Ken Borland

Fullback Rudi Vogt finished with 21 points as the GWK Griquas ended the title defence of the Pampas XV when they beat them 26-18 (half-time 17-6) in their Vodacom Cup quarterfinal in Kimberley on Friday.

Griquas seemed to have the match in the bag when they led 23-6 after 50 minutes, but a dazzling comeback by the Pampas XV closed the gap to 23-18 before the home side tightened up, used their forwards to regain control and ended the match the stronger side.

The Argentineans did not help their cause by conceding a flood of penalties at the breakdown, allowing sharpshooter Vogt to kick seven of them, and their adventurous style of play was not helped by some dreadfully poor passing in the first half.

Griquas were happy to grind out the victory in the knockout match, using their hardworking forwards, who were an exceptionally well-knit unit.

The Pampas XV were obviously keen to keep ball in hand and, after Vogt and flyhalf Benjamin Madero traded penalties, it got them into trouble as Griquas eighthman Leon Karemaker forced them back over their own tryline to concede a five-metre scrum.

The Griquas scrum was rock-solid all game and, from that wonderful platform, flank Marnus Schoeman tried to go straight over the ruck to score. He was initially repelled, but then showed great strength to carry the ball wide and pass to lock Ligtoring Landman, who lived up to his name by dotting the ball down from some distance away.

Vogt missed the conversion, but the Griquas scrum continued to dismantle the famous Pampas set-piece, the disrepect reaching a peak when they nabbed a tighthead in the 14th minute, leading to an offsides penalty, which Vogt slotted from just inside his own half and from quite an angle (11-3).

The Pampas XV then put their counter-attacking approach to good use when wing Facundo Barrea and scrumhalf Martin Landajo burst into Griquas territory and won a penalty, which Madero kicked (11-6).

Griquas were happy to keep the ball among their forwards for the rest of the half, their pick-and-goes, wonderful rolling maul and powerful scrumming earning Vogt two more penalties (17-6) before half-time.

Two more Vogt penalties early in the second half, the first after a wonderfully precise and penetrative rolling maul, pointed to normal service being resumed after the break.

At 6-23 down, the Pampas perhaps had good reason to stick with their attacking approach and wing Manuel Montero burst clear at the back of a lineout before his chip-and-gather created the space for outside centre Gabriel Ascarate to score at the corner flag.

The try of the match followed on the hour mark as most of the Pampas team handled the ball from the kickoff, the handling and support play all coming together as Madero scored after the home side eventually ran out of defenders. The flyhalf’s conversion was good and the visitors had closed the gap to just five points.

Much of the pressure Griquas were under was a result of their own mistakes and they tightened up again significantly in the last quarter to seal the win.

Good driving play and ball-retention, followed by a swift attack down the left, resulted in a penalty, successfully converted by Vogt (26-18), but the fullback did miss a third shot at goal with three minutes remaining.

It did not matter though and the defending champions were left to rue their lack of technical precision and structure. The Pampas XV had played the more exciting rugby, but the more structured Griquas team were able to feed off their mistakes, always a crucial factor in knockout rugby.

Griquas, with an experienced tight five and highly capable loose trio, are not going to be easy to beat at home, which is where they will keep playing by virtue of them topping the North Section log.

The Pampas XV, although they had 12 of last year’s title-winning side back, have not been the same team as in 2011 and, for the sake of their Rugby Championship hopes, hopefully they will have better players in Argentina.

Griquas will now face the winners of the match between the Sharks XV and the Blue Bulls in Durban on Saturday in the semifinals.

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/vodacom-cup/news/120504/Griquas_through_to_semis

Another giant bowling performance by Lasith Malinga at the death led the Mumbai Indians to a thrilling one-run victory over the Pune Warriors in their Indian Premier League match at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium on Thursday.

 – http://www.supersport.com/cricket/indian-premier-league/news/120503/Mumbai_win_thanks_to_Malinga

Pune were chasing just 121 for victory and the gutsy Mithun Manhas took them to the brink against the powerful Mumbai attack that produced a massive effort to make up for their batsmen’s failings.

Manhas scored 42 not off 34 balls and was particularly strong square on the off side. But he was unable to produce the boundary-hits required through the leg-side and, with Mumbai captain Harbhajan Singh putting a tight screen on the off-side, Manhas did not score another boundary after the first ball of the 18th over and in fact scored just seven runs off his last seven balls.

Malinga finished with 2-25 in four overs and, with Pune needing 36 runs in the last four overs, the Sri Lankan star took 2-13 in his last two overs.

The Slinga began by bowling Saurav Ganguly, who was in scratchy form, for 16 and then out-thought Wayne Parnell (2) with full, wide deliveries that eventually led to the left-hander steering a catch into the hands of Robin Peterson at backward-point.

After Malinga’s brilliance, Pune needed 12 off Munaf Patel’s last over and Bhuvneswar Kumar put them in with a chance by hitting the Indian seamer inside-out over extra cover for four. It left the Warriors needing four runs off the last ball for victory but, despite Munaf producing a low full-toss on leg-stump, Bhuvneswar could only flick it to deep midwicket for two runs.

