Ken Borland

Daryn Dupavillon called it “incredible” while the religious might even have said it was miraculous as Marques Ackerman’s last-ditch boundaries earned the Pretoria Capitals a bonus point win over the Sunrisers Eastern Cape on a pitch which had many batsmen praying for help in their SA20 match at Centurion on Tuesday.

Sunrisers needed all the help they could get as they lost the toss and were sent in to bat on a damp pitch, understandably so after all the rain that has fallen in Gauteng in the last month. Their confidence-lacking batting line-up did not help themselves either though, and they crashed to 26 for five.

It was only thanks to a determined but fiery 51 off 35 balls by Marco Jansen that they managed to post 113 all out, their second-lowest total ever and also the second-lowest at Centurion.

Will Jacks (27 off 23) gave Pretoria Capitals a confident start to their chase, but the loss of Kyle Verreynne (12) off the last ball of the powerplay saw them slip from 44 for one to 61 for four. Mindful of how they had messed up a run-a-ball chase in Kingsmead in their opening game, the home side went into crisis mode.

Liam Livingstone (14* off 14 balls) and Ackerman successfully completed their first job, which was to ensure victory was in the bag. But a crucial, and very attainable bonus point, seemed to have passed them by when they needed 32 runs off 18 balls for the bonus point.

They then went into attack mode but struggled to make much headway on the two-paced pitch against tight, determined bowling that still asked plenty of questions. They came to the 16^th over needing 15 from it for the bonus point.

Ackerman managed to swot Marco Jansen’s second delivery over long-on for a flat six, but two dot balls followed, meaning the left-hander needed to score nine off the last two balls for that crucial extra point.

First he flicked the left-arm quick off the stumps, behind square on the leg-side for four, before swinging the last ball clean-as-a-whistle over long-on for six. In just his second SA20 innings, and his first since 2023, Ackerman finished on a tenacious, highly impressive 39 not out off 30 balls.

“It was a tricky pitch, you couldn’t just walk in and start hitting, you had to spend some time getting the pace of the wicket. When we lost a few wickets, I was just thinking of us getting the win,” Dupavillon said after the victory by six wickets with 24 balls to spare.

“We played the situation badly in Durban, but Liam and Marques really did what was required today. They hit the ball on the ground initially and we were always ahead of the rate because of Will going hard at the front. But Marques was incredible at the end there.”

While SA20 matches at Centurion are usually a festival of runs, Tuesday was very different. At the start of the game, the ball was ‘sticking’ but there was still some steep bounce, as well as swing and a little bit of movement off the deck.

Dupavillon and new-ball partner Eathan Bosch used the conditions perfectly, with Dupavillion taking three for 32 and Bosch two for 18.

Bosch had Zak Crawley (1) caught at mid-off off the last delivery of the first over, unwisely trying to hit a back-of-a-length ball over the top. Dupavillon then struck with his second and third deliveries as David Bedingham (2) edged a nurdle outside off-stump and Aiden Markram jabbed his first ball to deep backward square-leg.

For a team that has lost their first two games, crashing to four for three was always going to be a very difficult hole to climb out of. Jansen’s excellent innings, featuring four fours and three sixes, meant they weren’t totally embarrassed, but Migael Pretorius (4-1-21-1), Jimmy Neesham (3.4-0-11-2) and Senuran Muthusamy (4-0-29-2) all provided fine support to the new-ball bowlers.

The back-to-back defending champions, having lost three matches in a row now, need to urgently arrest their slide otherwise they will be praying for a miracle of their own.

“We need to find our blueprint soon because we haven’t played well in our last three games. You need to make your own luck and we need to do the basics better. Fortunately there are still seven games to go and we know we are in for the long run.

“We haven’t started well before but have managed to find a way. But we are running out of time to make a play,” assistant coach Russell Domingo said.

Having performed brilliantly for a bonus point win over the Warriors in Gqeberha, a home semi-final now beckons for the DP World Lions men’s team if they can beat the Momentum Multiply Titans in their CSA T20 Challenge match in Centurion on Friday.

