Ken Borland

Lwazi Mvovo was a consistent threat to the Bulls defence

Blue Bulls coach Frans Ludeke admitted after his team’s 26-15 defeat at the hands of the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld that the disintegration of their lineout had been the death of their chances in their Absa Currie Cup match on Saturday night.

“Our lineout collapsed tonight and you need those sort of basics in order to win, that meant we weren’t able to put pressure on the Sharks through that. The way the Sharks contested the lineout put us under huge pressure, they would move just before the call and we didn’t adapt well enough and it meant we lost a key weapon. We need to be smarter at the lineout because it has a huge mental impact in our game, if you lose your lineouts then you’re always on the back foot,” Ludeke said after the match.

The defeat left the Bulls woefully off the pace in the Currie Cup, in sixth place, five points behind the Pumas and Cheetahs, and killing the momentum from two wins in a row.

“Trusting the process is the main thing, it was able to get us out of a bad start in the competition and we had some good wins. We had some good momentum with wins at home and we don’t want to lose here. The big thing is getting the tactical decisions right under pressure,” Ludeke said.

The Bulls thoroughly dominated the first half, but only had four Jacques-Louis Potgieter penalties to show for it, adding one more in the second half, while the Sharks were able to make much better use of their possession, scoring tries through wings Lwazi Mvovo and S’bura Sithole.

But according to Ludeke, their inability to cross the tryline is not a problem.

“The reason we didn’t score any tries is because of infringements at the breakdown, we had three penalties there and that’s where tries come from. We were in control in the first 40 minutes, but every time we got three points, we wouldn’t exit properly and they would get an easy three points back. We want to build the innings and take the three-pointers,” he said.

Mvovo scored a 50-metre intercept try a minute before half-time to allow the Sharks to go into the break with a 13-12 lead despite looking totally out of the contest and at odds with referee Quinton Immelman’s interpretations.

Buoyed by the late bonus, they came out a different side in the second half and held on to their possession much better, often simply refusing to let the ball die. Their second try, nine minutes into the second half, was a case in point.

Mvovo burst clear on a splendid run off a lineout move to put the Sharks on attack, and Sithole on the right and fullback SP Marais on the left flank both went to great lengths to keep the ball alive, while eighthman and captain Tera Mthembu’s storming run took the visitors into the Bulls’ 22.

From a ruck in the 22, flyhalf Lionel Cronje then produced a deft cross-kick for Sithole to score in the corner.

Cronje added the conversion and two more penalties to complete a fine game for the former Bulls player.

“We knew it would take an 80-minute effort up here and it was great to see such huge commitment. They showed a huge amount of character, making tackle after tackle and they kept working for each other.

“We’ve struggled this year to take our opportunities, but that was good tonight which was great to see. We also had good reward at the breakdown, which kept the Bulls under pressure, while the lineouts were a huge bonus. We know they like to maul, so we were able to deprive them of the opportunity to do what they’re really good at. I’m very happy with the contesting,” Sharks coach Brad Macleod-Henderson said.

CLASS … 19-year-old Aiden Markram inspired the Tornados’ victory in the Northerns Bash. – ©Alwyn Myburgh, Big Pic Photography

The Global Gladiators were once again denied in the final of the Northerns Bash as, despite Cobus Pienaar’s brilliant century, the Tornados, inspired by Aiden Markram, beat them by eight wickets at SuperSport Park yesterday.

The Gladiators, who decided to bat first, were indebted to Pienaar’s scintillating 103 not out off 73 balls for their total of 161 for five.

The runners-up in the first edition of the Northerns Bash were off to a great start as Pienaar and Lerato Kgoatle (14) put on 64 in the first seven overs. But the Tornados were brought back into the game by wrist-spinner Thomas Kaber, who landed his first ball perfectly, Kgoatle went back and the umpire lifted the finger for lbw.

Five balls later, Sean Dickson, whose innings of 70 off 42 balls had killed the Tornados on Saturday, was caught by cow-corner running in as he mis-hit a poorly-executed attempt to pull a short delivery from Kaber.

Off-spinner Jacques Snyman then bowled a reverse-paddling Farhaan Behardien (7) three overs later and the Gladiators had slipped to 88 for three. But the left-handed Pienaar batted on, relying on well-placed singles and hard-run twos to keep the scoreboard ticking over and ensure there were wickets in hand at the death.

Evan Jones put his foot on the accelerator in scoring 23, but Pienaar’s beautifully-paced innings saw him reach the first century in Northerns Bash history in the final over, off 69 balls, with 13 fours and three sixes.

The Tornados relied on eight bowlers to deliver the 20 overs and Kaber (3-22-2), left-arm spinner David Bunn (3-22-1), Snyman (3-23-1) and seamers Gerhard Linde (3-22-0) and Corbin Bosch (4-31-0) all handled the pressure situation well.