The Pune home crowd had spent most of the innings in stunned disbelief as a very average batting performance meant they made extremely heavy weather of chasing a mediocre total.

Opener Robin Uthappa had played some wonderful drives in his 18 before the aggressive Munaf trapped him lbw and the miserly Harbhajan then removed Jesse Ryder (9) and the fluent Australian captain Michael Clarke (14).

Clarke had shown some great footwork to the crafty off-spinner and his lbw decision, sweeping after getting in a good stride, looked a particularly harsh decision, especially with Harbhajan bowling around the wicket.

AWFUL COLLAPSE

Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha then used his skill to rush an arm-ball through the advancing Steve Smith (2) and James Franklin showed his utility value with a valuable spell of three overs for 20 runs.

The powerhouse Mumbai attack, led by Malinga, then finished the job despite Manhas’s brave efforts to go after the required runs.

The spin of Harbhajan (4-0-18-2) and Ojha (4-0-24-1) was crucial in maintaining the pressure on the Warriors, while Munaf bowled splendidly with the new ball and in the crucial final over to also finish with 1-24.

The Pune Warriors seamers had earlier bowled with pace and intensity as they restricted the Mumbai Indians to 120 for nine.

Bhuvneshwar was the star of the show with figures of 2-9 in three overs, while Ashish Nehra recovered brilliantly from his first over costing 14 runs to finish with 2-19.

Sachin Tendulkar top-scored with 34, but his innings took 35 balls and his frustration was apparent as his mediocre IPL continued. It was his highest score of the season and it took his tally to just 128 runs in six innings.

All eyes were on Tendulkar as he took three successive fours off Ashok Dinda in the fourth over, but Nehra’s tight line proved his undoing as The Little Master was caught behind in the 12th over.

Tendulkar had glued the top-order together after the loss of Franklin, caught off Bhuvneshwar for 25, and Rohit Sharma, run out by Smith for three, in the first half of the innings, but his departure led to an awful collapse as Mumbai lost six wickets for 39 runs in the last eight overs.

Peterson, strangely promoted up the order to number four, scored 13 before he skied a pull off Nehra to mid-on, while Ambati Rayudu made room to slash through the off-side but was totally deceived and bowled by a slower ball rolled out by Bhuvneshwar.

Dinesh Karthik was left to bat with the tail and struggled through to the end of the innings to score 18 not out, with the visitors’ appalling running between the wickets leading to the downfall of Thisara Perera (0), Malinga (14) and Ojha (1).

Smith, one of the best fielders in the competition, was involved in two more of the run outs, while Parnell bowled superbly in the death overs to concede just 18 runs in his four overs.

Parnell was also excellent in the field, snatching a great catch at short extra cover to dismiss the Mumbai captain, Harbhajan, for a first-ball duck off the bowling of Dinda.

The Delhi Daredevils, led by their resident wrecking ball Virender Sehwag, cemented their position at the top of the Indian Premier League log as they hammered the Rajasthan Royals by six wickets at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Tuesday.

 – http://www.supersport.com/cricket/indian-premier-league/news/120501/Wreckingball_Sehwag_keeps_DD_on_top

Sehwag put on a phenomenal show as he plundered 73 off 38 balls, cruising to their target of 142 with 28 balls to spare, after the Royals had made a meal of the second half of their innings to finish with a mediocre 141 for six.

Sehwag’s great innings, highlighting not only his power but also his uncanny ability to find the gaps, handed Rajasthan their fourth successive defeat, leaving them languishing in sixth place, while the Daredevils now lead the Kolkata Knight Riders by three points at the top of the standings.

The Delhi captain married brute force with tremendous skill as he dominated a fruitful second-wicket partnership of 96 in 9.5 overs with Kevin Pietersen, who did not need to assert himself too much as he strolled to 36 off 34 balls.

Shane Watson, who was the best of the Rajasthan bowlers with one for 29 in his four overs, removed Pietersen when he had him caught at long-off and even the cheap dismissal of Ross Taylor (6), slicing a pull at a Brad Hogg chinaman, left no doubt as to who the winners would be.

It was Hogg who eventually removed Sehwag, slicing a cut to backward point, ending a top-class innings in a rather soft fashion.

Naman Ojha then hit spinner Ashok Menaria’s first two balls for a four and a six to complete a thorough victory for the IPL pace-setters.

It is said that opening partnerships lay the foundation for the innings, but the Rajasthan Royals totally wasted theirs as they stagnated to 141 for six after winning the toss and electing to bat.

Left-arm spinner Pawan Negi was the hero for the Daredevils with four for 18 in his four overs, but Morne Morkel was equally as brilliant, once again showing his class with one for 23 in four overs.

Opening batsman and captain Rahul Dravid was the top scorer for Rajasthan with a determined 57 off 43 balls, but he will be very disappointed with how the innings faded away after he and Ajinkya Rahane had added 71 for the first wicket in 8.4 overs.

Rahane was once again in sublime form as he powered to 42 off 32 balls, with seven thunderous fours, but the competition’s leading run-scorer was not quite the same batsman after Morkel hit him on the head with a ferocious, quick bouncer in the sixth over.

