Ken Borland

The day after Christmas can be a bit of a downer considering the joy of the previous day, but there were many at SuperSport Park on Thursday who were adamant that they were not going to let anything get them down on the opening day of the first Test between South Africa and Pakistan.

For the festive crowd of more than 16 000 – the sold out signs went up in the afternoon – it helped ameliorate any hangovers, both literal and figurative, that they bought more than a million rand of beer on Thursday. According to Northerns Cricket Union CEO Jacques Faul, this is the first time that has ever happened at Centurion.

But for the Proteas players it took good old-fashioned determination and pride to ensure they kept coming back.

For the spearhead of the attack, Kagiso Rabada, there was the frustration of any number of plays-and-misses by the Pakistan batsmen as he whizzed delivery after delivery past the edges of the bat. But he did not let it get him down, never once dropping his head. His tenacity was not rewarded, but Mother Cricket will surely smile on the great paceman in the second innings.

Having won the toss and sent Pakistan in to bat, the Proteas had to endure a wicket-less first hour. Captain Temba Bavuma said in the huddle at the drinks break that the wickets will come, they must just stay patient.

Debutant Corbin Bosch, who has had to overcome more challenges than most in getting to the international stage, then struck with his first delivery in Test cricket, the first ball after drinks. Pakistan captain Shan Masood (17), having put on 36 with fellow opener Saim Ayub, drove at a full delivery angled across him and edged to gully.

While Bosch finished a memorable first day in Proteas whites, taking four for 63 in 15 overs, it was Dane Paterson who did most of the damage as Pakistan were bowled out for 211 three balls after tea.

Paterson followed up Bosch’s memorable moment – he is just the 25th bowler to take a wicket with his first ball in Test cricket and the fifth South African – by then snaring wickets in successive overs.

Saim (14) was caught behind after edging an excellent delivery that was typical of Paterson’s effort on Boxing Day: In a great channel just outside off stump and the perfect, slightly fuller length.

Pakistan’s kingpin, Babar Azam, was caught in the slips for just 4 edging a limp, indecisive fiddle outside off-stump, and Bosch then claimed a second wicket as Saud Shakeel (14) gloved an attempted hook to wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne.

Kamran Ghulam and Mohammad Rizwan took Pakistan to 88 for four at lunch, and went on to add 81 for the fifth wicket. But it was Paterson who returned to break the partnership, frustrating Ghulam (54) with his accuracy and drawing a reckless charge down the pitch and wild swipe that was caught at fine leg.

Rizwan (27) had also charged and flailed unsuccessfully at Paterson a couple of times, and a hard-handed drive saw him caught in the slips in the Western Province paceman’s next over.

Salman Agha (18) was also caught trying to slog Paterson, who removed five of the top seven batsmen for career-best figures of 16-4-61-5, his second successive five-wicket haul.

The 35-year-old Paterson has had several critics moaning about his selection for the Test side, but he has not let it get him down.

“I’m drifting nicely into the sunset and I’m happy just to be putting the team in good positions. I will be 36 next year, but I don’t really want to mention my age,” Paterson laughed in the press conference after the close of play.

“If people have something to say about me then they should take it in return too, that’s freedom of speech. The critics provide me with fuel to prove people wrong. But my focus is on putting the team in good positions, it’s not about me.

“I’m probably not a fan favourite because I’m 35 and I bowl at 124km/h. But hopefully after these last two Tests I will get some likes!” Paterson said.

The skilful seamer gave his fellow pacemen Bosch and Rabada likes as well.

“Corbin was in his home conditions and obviously has knowledge of what works here, but to have a debut like that and push for five wickets is a dream come true, it was really quite special.

“KG is special; even against Sri Lanka he had a lot of plays-and-misses. But he keeps on coming, which is good to see, and he doesn’t let it get him down, although that sort of bad luck can be frustrating. But he is a quality bowler,” Paterson said.

Proteas Test coach Shukri Conrad often selects on gut feel and Paterson’s inclusion has been controversial but undoubtedly a success. In his five Tests under Conrad this year, he has taken 20 wickets at a brilliant average of just 21.75.

“I’ve known Shukri for a long time, I played a lot of amateur cricket when he was coaching at Western Province. We had a chat in January and I knew that I would be going to New Zealand. I thought that would probably be two Tests and I was done, but we had a chat and he said he had a plan for me. I knew what I had to do after that, I had to get in better shape and put in the performances at domestic level.

“Hopefully Shukri is now chuffed with his selection,” Paterson said.

In reply, a very good 47 not out by Aiden Markram, stroking nine handsome boundaries off 67 deliveries, took South Africa to 82 for three at stumps.

The pitch may have been unusually slow by SuperSport Park standards, but there was movement off the deck right until the close of play. Tony de Zorzi (2), Ryan Rickelton (8) and Tristan Stubbs (9) all fell to fine deliveries from Khurram Shehzad (twice) and Mohammad Abbas, trapping Stubbs lbw, that seamed a long way.

Not once has South African men’s hockey coach Garreth Ewing suggested that the FIH Hockey Pro League will be anything but daunting, and it will get no easier for his team as their next assignment sees them travel to Argentina to play the 2016 Olympic champions in two Tests on April 23 and 24.

Having hosted a leg of the tournament in Potchefstroom in February, in which they lost all eight matches and conceded 52 goals against Germany, France, India and the Netherlands, South Africa are now well aware of the high standards in the competition.

“It was harder than we expected, I must admit,” Ewing told The Citizen. “But it was really disappointing that it took us a bit long to adjust to the tempo, admittedly against very good sides.

