Ken Borland

South Africa secured a landslide victory in the inaugural Global Softech Sixes Africa Challenge at SuperSport Park yesterday, going through the two-day tournament unbeaten and hammering Kenya by six wickets with nine balls to spare in the final.

Kenya looked well on their way to posting a competitive total as Alex Obanda (34 retired off 12 balls) and Collins Obuya (35 retired off nine balls) took them to 82 without loss after four overs, but Robbie Frylinck, voted man of the match, bowled a superb final over that cost just eight runs and included two run outs.

South African opener Cameron Delport has enjoyed an outstanding tournament, passing 30 and having to retire in five out of six innings, and he immediately put the hosts on track as he hit seamer Nehemiah Odhiambo’s first three balls for six.

Odhiambo has been one of the best bowlers in the competition, conceding just 54 runs in five matches before the final, but Delport blasted two fours and another six to end the opening over on 32 off six balls.

Delport’s retirement pitted Mangaliso Mosehle against spinners Shem Ngoche and Collins Obuya and the wicketkeeper thrashed five sixes in the next two overs as he retired on 33 off nine deliveries.

Farhaan Behardien (17* off 4) is the coolest of finishers and David Wiese (10* off 2) the longest of hitters and they polished off the remaining runs required with little fuss.

Kenya had qualified for the final thanks to a better run-rate than Zimbabwe and Uganda.

Uganda are clearly a rising force in African cricket – the great Peter Kirsten is their new coach – and they impressed all and sundry by beating Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Namibia over the two days of action in Centurion.

They missed out on the final due to a lame batting performance against Kenya, only managing 75 for five when they were chasing 88.

Kenya themselves had suffered a case of the red mists descending when they lost by 12 runs to Zimbabwe when chasing just 81.

Uganda had beaten Zimbabwe by one run thanks to excellent overs from Jonathan Sebanja and impressive all-rounder Roger Mukasa.

Individual highlights for South Africa were Mosehle hitting five successive sixes off Narendra Patel and captain Behardien’s 40 not out off eight balls against Kenya in their round-robin game and two for seven versus Tanzania; and Chris Morris’s bowling up front against Uganda.

Scores in brief

Namibia 72-2 (JJ Kotze 31*, Gerrie Snyman 22; Narendra Patel 2-10). Kenya 75-2 (Rakep Patel 35*; Gerrie Snyman 1-6). Kenya won by four wickets.

Tanzania 73-2 (Benson Nyaikini 32*, Khalil Rehemtulla 28*). Uganda 75-2 (Roger Mukasa 34*, Jonathan Sebanja 25). Uganda won by four wickets.

South Africa 128-1 (Cameron Delport 36*, Mangaliso Mosehle 33*, Farhaan Behardien 30*). Zimbabwe 99-3 (Malcolm Waller 34*, Stephen Trenchard 22*, Roy Kaia 24; Chris Morris 2-16). South Africa won by 29 runs.

Tanzania 50-3 (Benson Nyaikini 32*; Collins Obuya 1-2, Rakep Patel 1-6). Kenya 51-0 (Alex Obanda 27*). Kenya won by six wickets.

Uganda 81-3 (Roger Mukasa 31*, Deusdedit Muhumuza 24*; Roy Kaia 2-12). Zimbabwe 80-2 (Timycen Maruma 35*, Malcolm Waller 32*). Uganda won by one run.

South Africa 122-1 (Cameron Delport 31*, Farhaan Behardien 31*, David Wiese 34*). Namibia 69-3 (Sarel Burger 32*). South Africa won by 53 runs.

Zimbabwe 80-3 (Roy Kaia 25*; Narendra Patel 1-10). Kenya 68-1 (Collins Obuya 33*; Roy Kaia 1-8). Zimbabwe won by 12 runs.

Uganda 89-2 (Jonathan Sebanja 24, Arnold Otwan 32*; Chris Morris 1-9). South Africa 92-3 (Robbie Frylinck 34*; Jonathan Sebanja 1-10). South Africa won by three wickets.

Tanzania 91-2 (Abhik Patwa 26, Kassim Mussa 33*, Khalil Rehemtulla 31*). Namibia 86-0 (JJ Kotze 33*, Sarel Burger 31*, Gerrie Snyman 21*). Tanzania won by five runs.

South Africa 122-2 (Cameron Delport 32*, Farhaan Behardien 40*, Mangaliso Mosehle 35*). Kenya 102-3 (Alex Obanda 35*, Collins Obuya 33*, Nehemiah Odhiambo 27). South Africa won by 20 runs.

