Ken Borland

The road to continued test success is paved with consistency, according to AB de Villiers, as South Africa prepare to take on Sri Lanka in the first test at SuperSport Park in Centurion from Thursday.

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South Africa, despite the abundance of experience and skill in their side, have not won a home test series in three years, since their triumph over Bangladesh in 2008/9. Excluding the minnows, South Africa’s last meaningful series wins at home were against New Zealand and the West Indies in 2007/8.

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But there are high hopes that South Africa will eventually get it right and beat a weakened, fading Sri Lankan team in this three-test series.

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“If we get a good cricket wicket and we play good cricket, then they’re not going to stop us,” De Villiers said on Monday. “We need to get back to playing consistently good cricket for longer periods, that’s probably the reason we haven’t won at home for a while. We want to do that for the whole series against Sri Lanka.”

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South Africa were roundly criticised for not sealing a series win over Australia last month when they went into the final test with a 1-0 lead and were bowled out on the first day in perfect batting conditions. The vice-captain said their aggressive approach was not wrong, their timing of when to launch was just a bit off.

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“I don’t think a different approach is needed, we’ve just got to read the situation and know when to absorb pressure and when to put it on the opposition.

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“Test cricket is all about momentum and you’ve got waves that are up and down. You’ve got to maximise your opportunities when you’re on top, when you have the opposition on the ropes. You’ve got to finish off the opposition, be aggressive, whether you’re batting or bowling,” De Villiers said.

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Half of the Sri Lankan squad are new to international cricket in South Africa and De Villiers said the Proteas will need to do plenty of studying in order to identify their strengths and weaknesses.

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“They have a lot of new players, I only recognise half of them, which makes it tough. So we have to do our homework, do a lot of video analysis and ask others about them too. The SA A team have just played them so we’ll be looking to someone like Vincent Barnes [SA A coach] as well. And I know Gary [Kirsten] has a few ideas and game-plans as well.

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“It means they’re going to be unpredictable, almost like Pakistan. So it’s most important for us to respect them, expect them to play like the number one team in the world,” De Villiers said.

http://www.supersport.com/cricket/sa-team/news/111212/Consistency_the_key_AB

The Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras continue to rake in the trophies as Owais Shah and Richard Levi led them to a five-wicket victory in the One-Day Cup final against the Chevrolet Warriors at Sahara Park Newlands in Cape Town on Friday.

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Having won the SuperSport Series and the Standard Bank Pro20 last season, the Cobras have now added the domestic limited-overs trophy as coach Richard Pybus dominates domestic cricket like he did with the Easterns Titans.

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Shah and Levi shared a third-wicket stand of 122 in 28.2 overs, driving the Cobras to their target of 243 with nine balls to spare, with Justin Ontong once again playing a great cameo in finishing the job.

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It was stalwart seamer Charl Langeveldt who was once again the star with the ball for the Cobras, undermining the Warriors with wickets up front, in the middle of the innings and at the death to limit them to 242 for nine.

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Levi, whose amazing strength on the leg-side can also be a weakness, played with an admirably straight bat as he scored a tremendously mature 84 off 111 balls. He still scored most of his runs on the on-side, but his technique was impeccable and his focus unfailing.

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What made Levi’s effort even more impressive was that the Cobras were on the back foot on 40 for two with Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis both back in the hut for seven.

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The indefatigable Makhaya Ntini removed the national test captain, the left-hander pushing hard at a delivery that was angled across him, Arno Jacobs, the stand-in wicketkeeper, taking a superb catch as he dived in front of the slips.

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Ntini’s excellent catch, diving forward at short fine leg, had also done for Kallis, who flapped at a Rusty Theron bouncer that surprised him. That he ended up on his bum will be embarrassing for Kallis; that he was once again dismissed by a short-pitched delivery will be concerning for the great batsman.

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But the next 170 balls were all about Levi and Shah.

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Levi showed that he is not all leg-side bashing: It was a remarkably mature innings by the 23-year-old, whose intensity in the final, when everything is on the line, suggests he is destined to play international cricket.

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Shah’s 83 off 109 balls was an uncomplicated innings: the Englishman is not the most attractive of batsmen, but he is as dogged as the proverbial bulldog and for him, it is all about manipulating the ball for a single at every opportunity.

