first time in the Momentum One-Day Cup off 56 deliveries.

But Davids is a vastly experienced batsman and he weathered some early storms and struggles and was soon breezing past his partner with some impressive strokeplay.

He reached his century in the 30^th over of the innings, with the Titans on 190 without loss, off 94 balls, needing just 32 deliveries for his second fifty. It was important during this stage that Markram, who is way more mature than his 22 years, shifted gear downwards and allowed Davids to prosper during his hot streak.

Markram performed his changing roles to perfection and would bat through to the penultimate over of the innings, but Beuran Hendricks claimed the important wicket of Davids for 128, off 108 balls, as he had him well-taken by cover-sweeper Rassie van der Dussen.

Heino Kuhn came in and ensured that the run-rate never dipped with an energetic 34 off 23 balls, but it was a low full toss from Wiaan Mulder that undid him in the 42^nd over.

Markram ploughed on, reaching his maiden franchise 50-over century off 99 deliveries and ensured that he batted practically through the innings, while also showing that he has the ability to collect boundaries, scoring 18 fours and five sixes in all.

His magnificent, record-breaking innings eventually came to an end when he picked out long-off when trying to hit Dwaine Pretorius, who he punished as 80 runs came off the international all-rounder’s 10 overs, over the top.

But you cannot ask for a much better finisher of an innings than Farhaan Behardien and he ensured the Titans made the highest ever total with his tremendous 62 not out off just 31 balls, including 19 off the last over bowled by Beuran Hendricks, ruining the left-hander’s figures.

You always felt one of the Lions openers, Van der Dussen or Reeza Hendricks, needed to go big for the home side to have a chance, but Titans new-ball bowlers Lungi Ngidi and Eldred Hawken removed them both in their opening overs.

Van der Dussen hit the third ball of the innings from Ngidi square through the off side for four, but then had the misfortune to choose an even wider delivery to try and cut, only managing to edge a catch behind to wicketkeeper Kuhn.

Hawken, a useful swing bowler who deserves more opportunity, then struck with his first ball as Reeza Hendricks edged to first slip, a fine delivery angled in from back-of-a-length and then holding its line.

It ended a bad day for the Proteas hopeful, but wicketkeeper/batsman Mangaliso Mosehle was at least able to partly atone for dropping both Markram, before he had scored, and Davids on 36, by lashing a dazzling 74 off 44 balls.

Mosehle was making few friends when it came to the Titans bowlers, being particularly hard on wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, who he swept for fours and sixes and hit back over his head for a magnificent, soaring six that brought up the Lions’ 100.

But Shamsi had the last laugh when he had Mosehle well-caught by Markram at deep square-leg.

Captain Dominic Hendricks went carefully to 21 when he was stumped by precision work by Kuhn off Shamsi, and Wihan Lubbe (31) and Wiaan Mulder (29) added 53 off 41 balls before being removed by seamers Hawken and David Wiese respectively.

It was clearly Markram’s day as he trapped the dangerous Pretorius lbw for nine, the big-hitting all-rounder swinging around a dipping full delivery.

Nono Pongolo impressed as he played some fine strokes for his 35 off 21 balls, but Shamsi wrapped up the tail as he finished with five for 74, conceding runs against some hit-and-hope slogging from the tail.

The Lions were all out for 246 in just 33.5 overs as the Titans completed their biggest ever victory in terms of runs in the competition.

http://citizen.co.za/sport/sport-cricket/1461445/markram-hits-record-score-titans-hammer-lions/

I’ve always known that a week can be a long time in the world of sport, but I go away for eight nights to the bush of northern Limpopo and return to find rugby’s entire landscape changing with indecent haste compared to the months of feet-dragging that often characterise a game that has been presided over at some stages by dinosaurs or the old farts of the straw-chair brigade.

One of the changes I saw coming before my departure. I always love unintended consequences and it was former Springboks and Bulls defence coach John McFarland who pointed out to me that the rulemakers’ new emphasis on keeping tackles lower, away from the head and shoulders, was at least partly responsible for the sudden rash of offloads we have seen from the South African teams, who have traditionally preferred taking contact and winning some hard-earned, psychologically-meaningful centimetres.

So it’s not just a mindset change amongst our franchise coaches and players, but also that tacklers are now being forced down below the arms, allowing the hands to be free to keep the ball alive.

Time will tell whether that more skilful approach is carried through to the Springboks, but the national team has already had better preparation than last year with a camp and they look better resourced too in terms of coaching staff.

One of those additional resources is Cheetahs coach Franco Smith and it may be just as well that he has earned a promotion because he might be out of a decent Super Rugby job next year. If we believe what the New Zealand media tell us, then the Cheetahs as well as the Southern Kings will be axed from Super Rugby under the new, hopefully improved format for 2018 that is yet to be unveiled.

Harold Verster, the CEO of the Cheetahs, cheerfully told the world though that he keeps his “ear to the ground” and that the rumbling noise he hears is not a rampaging stampede of buffalo at all, but the sound of the Grey College-Free State-somewhere else in the country pipeline running smoothly. He says the Cheetahs are safe.

You cannot be nearly as optimistic about the Kings, however. They would seem to be sitting ducks as not only are they struggling on the field but they are a financial drain on the South African Rugby Union and money always shouts loudest when it comes to administrators, like politicians.

Speaking of politicians, you cannot escape the irony that Cheeky Watson, the self-proclaimed messiah of transformation, has now left Eastern Cape rugby and has done more damage to the nursery of Black rugby in our country than anything since a Nationalist government functionary.

If you called him a blood-sucking tick you would probably be understating his effect. The man has been a full-blown parasite on the game in that vulnerable region, more like the deadly malaria protozoans that kill half-a-million people a year in sub-Saharan Africa.

Later this year, the British and Irish Lions tour New Zealand in what should be the rugby highlight of 2017, but this type of proper tour probably won’t become more common given the news this week that a new global rugby calendar is being introduced. Coming into effect in 2020, it has reducing player workload as one of its main tenets.

Tours by northern hemisphere teams to the southern hemisphere will be pushed back to July, but this will allow Super Rugby to be completed in one fell swoop from February to June. This is a good thing and will come into effect in 2019, because that is a World Cup year.

The 2023 World Cup is another story of course, with South Africa seemingly ranged against France and Ireland for the right to host the tournament. If you can believe what came out of sports minister Fikile Mbalula’s mouth this week, then government is now backing the bid.

Then again, Mbalula might just have been trying to distract from the fiasco that was Durban’s Commonwealth Games bid. The chairman of that bid was Mark Alexander, the president of the South African Rugby Union, but that’s a story for another day.