“There was improvement through the tournament though and we were quite disappointed not to get a couple of results in the end.

“Although it was a mentally and physically tough tournament for us, it was a very valuable exercise based on the squad we had, the rotation of players and the opportunities we gave them.

“We also made some tactical progress in terms of the areas of the game without the ball – how you pressurise the ball and utilise space. And there were glimpses of good counter-attack,” Ewing said.

South Africa will be bringing a new-look squad to Argentina, due to the unavailability of some of their players, the bulk of whom are amateurs. But, on the positive side, regular captain Tim Drummond returns, having been absent during the local leg of the Pro League.

“We’ve had selection issues and the unavailability of players is an ongoing challenge. So there will be quite a few changes,” Ewing said.

“Having Tim back will make a big difference, especially in terms of his experience and leadership. We’re playing in Buenos Aires, so we’ll be up against big crowds, which we are not used to over the last couple of years.

“There are still some technical weaknesses we need to sort out, both in attack and defence, in terms of how we hang on to the ball when we have it and the pressure we exert without the ball.

“There was a bit of a lack of continuity due to getting things wrong at just the wrong time. But at times we were really good but just didn’t get good outcomes. We would get to the circle but just not get the ball in the goals,” Ewing said.

The supposed ills of the Central Gauteng Lions team turned out to be hypochondria more than anything else as they surged back to their best with an impressive eight-run win over the powerful KZN Dolphins in the CSA T20 Challenge at St George’s Park on Thursday.

Electing to bat first, the Lions were hyper-aggressive from the outset, but they lost three wickets in the powerplay. Shane Dadswell was the one top-order batsman to stick around for a while, scoring a pugnacious 42 off 28 balls.

But the Lions were in trouble at 113/6 in the 15^th over and they were grateful to Sisanda Magala, who stated his batting credentials in no uncertain fashion with a punishing 37 off 27 deliveries, for getting them to a healthy 156/8.

Jason Smith (3-0-16-3) and Ruan de Swardt (4-0-32-3) did most of the damage for KZN, but off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen was their most testing bowler with 1/26 in his four overs.

Left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin (4-0-16-2) then took two wickets up front to reduce the Dolphins to 26/3, but the KZN side may have been imagining they were still in with a shout when Grant Roelofsen (34 off 26), Khaya Zondo (35) and Smith (39 off 34) were at the crease.

But Magala (4-0-26-2) was then outstanding with the ball at the death, as was Malusi Siboto (4-0-23-2) through the innings, as KZN were restricted to 148/8.

Earlier, the North-West Dragons had ruthlessly slit the throats of the Free State Knights, restricting them to a parlous 94/9.

Spinners Johannes Diseko (4-0-19-2) and Senuran Muthusamy (4-0-8-2) were superb, well-supported by left-arm quick Duan Jansen (4-1-16-1). North-West were also extremely slick in the field, effecting three run outs.

Openers Wesley Marshall (43 off 29) and Heino Kuhn (30* off 20) were then clinical in chasing down the target after 10.1 overs, earning North-West an eight-wicket win and a bonus point.

GQEBERHA, Eastern Cape – If being a professional on the Sunshine Tour since last year has taught Siyanda Mwandla anything, it has apprised him of the fact that he needs to be enjoying himself more while he is trying to make a living playing golf.

Mwandla, who was one of the most exciting amateurs in the country during his days at the Ernie Els Fancourt Foundation, won his tour card last year and finished 137th on the order of merit after playing 10 events.

This year he has built on that experience and is sitting 107^th, having played a dozen tournaments. The last of those, the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series Mount Edgecombe leg, saw the 27-year-old post his best-ever round on tour, a 67 that saw him lying second after the first day. A par of 73s to close saw Mwandla finish in a tie for 38^th, but it is all part of the learning experience.

This week’s Vodacom Origins of Golf Series event at Humewood is another opportunity to take a step forward in his career, with his game definitely trending upwards.

“The way I approach tournaments this year has been the difference. In the past, if I played with friends on a Saturday or on my own, I was happy and excited, but then I would be playing in the Sunshine Tour on the Wednesday and I would be anxious. It felt like two different rounds when it should be the same. I didn’t understand that I was meant to be having fun on the course whatever I was playing.

“I’ve been working with a sports psychologist and no tournament should be bigger in terms of mindset. I need to stay in the moment, in the present, and not get too far ahead of myself. So nowadays I don’t ask for much, I just want to play the final round and make cuts consistently, so I don’t have to think about that,” Mwandla said on Wednesday at Humewood as rain forced him to take a break from preparations for the fourth leg of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series.

His Mount Edgecombe performance was a sign for Mwandla that the swing changes he put in place with coach Emile Steinmann are starting to bed in and he is not expecting any drama around the Humewood links this week, even if the weather, already windy and wet, continues to worsen.

“The swing changes were not all that comfortable at first but we are trying to get more consistency. I stuck with it and two weeks ago I saw some results. I like the Humewood course and I’ve had some nice amateur finishes here. You’ve got to have a bit of luck with the draw because you can be playing 12 holes with no wind and then for the last six you’re suddenly playing into the wind.

“You have to play a lot of knock-down shots here and sometimes you even feel like there’s a wind blowing when it’s not. It’s a thinking course from Hole One and although I’ve been working on getting my ball-flight higher since I moved to Johannesburg, growing up on the KZN North Coast means I subconsciously still have the low shots, I don’t have to even think about it. So I’m very comfortable here,” Mwandla said.