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The Cobras were cruising, needing 82 runs off 14 overs, when the Warriors’ second off-spinner, Simon Harmer, fresh from the universities’ week, took two wickets in the 37th over to suddenly make the result no longer a foregone conclusion.

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Levi played across a delivery that kept low and was trapped lbw, and JP Duminy (4), perhaps itching for action after a long wait in the changeroom, charged down the pitch and was stumped by Jacobs as Harmer fired the ball in and made it turn.

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But in Shah and Ontong, the Cobras had two very experienced men at the crease and they all but settled the outcome with a stand of 52 off just 51 balls.

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Ontong, who has been accused in the past of playing lovely cameos without winning matches, played the role of the experienced finisher to perfection, finishing with 37 not out off 28 balls, with a pair of fours and sixes.

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Even the loss of Shah, to the loosest stroke of his innings as he hoicked Theron over the covers to the dashing Ashwell Prince, did not matter as the Cobras could then call on the considerable finishing skills of Mark Boucher, who made up for the messiness of his wicketkeeping with 16 not out off 13 balls.

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Prince and Johan Botha had been the only batsmen to defy a slick Cape Cobras bowling outfit that was led by Langeveldt and hunted as a pack as the Chevrolet Warriors struggled to 242 for nine.

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Langeveldt produced a fantastic performance to take five for 45, showing his skills are undiminished and becoming the leading wicket-taker in this year’s competition.

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The Cobras had won the toss and sent the Warriors in to bat, with Langeveldt giving captain Justin Kemp just the start he wanted with two wickets in the eighth over.

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Jacobs was trapped lbw for 19 by a fine delivery that swung back into the left-hander, but there was no justice in the dismissal, two balls later, of Warriors captain and key batsman Colin Ingram for a duck.

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Langeveldt jagged a delivery back into the left-hander, the ball coming off the top of the pad and going to wicketkeeper Boucher. Umpire Adrian Holdstock hesitated, and then gave the batsman out caught behind.

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From the Cobras’ point of view, they were not the wickets they probably expected to get first as opening batsman Jon-Jon Smuts had led a charmed life in scoring 11 off 25 balls. He was eventually dismissed by Dale Steyn, edging a back-foot swish to Boucher.

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But Prince, as ever, read the situation, and a pitch that gave the bowlers more assistance than expected, well. He began in typically measured, careful fashion, producing yet another rescue effort to quiet those who are advocating his omission from the national team.

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Justin Kreusch (23) was his initial co-worker in stabilising the Warriors innings as they added 47 for the fourth wicket, before going after Steyn, only for the fast bowler to snatch a remarkable caught-and-bowled effort out of the sky.

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It was the fifth-wicket stand of 87 off 102 balls between Prince and Botha that was the core of the innings, helped by some pretty motley fielding by the Cobras.

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Prince, so mentally strong, kept the scoreboard ticking over without taking risks, while Botha was able to find places to score so the run-rate grew steadily.

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Their vital partnership lasted till the 38th over – the third of the batting powerplay – when Prince tried to clear mid-off in the ring, failed and ensured Langeveldt had made the breakthrough the other Cobras bowlers had struggled to make.

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Prince’s 63 came off 87 balls, with six fours, and was an admirably determined effort.

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The loss of Botha 14 balls later meant the Warriors were back in trouble on 178 for six in the 41st over.

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Botha tried to whip a Kallis slower ball on the on-side, but Smith quickly lept and stuck up his right hand to parry the ball and complete the catch.

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Botha’s 48 off 61 balls was a typically tenacious effort from one of the most reliable cricketers in South Africa.

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The Cobras tightened up in the field in the closing overs – they were not helped by wicketkeeper Boucher not being on top of his game – and, with Langeveldt producing another top-class display of death bowling, there was no late flurry from the Warriors tail.

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Wayne Parnell scored a bright 29 off 27 balls to once again show his talent as a batsman, before both he and Harmer (10) fell to Langeveldt in successive deliveries in the final over.

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Theron hit a four and Ntini struck his only ball for six to give the innings a late, late boost but the Warriors were still left with a moderate total.

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Steyn took two for 58 to support Langeveldt and show enough pace and fire to put some wind up the Sri Lankans, while Kallis, Kemp and left-arm spinner Robin Peterson all bowled tightly to restrict the Warriors batsmen.

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Off-spinner Duminy was most unfortunate not to claim a wicket or two, Boucher’s missed stumping when Prince had 24 being the most glaring fielding error.