Uganda 82-2 (Roger Mukasa 31*; Jonathan Sebanja 28, Deusdedit Muhumuza 20*; Sarel Burger 2-15). Namibia 80-2 (JJ Kotze 31*, JJ Smit 25*; Roger Mukasa 2-7). Uganda won by two runs.

Tanzania 91-3 (Abhik Patwa 23, Benson Nyaikini 36*; Malcolm Waller 2-15). Zimbabwe 96-2 (Roy Kaia 31*, Malcolm Waller 31*). Zimbabwe won by four wickets.

Kenya 87-1 (Alex Obanda 34*, Rakep Patel 34*; Jonathan Sebanja 1-8). Uganda 75-5 (Roger Mukasa 20; Rakep Patel 2-14). Kenya won by 12 runs.

Tanzania 62-5 (Nasibu Mapunda 23*; David Wiese 2-11, Farhaan Behardien 2-7). South Africa 64-0 (Cameron Delport 34*, Farhaan Behardien 23*). South Africa won by six wickets.

Namibia 92-3 (JJ Smit 32*, Sarel Burger 31*; Malcolm Waller 2-15). Zimbabwe 96-2 (Timycen Maruma 34*, Malcolm Waller 27, Stephen Trenchard 30*; Christi Viljoen 1-10). Zimbabwe won by four wickets.

Kenya 91-2 (Alex Obanda 34*, Collins Obuya 35*). South Africa 92-0 (Cameron Delport 32*, Mangaliso Mosehle 33*). South Africa won by six wickets.

Xerox Golden Lions coach Johan Ackermann described the 36-26 defeat his team suffered at the hands of the Vodacom Blue Bulls in the Absa Currie Cup match at Loftus Versfeld as “the most boring game of rugby” he has seen for a long time.

“The first half especially was so poor, we just couldn’t get our game to flow, it was penalty after penalty. The Bulls would just bomb it back, we wouldn’t be able to control the ball so we’d scrum again. It was the most boring game of rugby I’ve seen in a while and it’s not good for the supporters either.

“It was just penalty after penalty, high ball after high ball. A disappointing match with strange decisions,” Ackermann said after the game.

The Bulls totally dominated territory in the first half as they racked up a 19-12 lead at the break. The home side then stretched that to 29-12, but the Lions dominated the final quarter and the introduction of Sevens Springbok Kwagga Smith at eighthman and fullback Andries Coetzee moving to scrumhalf saw them score two tries in five minutes to close the gap to 29-26.

But the impressive comeback was ended in the 79^th minute when the Lions were penalised at scrum time, with the Bulls front row going up, and lock Grant Hattingh scored from the rolling maul set up from the lineout.

Ackermann said the decision by referee Marius van der Westhuizen puzzled him.

“I’d like to know what we did wrong at that last scrum when the score was 29-26, is the referee saying you’re no longer allowed to dominate a scrum?

“I think the referee wasn’t certain what was happening in the scrums, all the props were guilty of not binding properly, but it was one penalty for me, one penalty for you the whole match. It was frustrating because I think we had the scrums under control but still had a few penalties against us. Normally the apology comes on the Monday, but by then it’s too late. Something urgently needs to be done about the scrums,” Ackermann pleaded.

Bulls coach Frans Ludeke, on the other hand, felt the referee had made the right decisions.

“The scrums were a huge battle and there were problems with the binding and hinging of both packs. I thought all the decisions were accurate and both packs got penalised. It depends on how you view the scrums, Johan Ackermann probably feels they had an edge at the scrums and they didn’t get the benefit of that. But I thought we were better than them in all other facets,” Ludeke said.

The Bulls coach said he felt his team were turning the corner after losing three of their first four games.

“It’s a great feeling because we worked hard and the way we reacted because we were under pressure. It brought us together and we backed each other. I felt the gain-line and collisions were better in this match than in any other game and that’s why we got reward.

“The Lions like to counter-attack from broken field, they like to move the ball around from deep, that’s their strength, but our first-time tackling was great and if you can defuse that then you get a lot of energy from that. The hunger to succeed was massive and we’ll take a lot from this,” Ludeke said.

`Ackermann acknowledged that his team did not have the energy of the Bulls.

“We just need to look at ourselves and work out why the levels of intensity  and energy weren’t there. Everything just looked slow in the first half, we didn’t react to the Bulls’ game and back ourselves to play more. There wasn’t enough ball-in-hand, not enough flow.

“We lost patience and suddenly had one-off runners against a hungry, desperate side, which doesn’t help. There was no tempo or speed to our game, they slowed down our ruck ball and the stop-start game suited the Bulls,” Ackermann said.

