Ken Borland

SUN CITY, North-West – Stephen Ferreira held on to top spot on the leaderboard after the third round of the Blue Label Challenge at Gary Player Country Club on Friday, once again not paying for a couple of late bogeys.

Ferreira, who began the penultimate day leading by two points in the modified Stableford event, produced another solid round of golf with a pair of birdies on each nine, taking him to eight points for the day, but then he dropped shots, and points, with bogeys on the last two holes. That left the Zimbabwe resident who plays under the Portuguese flag with six points for his round, taking him to a total of 30 points, still renting out that two-point lead.

Last week’s winner of the Fortress Invitational at Ebotse Links, Pieter Moolman, enjoyed a fantastic day with five birdies and an eagle on the par-five fifth giving him 13 points and vaulting him into second place on 28.

Jaco Prinsloo, who is second on the Luno Order of Merit, had an even better day with five birdies and an eagle, and no dropped shots, giving him 15 points for a total of 26 heading into the final round. Jbe’ Kruger, second overnight, had a tough front nine, scoring minus-three, but bounced back after the turn with three birdies to finish with 24 points in total.

The 30-year-old Ferreira hails from Borrowdale Brook Golf Club in Harare and has 10 top-10 finishes from 136 Sunshine Tour events. With more than R1.6 million in prizemoney from those performances, Ferreira will be nearing the R2 million mark if he can hold off what are bound to be stiff challenges from Moolman, Prinsloo and Kruger, and perhaps even youngsters Jayden Schaper and Luca Filippi, who are both on 23 points.

Reeza Hendricks was able to once again announce himself as ready and able for a regular place in South Africa’s white-ball teams as his brisk half-century provided the impetus for a Proteas innings that was cruising for 300 but fell away badly at the death in the second ODI against India in Ranchi on Sunday.

Hendricks, brought into the team for the first time on the Indian tour because regular captain Temba Bavuma was ill, stroked a classy 74 off 76 balls, with nine fours and a six, looking totally at ease on a tricky, low and slow pitch as he injected valuable momentum into the Proteas innings.

South Africa, having won the toss and elected to bat, were able to post 278/7 thanks largely to Hendricks and his run-a-ball partnership of 129 for the third wicket with Aiden Markram.

Markram took time to settle when he came to the crease at 40/2 in the 10^th over, especially against the wrist-spin of Kuldeep Yadav, which has troubled him in the past. But Kuldeep was surprisingly taken off after just three overs, and Markram then began to dominate as he struck 79 off 89 balls.

The former opener was able to find the boundary seven times and clear it once as he played some powerful strokes, off both front and back foot. But Markram’s dismissal, two balls after Heinrich Klaasen was out for a quickfire 30 off 26 balls, began a superb Indian comeback with the ball.

South Africa were 215/3 in the 38^th over when Klaasen was brilliantly, and surprisingly given how poor a fielder he generally is, caught by Mohammed Siraj, running in from long-on off Kuldeep. Klaasen, who had hit a couple of sixes already, played for turn as he tried to hit over extra cover, but the ball went straight on.

India conceded just 63 runs in the last 12 overs, their bowlers hitting the pitch hard with slower balls. The tactic even kept the in-form David Miller relatively quiet as he finished on 35 not out off 34 deliveries.

Siraj was the pick of the bowlers, claiming the wickets of both Quinton de Kock (5) and Hendricks, who picked out deep square-leg with a short-arm pull, and he finished with 3/38 in his 10 overs. Siraj bowled four overs on the trot at the death, conceding just 12 runs, an astonishing effort.

The pitch is starting to dust up though, and the slower ball is working more and more effectively, but the effect of dew and the floodlights may counteract that in the Indian chase.

South Africa’s top-order produced a terrible batting display in the first T20 against India in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, crashing to nine for five after being sent in to bat, and top-scorer Keshav Maharaj admitted that they had been caught unawares in the powerplay and needed to look at ways of ensuring such a parlous start does not happen again.

The Proteas eventually made it to 106-8 thanks largely to Maharaj’s greatly determined 41 off 35 balls, while there were also rearguard knocks by Aiden Markram (25) and Wayne Parnell (24). But despite a shaky start they saw them reduced to 17-2 in the seventh over, India cruised to victory by eight wickets with 20 balls to spare, thanks to unbeaten half-centuries by Lokesh Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav.

“We don’t want to dwell too much on the match, but there are things we can address and hopefully rectify,” Maharaj said after the awful start to the tour. “We do need to chat about how we started.

“When you are put under pressure like that then it’s very difficult to come back. But we showed some fight and we can build on that. It showed great character to go from nine for five to 106, we made a game of it and there are a lot of positives from that.