Our Pride were superb in hammering the Warriors by 43 runs at St George’s Park on Wednesday night, the bonus point seeing them overtake the long-time log-leaders at the top of the standings. The DP World Lions now have 40 points from their nine wins in 12 matches, one point ahead of the Eastern Province side.

Victory at SuperSport Park on Friday night will take the #PrideOfJozi to at least 44 points, which means whatever the other results in the last two rounds of fixtures, the DP World Lions will be guaranteed to finish in the top two of the CSA T20 Challenge. They finish off the round-robin campaign against the Tuskers in Johannesburg on Sunday.

Sent in to bat in conditions that were not easy for strokeplay, the DP World Lions did well to cobble together a total of 152 for nine against the Warriors. Opener Ryan Rickelton led the way with his determined, well-judged 52 off 38 balls. His fourth half-century of the campaign was enough for him to become the leading run-scorer in the competition with 378 in 10 innings for an average of 47.25, at an excellent strike-rate of 144.82.

Rickelton was well-supported by fellow opener Reeza Hendricks, who stroked 31 off 23 balls as they gave the DP World Lions an excellent start by putting on 58 in the powerplay.

Rassie van der Dussen, with a run-a-ball 17, then added 40 for the second wicket with Rickelton in five-and-a-half overs, but wickets then fell in the 12^th, 13^th and 15^th overs as our Pride slipped to 106 for four.

Two more wickets then fell in the 17^th over, another in the 19^th and then the DP World Lions lost both Evan Jones and Nqaba Peter to the last two balls of the innings.

But in between that clatter of wickets, you have to give credit to the batsmen for still keeping the scoreboard ticking over on a very dry, slow pitch.

Jones led the way with his 12 off just nine deliveries, but Mitchell van Buuren, Bjorn Fortuin and Lutho Sipamla all collected important boundaries in the closing overs and scored at at least a run-a-ball.

Sipamla was hit for a four and a six off successive deliveries by Warriors captain Matthew Breetzke, but then struck back by having the young dasher caught at mid-off, and wonderful spinner Fortuin (4-0-12-1) then deceived Andile Mogakane and sharp work by Rickelton behind the wicket saw him stumped for a duck as the Pride made a good start with the ball.

Mulder then showed why we are so fortunate to have an all-rounder of his quality in the team as he came on and made two hammer blows in his first two overs, trapping Jiveshan Pillay lbw and then taking a caught-and-bowled to dismiss Jordan Hermann.

With Jones chipping in with the wicket of Sinethemba Qeshile, we were in firm control with the Warriors 36 for five. Spinner Junaid Dawood (4-0-33-1) also contributed by bowling Patrick Kruger with his slider, while Jones (3.1-0-17-2) also dismissed the dangerous Beyers Swanepoel, Mulder taking a fantastic running catch in the outfield.

Mulder then returned and also claimed the wickets of Liam Alder, a former Lions player, and Siya Simetu to finish with magnificent career-best figures of four for 14 in his four overs.

The Warriors’ last wicket also fell to a run out, thanks to good work by Van Buuren, as they were dismissed for 109 in the final over.

The Springboks are still on track to win the Rugby Championship following a bonus point win over Argentina in Buenos Aires.

They are now level on points (14) with New Zealand ahead of their final fixture, again versus Argentina, but this time in Durban next Saturday.

So the Springboks need to better whatever the All Blacks result is against the Wallabies, while they also have a 13-point deficit in points difference to make up.

As impressive as their composure and finishing was in Buenos Aires, these are the work-ons the Springboks need to focus on ahead of the Kings Park decider.

Not allowing themselves to be trapped on the back foot

The Springboks were so dominant both in terms of territory and possession in the first half that it was a major surprise when the momentum shifted so thoroughly in the third quarter, which the visitors spent mostly on defence.

Argentina undoubtedly raised their intensity in a last-ditch effort to stay in contention for their maiden Sanzar title, and a passionate crowd added to the sense of mania, but the Springboks contributed to their torrid time by perhaps relying too much on the 22-6 lead they had built up in the first half.

These dips in intensity from the Springboks have been a feature of their campaign, and captain Siya Kolisi was quite right when he said they will need an 80-minute performance of high intensity in Durban if they are to get their hands on the trophy.

