Ken Borland

Our DP World Lions reaped the benefits of having an attack suited to all conditions as spinners Nqaba Peter and Bjorn Fortuin led them to an outstanding victory over the GBets Rocks in their CSA T20 Challenge match over the weekend at Boland Park in Paarl.

The win has lifted the DP World Lions back into second place on the log, ahead of Western Province on nett run-rate.

Leg-spinner Peter claimed a career-best three for 14 in his four overs and slow left-armer Fortuin produced brilliant figures of 4-1-15-2 as they took full advantage of the slow and low conditions of the Rocks’ home ground to restrict them to 116 for eight in their 20 overs.

Having lost the toss, captain Fortuin took the new ball and set the tone, alongside the impressive Wiaan Mulder, for an excellent display in the field, claiming the first two wickets. Proteas Test batsman Keegan Petersen was beautifully beaten by flight and bowled for 7, while Clyde Fortuin tried to hit out and was well-caught at deep extra cover by Reeza Hendricks for 8.

The 22-year-old Peter then showed superb control and some skilful variations as he ripped through the middle-order to leave the Rocks 80 for five in the 14^th over. Adrian du Toit (15) and Michael Copeland (17) were both caught trying to release the pressure, and Aviwe Mgijima (9) was bowled by a superb delivery, with the experts still trying to figure out whether it was a flipper or a slider! What chance did the batsman have?

Seamers Mulder (4-0-26-2) and Evan Jones (3-0-20-1) then closed out the innings extremely well, as the Rocks finished with a run-rate of less than 6.

The #PrideOfJozi then chased down their target of 117 with such ease that it was difficult to believe they were playing on the same pitch, or that the DP World Lions were the away team.

Ryan Rickelton (23 off 30 balls) played with control as he and Hendricks provided a composed start by putting on 47 inside the first nine overs, before Jones came in and showed his power by slamming 43 not out off just 27 balls, including two sixes.

Hendricks also hit a couple of sixes as he finished on 53 not out off 47 deliveries as our Pride completed a nine-wicket hammering with 16 balls to spare.

Our Pride remain in the Western Cape for their next match as they take on Western Province at Newlands on Wednesday, a crucial match-up between second and third on the standings.

Our DP World Lions may have only gone down by two runs in their CSA T20 Challenge match against the Dafabet Warriors, but coach Russell Domingo says the team are well aware that it was not the type of performance the Pride are looking for and they will need to be back at their best on Sunday when they take on the GBets Rocks at Boland Park.

Although the match at the DP World Wanderers Stadium against the Eastern Province side went down to the last ball, the Lions have readily admitted they did not play well, a messy performance in the field being the main cause of their defeat.

“We didn’t deserve to win and the Warriors thoroughly deserved their triumph,” DP World Lions coach Russell Domingo said. “Our fielding was really poor, we were far too sloppy and we also had a poor start with the ball and bowled too many soft balls throughout.

“Intensity and more focus in the field is really important. These days players are not just batsmen or bowlers, if you want to play international cricket then you have to offer more than one discipline. We have so many good players, but we’re not going to get by with average fielding.

“With the bat, we really needed someone to score eighty-odd and bat through; the only reason we got so close was thanks to Wiaan Mulder hitting some boundaries at the end.

“But we are only halfway through the competition, there are still seven matches to play, so there’s a lot of cricket left for us to get back up the log. Rather have that sort of performance now than at the end of the tournament,” Domingo said.

Their next opponents, the Rocks, are obviously not going to be lacking any intensity or motivation because they are in the midst of a relegation battle. Our #PrideOfJozi will also be leaving the comforts of home for the late-summer heat of the Boland valley.

“The Rocks had a good win over the Dolphins, who beat us, and we know they are going to be up for it, so it’s not going to be an easy game,” Domingo said.

“Late in the season up on the Highveld, there’s a bit of a chill in the evenings and the pitches are maybe not as hard as previously, so there is a bit of movement. The scores are not as high now and it is tricky for the batters.