Rahane was the first victim of the 19-year-old Negi as his reverse-sweep was rather lamely placed straight into the hands of Sehwag at backward point.

Watson, who was in the West Indies with the Australian team just 72 hours previously, heaved Delhi’s other left-arm spinner, Shahbaz Nadeem for six, but was given a rude awakening by Negi, who skidded a delivery through to bowl the all-rounder for eight.

Owais Shah (1) tried to have a dip at impressive fast bowler Umesh Yadav (4-0-28-1) and could only glove a catch to wicketkeeper Ojha, and Negi then cut deep into the Rajasthan lower-order when he removed Brad Hodge (1) and Menaria (2) in his final over.

Dravid completed a well-put-together half-century, off 35 balls, by driving Morkel crisply through extra cover for his seventh four in the 17th over, but it was little consolation as the Royals still finished with a poor total on a good batting pitch.

Dravid departed in Morkel’s next over when he tried to hit the tall fast bowler over the leg-side, but could only edge the ball into his leg, from where it hit the stumps.

South African fans are gleefully anticipating Dale Steyn joining Morne Morkel in the same team for the ICC World T20 later this year after the two fast bowlers produced the outstanding individual performances in last week’s IPL action.

Delhi Daredevils spearhead Morkel is still at the summit of the Purple Cap standings for most wickets with 18 in nine matches, and he produced one of the most brilliant overs in IPL history at the weekend, taking one for three in the 19th over against the Rajasthan Royals.

The Royals needed just 15 runs from two overs, with nine wickets in hand and two set batsmen at the crease before Morkel’s incredible over.

The Daredevils eventually snatched an astonishing victory by just one run and have extended their lead on top of the IPL log to three points over the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Morkel finished with one for 26 against Rajasthan, and also bowled superbly against the Mumbai Indians, with one for 21 in four overs, to rebound from a slightly-expensive return of one for 34 against the Pune Warriors.

The tall fast bowler’s wickets have come at a rate of one every 11.6 deliveries, which is the fifth-best strike-rate in this year’s IPL.

The Deccan Chargers have won just one of their eight matches to prop up the table, but it has not been due to any lack of performance on behalf of Steyn, who has taken 11 wickets at an economy rate of 5.66.

His exceptional two for 10 in four overs against the Mumbai Indians at the weekend will probably remain the best bowling performance of the season, but it was sadly in a losing cause as the Chargers were defending just 100.

South Africa’s leading batsman in the competition, Faf du Plessis, played just one game last week, scoring 29 off 20 balls for the Chennai Super Kings against the Kings XI Punjab to take his runs tally to 331, the fourth highest.

Titans teammate AB de Villiers played one of the most stunning innings of the season when he plundered 59 not out off just 23 balls for the Royal Challengers Bangalore against the Rajasthan Royals, but South Africa’s limited-overs captain was out for a first-ball duck in his next innings, caught off Jacques Kallis as the Challengers lost their crunch game against the Kolkata Knight Riders.

The Knight Riders had their match against the lowly Deccan Chargers washed out, but scored an emphatic 47-run win over Bangalore, with Kallis being one of their heroes as he scored 41 off 27 balls and then claimed the key wickets of De Villiers and Virat Kohli to finish with two for 31 in his four overs.

JP Duminy is playing alongside Steyn for the last-placed Chargers and now boasts the highest batting average (129.00) in the competition after innings of 26 not out and 25 not out, both off 24 deliveries, last week.

Robin Peterson announced his talents to the world with strong displays with both bat and ball following his belated inclusion in the Mumbai Indians team.

In an effort that was reminiscent of his crucial innings against India during the World Cup, the left-hander blasted 16 not out off seven balls to help Mumbai come back from the dead and snatch victory against the Kings XI Punjab, and then claimed three for 37 as they conceded 207-5 against the Delhi Daredevils.

The Pune Warriors finally included Alfonso Thomas in their line-up and they were glad they did as he bowled six overs for 41 runs in his two matches, while the Chennai Super Kings must be relieved Albie Morkel is back from South Africa after attending Louis Vorster’s funeral as the allrounder took three for 29 against the Kings XI.

David Miller must have earned himself more starting time for the Kings XI as he scored 34 not out off 17 balls and 19 off 15 in his two innings last week, while paceman Rusty Theron will be hoping for more action after taking two for 37 for the Chargers against Pune in his one appearance.

Richard Levi will be desperate for runs after he was bowled first ball by a fast Steyn in-swinger in his only innings, leaving him with just 83 runs in six innings.

Marchant de Lange (KKR), Gulam Bodi (DD), Roelof van der Merwe (DD), Kyle Abbott (KXIP), Herschelle Gibbs (MI), Davy Jacobs (MI), Wayne Parnell (PW), Johan Botha (RR), Charl Langeveldt (RCB) and Rilee Rossouw (RCB) will all be kicking their heels in frustration after not seeing any action in the last week.

http://www.supersport.com/cricket/indian-premier-league/news/120430/Steyn_Morkel_produce_brilliant_displays