Wednesday is flyhalf D-Day

With Damian Willemse almost certainly concussed and unavailable for the decider, we will know on Wednesday how coach Jacques Nienaber is going to solve his flyhalf conundrum, with Handre Pollard injured and Elton Jantjies out of the public eye after his out-of-wedlock activities.

The only real options remaining in the squad are Willie le Roux and Francois Steyn.

Le Roux has great attacking instincts, his timing of passes being superb, while Steyn is a powerful presence in defence, carrying the ball and with the boot. Whoever is chosen needs to wed those strengths with the game-management demands of the game, which will be intricate depending on what the Springboks have to do to overhaul the All Blacks.

Don’t let ill-discipline end in tears

While the Springboks covered themselves in glory by showing great composure and character to weather a massive storm and seal victory after Argentina had pulled to within two points, they can still improve on their discipline.

They conceded two yellow cards and 16 penalties, and were it not for poor finishing by the Pumas, they would have been punished for it. If Argentina are as abrasive again but more clinical in Durban, then South Africa will need to show incredible composure.

Missed tackles feed the momentum

While the Springboks scrambled well in Buenos Aires, they missed 22 tackles, which just feeds the momentum of a team like the Pumas, who rely so much on emotion and are dangerous when allowed to attack on the front foot.

It is a concentration thing more than anything.

The Bulls will be targeting a bonus point win in Swansea on Friday night to give themselves the best chance of a home quarterfinal in the United Rugby Championship, but they will have to overcome an Ospreys side that has a strong territorial kicking game and a powerful pack of forwards to do that, and potentially rainy weather as well.

Ospreys will also be just as desperate to win as the Bulls, because defeat could cost them a place in the lucrative European Champions Cup as the winners of the Welsh Shield.

But while people tend to think of blazing counter-attacking backs as the ones to win a bonus point, White said it will take a complete team effort to secure the spoils in Swansea, starting up front.

“We’ve got to give everything to try and get a bonus point because even if we win, we could still finish sixth or seventh with just four log points,” White said on Thursday.

“People always look at players like Canan Moodie and Madosh Tambwe when it comes to x-factor and bonus points, but guys like Elrigh Louw and Cyle Brink, if someone puts them away in space or there is interplay between them, can also win the game for you.

“Jan-Hendrik Wessels or Embrose Papier coming off the bench can also do it. We need to find the ability to win in different ways.

“X-factor does not necessarily mean a sidestep and running 50 metres to score, it means finding a way to win. It’s about your combination as a group.

“Ospreys kick a lot, close to the most in URC, a lot of high balls and up-and-unders from the lineout. But David Kriel is a good high-ball catcher and he played very well against the Lions in the Currie Cup last weekend,” White said of the player he has brought in at wing to support Moodie at fullback.

But teams who win with a bonus point almost always start with dominance up front, and White warned the Bulls were coming up against a formidable pack.

“Eleven of the 33 players who will be touring South Africa in July come from Ospreys and seven of the forwards are playing for Wales. So we’re under no illusions that it’s going to be easy.

“Ospreys could have had more players picked too because there’s an outcry that eighthman Jac Morgan wasn’t chosen and people in Wales are saying Rhys Webb is the form scrumhalf.

“It’s easy to say ‘get a bonus point’, but both Ospreys locks are British Lions, Alun-Wyn Jones is one of the greatest Wales locks ever. It’s going to be a challenge for the whole pack.

“Then there’s the experience of George North at outside centre and Justin Tipuric. And Ospreys have a lot on the game as well. They may be ninth but they’ve won their last couple of games to come from nowhere,” White warned.

Bulls team: Canan Moodie, David Kriel, Cornal Hendricks, Harold Vorster, Madosh Tambwe, Chris Smith, Zak Burger; Elrigh Louw, Cyle Brink, Marcell Coetzee (CAPT), Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Mornay Smith, Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp. IMPACT– Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Simphiwe Matanzima, Robert Hunt, Janko Swanepoel, Arno Botha; Embrose Papier, Juan Mostert, Stedman Gans.