“But we need to adjust better against the new ball, they were getting a lot of swing, so we needed a change of plan and mindset. We didn’t expect the ball to swing so much, and the pitch was also two-paced, there was a lot of tennis ball bounce, so it was not easy.

“We need to find a way to combat the swing up front and our application at the top also needs to be looked at. But the ball was swinging prodigiously and we were just trying to get to the 16^th over and not get bowled out,” Maharaj said.

Losing five wickets in the powerplay was the difference between the two sides though, as Rahul dug in and Suryakumar scored an inspired 50 not out in 33 balls.

“With five wickets down in the powerplay, you’ve still got to be focused. We wanted to try and get to 16 overs and not get bowed out, and then unfortunately Wayne got out.

“Our seam bowlers also did really well in the powerplay, KG Rabada and Wayne were exceptional. Small moments went India’s way, but they batted exceptionally well.

“It was always going to be very difficult to come back from five wickets down in the powerplay, maybe it was a bit of rustiness on our part. Hopefully we can execute much better and make the second T20 more exciting.

“Conditions were in the bowlers’ favour, but full credit to Deepak Chahar and Arshdeep Singh for landing the ball in the right areas. They had us under pressure in the powerplay,” Maharaj said.

Cricket season is upon us again with the domestic teams kicking off their campaigns on Friday with the Division II T20 competition.

First Division action starts on October 17 in Potchefstroom, where their T20 tournament is being held.

We run the rule over all their squads and their prospects for the coming season, which is a vital one because at the end of it, there will be promotion/relegation based on the combined performances in all formats over the last two seasons, the bottom team being replaced by the top side in Division II.

Current team points standings – Northerns Titans 35; Central Gauteng Lions 23; Boland Rocks 19; Eastern Province Warriors 14; Western Province 14; KZN Dolphins 10; North-West Dragons 10; Free State Knights 4.

SQUADS

Northerns Titans: Lizaad Williams, Theunis de Bruyn, Okuhle Cele, Dayyaan Galiem, Junior Dala, Neil Brand, Sibonelo Makhanya, Corbin Bosch, Aaron Phangiso, Aya Gqamane, Jiveshan Pillay, Simon Harmer, Heinrich Klaasen, Dewald Brevis, Donovan Ferreira, Musawenkosi Twala. National contracts – Quinton de Kock, Dean Elgar, Lungi Ngidi, Aiden Markram, Tabraiz Shamsi.

Outlook – While their batting success, in the absence of their internationals, will be focused on the likes of Theunis de Bruyn and Neil Brand, they do bat deep. Sibonelo Makhanya had a breakthrough season last year and Dayyaan Galiem, Aya Gqamane, Corbin Bosch and Simon Harmer are all bowling all-rounders. The bowling attack will be potent with Lizaad Williams, Junior Dala, Bosch and Harmer. In white-ball cricket, Dewald Brevis and Donovan Ferreira are two of the most exciting young players in the pipeline.

Central Gauteng Lions:Bjorn Fortuin, Wiaan Mulder, Lutho Sipamla, Jonty Rapulana, Ryan Rickelton, Josh Richards, Dominic Hendricks, Sisanda Magala, Malusi Siboto, Codi Yusuf, Mitchell van Buuren, Levert Manje, Duanne Olivier, Evan Jones, Cameron Delport, Tladi Bokako. National contracts – Temba Bavuma, Reeza Hendricks, Kagiso Rabada, Rassie van der Dussen.

Outlook – The old tried and tested Lions outfit, one of the dominant forces in recent years, has been bolstered by the arrival of Evan Jones from Northern Cape, who wields the bat in white-ball cricket like Thor wields his hammer. The batting holds much promise with three of the brightest young talents in Ryan Rickelton, Josh Richards and Mitchell van Buuren, while their pace attack can really hurt the opposition. Perhaps the only weakness is the lack of a proven red-ball spinner, but at home at the Wanderers that shouldn’t matter much.

Boland Rocks:Pieter Malan, Isma-eel Gafieldien, Ferisco Adams, Christiaan Jonker, Siyabonga Mahima, Ruan Terblanche, Imraan Manack, Shaun von Berg, Clyde Fortuin, Achille Cloete, Hardus Viljoen, Michael Copeland, Stiaan van Zyl, Khwezi Gumede, Bamanye Xenxe, Hlomla Hanabe, Farhaan Behardien. National contract – Janneman Malan.