The Vodacom Blue Bulls produced their most passionate performance since the start of the Absa Currie Cup season as they beat the Xerox Golden Lions 36-26 at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Mobile lock Grant Hattingh, who produced a top-class performance in open play and the lineouts, sealed a second win this season for the Bulls with his 79^th-minute try off a rolling maul, but the home side had to see off a ferocious comeback from the Lions.

A burst of two tries in five minutes between the 69^th and 74^th minutes saw the Lions substantially reduce a commanding 29-12 lead for the Bulls, wing Ruan Combrinck’s two conversions closing the gap to 26-29 and giving him a perfect record of six from six at goal.

But the Bulls, with their front row pulling out of the set-piece, were then awarded a controversial scrum penalty, which they kicked into the corner and set up the rolling maul from which Hattingh scored.

The Bulls controlled proceedings for the opening hour, their clinical kicking game keeping the Lions pegged back in their own territory and a robust defensive performance ensuring that the visitors were not able to break the shackles when they tried to run from their own half.

Referee Marius van der Westhuizen was also strict with the whistle and regularly penalised the players, leading to Combrinck and Bulls flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter exchanging penalties in the first quarter.

The Bulls were leading 9-6 in the 23^rd minute when Hattingh pounced on a misunderstanding between Lions scrumhalf Ross Cronje and his backline that led to a loose ball on the ground. The rangy lock burst clear and, after sending the ball wide and then back infield, the Bulls had a ruck in the shadow of the Lions’ posts. Potgieter threw a flat pass to fullback Ulrich Beyers, who went through one tackle and scored.

Potgieter converted and that was followed by one more penalty to the Bulls and two more to the Lions as the home side went into the break 19-12 up.

That became a 29-12 lead in the 51^st minute as Potgieter kicked a 40m scrum penalty and centre Burger Odendaal scored the Bulls’ second try as he gathered a grubber from Potgieter that rebounded off the rushing Lions defence in front of their poles.

The Lions’ task looked even more hopeless when tighthead prop Ruan Dreyer was yellow-carded for collapsing a Bulls maul – the fourth time the visitors had infringed in that way – but Johan Ackermann’s team were inspired by the arrival on the field of Sevens Springboks Kwagga Smith and Mark Richards.

Smith, playing eighthman, showed a nose for the line when he slithered over in the 69^th minute and, five minutes later, his foray from the base of a scrum led to replacement lock Martin Muller galloping over for the Lions’ second try.

The Bulls had somehow lost the spring in their steps, but were fortunate to win a scrum penalty while on the retreat, which allowed them to claim the match-winning try and condemn the Lions to just their second defeat in five matches. That has allowed the Pumas to leap into second place on the log, five points behind Western Province.

Points scorers

Blue Bulls – Tries: Ulrich Beyers, Burger Odendaal, Grant Hattingh. Conversions: Jacques-Louis Potgieter (3). Penalties: Potgieter (5).

Lions – Tries: Kwagga Smith, Martin Muller. Conversions: Ruan Combrinck (2). Penalties: Combrinck (4).

The Unlimited Titans already have a franchise trophy in their cabinet and it’s not even October as they claimed the inaugural Global Softech Sixes title in a thrilling final at SuperSport Park yesterday.

The Titans, having won all three of their games on the first day, were knocked over by both the Knights and Cape Cobras yesterday and, with three teams ending on six points, they had to rely on the Highveld Lions beating the Knights in the last round-robin match in order for them to sneak into the final against the Dolphins.

The Titans batsmen were utterly clinical after being sent into bat in the final with captain Henry Davids setting the tone by hitting spinner Keshav Maharaj’s first three balls for six.

Mangaliso Mosehle then hammered off-spinner Thandi Tshabalala for four successive sixes in the second over and retired on 33 off just seven balls, with Farhaan Behardien (36 not out off 10 balls, 5x6s) and David Wiese (35 retired off seven balls, 5x6s) then picking up the cudgels as the Titans posted 126 for one, the highest total in the Franchise Challenge.

The Titans bowlers were considerably less focused, however, and the Dolphins raced to 94 for one in the first three overs of their chase, Wiese conceding 25 runs, Davids 33 and Dean Elgar 36 in an over that included six sixes and a no-ball.

Morne van Wyk, farcically omitted from the South African team to play in the Africa Challenge over the weekend because it was chosen before this tournament even started, was again the chief destroyer, belting five sixes in his 35 retired off just seven deliveries.

But left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe then produced a magnificent over, firing the ball into the blockhole, conceding just eight runs and removing Khaya Zondo and the dangerous Robbie Frylinck (28 off six balls).

That left the Dolphins with 23 to score in the final over to win and Behardien contrived to bowl them back into the game with two wides and conceding a six. With 14 needed off three balls, Sibonelo Makhanya pulled the medium-pacer to the square-leg boundary where captain Davids deliberately put down the catch to ensure Van Wyk had to stay in the dugout and could not return to the crease.