Titans captain Henry Davids was all class at the start of the Tornados’ chase and it looked to be his day as he raced them to 62 without loss after six overs, being dropped on 28 by Behardien at third man off paceman Sean Nowak.

Davids only added four more runs though, before charging experienced left-arm spinner Ryan Houbert, missing the ball and eventually being stumped by Kgoatle, to leave the Tornados on 69 for one after eight overs.

They needed 93 off 12 overs, a required run-rate of 7.75, and the 19-year-old Markram continued to push the ball around like a seasoned veteran.

With his fellow Tuks star, Theunis de Bruyn, 60 runs were added for the second wicket off just 42 balls to have the Gladiators up against the wall.

De Bruyn eventually fell for 26 off 22 balls as he tried to slap leg-spinner Tertius Gouws through the covers, but hit the ball to extra cover Jones instead.

The Tornados then needed 33 from 31 balls, but there was no escape for the Gladiators as Graeme van Buuren (15*) and Markram continued to pierce the field with ease and completed victory with nine balls to spare.

The Titans are certainly blessed with plenty of young batting talent and Markram is rapidly climbing that list, impressing hugely with his measured innings of 81 not out off 54 balls.

Spinners are normally the most effective bowlers in the Northerns Bash and the Gladiators’ two best performers with the ball were Houbert (1-27) and Gouws (1-25).

The Tornados, who didn’t even use Heino Kuhn because of a knee niggle, are a formidable batting side, however, and they chased down a competitive total with aplomb.

The Northerns Bash is believed to be the only club competition in the world that can attract a handful of internationals and two-dozen first-class cricketers to play alongside their amateur colleagues and the move to play it twice a year has certainly been a success.

In yesterday morning’s game, the Pirates beat the Nashua Phantoms by 48 runs to claim third place. Opening batsmen Eldred Hawken (54) and Wian van Heerden (44) added 101 in 9.5 overs to lead Pirates to 173 for six, and off-spinners Tom Khoza (4-26-4) and Ruben Claassen (3-1-8-2) then bowled superbly to limit the Phantoms, the defending champions, to 125.

Scores in brief

Saturday round-robin: Pirates 158-6 (Tom Khoza 39, Wian van Heerden 42, Ryan Cartwright 22; Eden Links 2-31, Shaun von Berg 2-19). Phantoms 159-7 (Blake Schraader 42, Jason Brooker 54 not out; Ruan Olivier 2-21; Ruben Claassen 2-25). Phantoms won by three wickets.  Gladiators 172-4 (Lerato Kgoatle 37, Sean Dickson 70, Bafana Mahlangu 24, Tertius Gouws 25*; Thomas Kaber 2-34). Tornados 151-7 (Mangaliso Mosehle 24; David Bunn 33, Jacques Snyman 47*; Ryan Houbert 2-25). Gladiators won by 21 runs.

Third/fourth play-off: Pirates 173-6 (Eldred Hawken 54, Wian van Heerden 44, Tom Khoza 20*). Phantoms 125 (Blake Schraader 36, Roelof van der Merwe 21; Tom Khoza 4-26, Ruben Claassen 2-8). Pirates won by 48 runs.

Final: Gladiators 161-5 (Cobus Pienaar 103*, Evan Jones 23; Thomas Kaber 2-22). Tornados 165-2 (Henry Davids 32, Aiden Markram 81*, Theunis de Bruyn 26). Tornados won by eight wickets.

CSA president Chris Nenzani

Cricket South Africa’s affiliates on Saturday voted to extend the term of president Chris Nenzani, three independent directors and three non-independent directors by another year.

Last year the CSA Board was recomposed to include seven non-independent directors, including the president and vice-president, and five independent directors, and the terms of all directors were set at three years.

But at Saturday’s annual general meeting at OR Tambo International Airport, a special resolution was passed to stagger the tenure of the directors and avoid wholesale changes to the board every three years.

According to the resolutions, Nenzani, three independent directors and three non-independent directors will now stay in office until the conclusion of the 2016 AGM.

The explanatory notes issued with the resolution stated: “The challenge, however, is that each three-year term will present an election conundrum in that all the directors’ terms of appointment would expire and potentially a number of the directors might not be re-elected, meaning that the board could be challenged by the loss of valuable institutional knowledge and memory, thereby impacting the smooth running of the company.”

The AGM also approved resolutions postponing the expansion of the board (as agreed during the Nicholson Commission of Inquiry) to 16 directors (seven independent and nine non-independent) to “an appropriate time” and removing a clause in their Memorandum of Incorporation stating that CSA shall comply with the constitution of Sascoc [South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee) and any directives issued by them.

“It is submitted that we should not expressly document this in our MOI in the event that we may in future, for good reason, be forced to legally challenge a directive from any such organisation,” the explanatory notes stated.

 http://www.sport24.co.za/Cricket/Proteas/CSA-extends-term-of-president-20140913