“But I expect it to be drier and slower in Paarl, it could spin a bit and spinners will come into the game more. A good total could be around 150-160, and chasing might be difficult because we are playing the second match of a double-header on the same pitch,” Domingo said.

The Proteas have every reason to be like an excited puppy bouncing around after winning the first ODI against India – making it three wins in a row over the superpowers of cricket – but key bowler Tabraiz Shamsi says they have to forget about what has gone before and approach Friday’s second ODI at Boland Park as the start of a new series.

If South Africa do win on Friday then they have clinched the three-match series 2-0 even before they go to Newlands over the weekend. Following the heroics in the Test series, the 31-run win in the first ODI was an impressive way to add to the feel-good factor and keep the momentum going.

“It was a very nice way to start the series, beating one of the strongest teams in the world, which shows we are also one of the strongest teams,” Shamsi said on Thursday. “But it’s about focusing on the next game now.

“We will go into it with much the same plan. We have made a great start but we need to forget about that game now and play the second match like it’s the first game of the series.

“Hopefully we can go 2-0 up and close off the series. But we are both very competitive teams,” Shamsi said.

The highlight of the first ODI was the incredible 204-run partnership between Temba Bavuma (110) and Rassie van der Dussen (129*), the pair coming together in the 18^th over with South Africa in trouble on 68/3.

But the way they handled the dual spin menace of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal showed the massive improvements in playing spin that are evident in the Proteas batting line-up. That will hold them in good stead in the second ODI, which is also being played in Paarl.

“It was a very slow pitch and there was some assistance for the spinners,” Shamsi said. “It was more of a subcontinental wicket than a South African one, which makes it even sweeter to outplay them.

“It was a massive statement the way Temba and Rassie batted. It was a tough situation when they came in, but the way they counter-punched and took the initiative away from India was incredible.

“Especially the way they played spin in helpful conditions, it shows that there has been a lot of growth in our team,” Shamsi said.

For Rassie van der Dussen, every innings is a new instalment of his career, a new situation to adapt to, and he did it to perfection at Boland Park in Paarl on Wednesday as his unbeaten century led South Africa to an impressive 31-run win over India in the first ODI.

Van der Dussen came to the crease in the 18^th over when the Proteas were struggling on 68/3. Together with his captain Temba Bavuma, who was busy getting himself in and would go big in scoring a brilliant century of his own, they added a magnificent 204 off just 190 deliveries, the best ever fourth-wicket stand for South Africa against India.

Van der Dussen’s commanding 129 not out off just 96 balls means he has now scored 1178 runs in his 30 ODIs at an extraordinary average of 73.62. What marked this innings out was how fluently he played right from the start of his innings, on a slow and tricky pitch that made scoring difficult.

“The pitch was taking a bit of turn and I knew I would have to go to my sweeps and reverse-sweeps fairly early,” Van der Dussen said after his career-best ODI score. “If I let the spinners settle on a slow pitch then it would not be easy to go down the ground.

“I tried to put the pressure back on them, and Temba and I were constantly reminding each other to keep the intensity high. Always as a batsman, especially in the middle-order, I try and read the situation.

“I’m trying to make a good score that will win the match, I have no other reference. I appreciate it may look like something else for those outside. Today I knew that if I allowed the spinners to settle then they would get into a good rhythm and it would be very difficult to win.

“So I tried to reverse the pressure with low-risk boundary options. You have to be able to go to those skills whether it’s your first ball or 100^th ball,” Van der Dussen said.

South African teams have historically struggled against the turning ball and both Indian spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal, have prospered against them in the past. But the way Van der Dussen and Bavuma played them on Wednesday suggests all is okay now on that front.

“Conditions in Paarl generally suit the spinners because there’s not a lot of pace,” Van der Dussen added. “But the way we’ve upskilled ourselves has allowed us to use these game-plans against spin.

“It started in the West Indies last year and then in Sri Lanka, while we knew spin would play a big role at the T20 World Cup. So it’s been a process that has been going on for more than a year.

“In the past we came short against spin, but we identified it as a weakness and credit to Mark Boucher and Justin Sammons [batting consultant] for giving us the skills to apply out there and execute in the middle,” Van der Dussen said.