Outlook – The strength of the Boland team will once again be in white-ball cricket, in which they defend the T20 Challenge title. The power of Janneman Malan and the consistency of Pieter Malan, and the experience of Stiaan van Zyl and Christiaan Jonker, has now been boosted by the arrival of veteran finisher Farhaan Behardien. Hardus Viljoen is the pace spearhead of an attack that is strong in the spin department and has the skills of Ferisco Adams.

Eastern Province Warriors: Matthew Breetzke, Wihan Lubbe, Sinethemba Qeshile, Glenton Stuurman, Marco Jansen, Mthiwekhaya Nabe, Lesiba Ngoepe, Rudi Second, Akhona Mnyaka, Diego Rosier, Jordan Hermann, Tsepo Ndwandwa, Tristan Stubbs, Beyers Swanepoel, Ziyaad Abrahams, Kgaudise Molefe. National contract -Anrich Nortje.

Outlook – The list of exciting young batsmen in the EP team is long and has been added to by the arrival of Jordan Hermann, who scored a century and three fifties in his first six innings for Northerns last season. Tristan Stubbs and Lesiba Ngoepe will spearhead their limited-overs efforts. The bowling attack is willing and able too, and the Warriors finished as runners-up in the four-day competition. Their title aspirations will also depend on how often they have Jansen and Stubbs available.

Western Province: Kyle Verreynne, George Linde, Tony de Zorzi, Nandre Burger, Jonathan Bird, Mohamed Vallie, Kyle Simmonds, Wayne Parnell, Beuran Hendricks, Daniel Smith, Dane Paterson, Ethan Cunningham, Eddie Moore, Aviwe  Mgijima, Tshepo Moreki, Mihlali Mpongwana.

Outlook – There are some exciting young batsmen down at Newlands, but Western Province would love a bit more experience in a batting line-up that will depend heavily on Kyle Verreynne, Tony de Zorzi and Eddie Moore. Their bowling attack has depth and potency though, with two quality spinners in George Linde and Kyle Simmonds, and three excellent left-arm pacemen in Wayne Parnell, Beuran Hendricks and Nandre Burger.

KZN Dolphins:Ottniel Baartman, Daryn Dupavillon, Marques Ackerman, Eathan Bosch, Ruan de Swardt, Sarel Erwee, Lifa Ntanzi, Jon-Jon Smuts, Thando Ntini, Bryce Parsons, Grant Roelofsen, Jason Smith, Khaya Zondo, Tshepang Dithole, Prenelan Subrayen, Andile Simelane. National contracts -Andile Phehlukwayo, David Miller, Keshav Maharaj, Keegan Petersen.

Outlook – The KZN Dolphins will surely be more competitive this season given the all-round strength of their team. The likes of Sarel Erwee, Grant Roelofsen, Marques Ackerman and Khaya Zondo provide a quality top four, new acquisition Jon-Jon Smuts, Ruan de Swardt, Bryce Parsons and Jason Smith are all-rounders, there are four potent pacemen in Ottniel Baartman, Daryn Dupavillion, Eathan Bosch and Thando Ntini, and a top-notch spinner in Prenelan Subrayen. Given how little Test cricket the Proteas will be playing, Keegan Petersen will probably be a batting kingpin for them as well.

North-West Dragons: Delano Potgieter, Nicky van den Bergh, Lesego Senokwane, Senuran Muthusamy, Tumelo Tlokwe, Eldred Hawken, Wesley Marshall, Lwandiswa Zuma, Shaylen Pillay, Kerwin Mungroo, Renaldo Meyer, Khanya Cotani, Caleb Seleka, Duan Jansen, Grant Mokoena, Heino Kuhn. National contract -Dwaine Pretorius.

Outlook – With all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius unlikely to be available much, North-West need to get the best out of batsmen like Heino Kuhn, Wesley Marshall and Grant Mokoena, because Nicky van den Bergh and Senuran Muthusamy had to rather carry them last season in the batting department. They will need all their meagre resources to fire on all cylinders to avoid relegation at the end of the season.

Free State Knights:Mbulelo Budaza, Gerald Coetzee, Patrick Kruger, Jacques Snyman, Migael Pretorius, Pite van Biljon, Raynard van Tonder, Alfred Mothoa, Nealan van Heerden, Patrick Botha, Aubrey Swanepoel, Isaac Dikgale, Nhlakanipho Mpungose, Jason Raubenheimer, Gihahn Cloete, Matthew Kleinveldt.

Outlook – Pite van Biljon can always be relied on for runs and there is talent aplenty in Coetzee and Pretorius, while Budaza and Mothoa are bowling workhorses. But a questionable batting line-up needs Raynard van Tonder to return to his prolific best. The Knights are fighting for their survival in the top division.