Tshabalala’s six off the last ball brought the Dolphins within a tantalising run of victory, but the clear-thinking of the Titans in the final over – as well as Van der Merwe’s brilliance – is what won them the match, with Behardien also bowling outside off stump so the batsman could not shoulder arms and be bowled.

In their first game of the day, the Titans lost by five runs to the resurgent Knights, despite Behardien taking two for eight and scoring 31 not out.

The match against the Cape Cobras was another nailbiter, with Mosehle seemingly having secured victory as his off-drive was heading for six, before it was intercepted by a leaping Stiaan van Zyl, who parried the ball back infield. The Cobras coach, Paul Adams, playing because of the injuries to Justin Ontong and Justin Kemp, dived to catch the ball one-handed to dismiss Mosehle and leave the Titans still needing four to win off the last delivery.

Wiese, who had excelled with the ball, dismissing Rory Kleinveldt and Dane Vilas with the first two deliveries of the Cobras innings, couldn’t find the boundary and the Titans lost by three runs.

But the Cobras were edged out of the final by the Lions’ victory and there was further celebration in the Titans camp when Mosehle, Wiese and Behardien, who will captain the team, were named in the South Africa squad for the weekend’s Africa Challenge.

Titans assistant coach Mandla Mashimbyi will be the head coach of the national side.

Scores in brief

Cape Cobras 91-1 (Stiaan van Zyl 32*, Dane Vilas 31*, Qaasim Adams 20*). Dolphins 96-0 (Morne van Wyk 31*, Keshav Maharaj 31*, Robbie Frylinck 31*). Dolphins won by six wickets.

Knights 99-0 (Reeza Hendricks 32*, Werner Coetsee 26*, Dillon du Preez 37*). Warriors 95-3 (Colin Ingram 42*, Jon-Jon Smuts 36*). Knights won by four runs.

Knights 102-3 (Reeza Hendricks 32*, Werner Coetsee 30, Tumelo Bodibe 33 not out; Farhaan Behardien 2-8). Titans 97-3 (Henry Davids 20, Theunis de Bruyn 28, Farhaan Behardien 31 not out; Werner Coetsee 2-16). Knights won by five runs.

Lions 78-1 (Brian Barnard 33*, Chris Morris 28, Basheer Walters 1-3). Warriors 81-2 (Colin Ingram 30, Jon-Jon Smuts 24*). Warriors won by four wickets.

Cape Cobras 97-2 (Stiaan van Zyl 32*, Qaasim Adams 32, Aviwe Mgijima 31*; David Wiese 2-6). Titans 94-2 (Farhaan Behardien 36*, Henry Davids 32*; Stiaan van Zyl 1-10). Cape Cobras won by three runs.

Warriors  112-1 (Jon-Jon Smuts 35*, Christiaan Jonker 36*, Rusty Theron 24*). Dolphins 113-0 (Morne van Wyk 31*, Robbie Frylinck 34*, Keshav Maharaj 24*, Khaya Zondo 24*). Dolphins won by six wickets.

Knights 82-1 (Reeza Hendricks 32*, Werner Coetsee 29, Dillon du Preez 20*). Highveld Lions 84-0 (Dwaine Pretorius 36*, Chris Morris 28*). Highveld Lions won by six wickets.

Titans 126-1 (Mangaliso Mosehle 33*, Farhaan Behardien 36*, David Wiese 35*). Dolphins 125-3 (Morne van Wyk 35*, Keshav Maharaj 29, Robbie Frylinck 28; Roelof van der Merwe 2-8). Titans won by one run.

South Africa team: Chris Morris (Highveld Lions), Mangaliso Mosehle (Titans), Khaya Zondi (Dolphins), Robbie Frylinck (Dolphins), Cameron Delport (Dolphins), David Wiese (Titans), Farhaan Behardien (Titans).

Weekend fixtures

Saturday: 10h00 Kenya v Namibia; 10h50 Uganda v Tanzania; 11h40 South Africa v Zimbabwe; 12h30 Tanzania v Kenya; 13h20 Zimbabwe v Uganda; 14h10 Namibia v South Africa; 15h00 Kenya v Zimbabwe; 15h50 Uganda v South Africa.

Sunday: 10h00 Tanzania v Namibia; 10h50 South Africa v Kenya;11h40 Namibia v Uganda; 12h30 Tanzania v Zimbabwe; 13h20 Uganda v Kenya; 14h10 Tanzania v South Africa; 15h00 Namibia v Zimbabwe; 16h10 Africa Sixes final.