Ken Borland

The Proteas will head to the World Cup with their tails up after they completed a brilliant come-from-behind series win over Australia on Sunday, their 122-run victory in the fifth ODI at the Wanderers being their third on the trot.

Chasing 316 for victory, Australia had their customary fast start as they reached 124 for two in the 20^th over, but they then faded away amidst the fall of regular wickets, one of the World Cup favourites slipping to 193 all out before another 15 overs were bowled, thereby surrendering a five-match series they led 2-0.

Marco Jansen was the destroyer-in-chief, revelling in the pace and bounce available at the Wanderers to claim a career-best five for 39 in eight overs. Twelve of those runs technically came off one delivery as he bowled successive no-balls and was hit for a four and a six by Mitchell Marsh. The Australian captain was the main threat in the chase, striking some mighty blows as he powered to 71 off 56 deliveries.

The beanpole left-hander took the first five wickets to fall and is only the second South African to achieve this feat in ODIs. The great all-rounder Shaun Pollock did it twice, also at the Wanderers, against England in 2000 and Pakistan in 2007*.

And then the classy left-arm spin of Keshav Maharaj was too much for the tail as he took four for 33 in 9.1 overs, also a career-best.

Jansen also answered one of the troubling questions surrounding this South African side: Do they have a proper all-rounder to fill the key number seven slot?

The 23-year-old showed his batting ability as he smacked an almost arrogant 47 off just 23 balls, also his highest score in ODIs. He came in with the innings at a crossroads on 212 for five in the 42^nd over, Aiden Markram having just fallen for an elegant, high-quality 93 off just 87 balls.

It had been tough going up front for the home team after they were sent in to bat on a tacky pitch which allowed the ball to do a lot. They had been reduced to 103 for four in the 24^th over, but the calm and experienced heads of Markram and David Miller (63 off 65 balls) put them back on an even keel and the Proteas then dominated the tailend of the innings.

Another all-rounder, Andile Phehlukwayo, also took the chance to shine although he is not in South Africa’s World Cup squad. At least not yet as injuries to Sisanda Magala and Anrich Nortje could see him get a late call-up. He was playing on Sunday due to Kagiso Rabada resting a sore ankle.

Phehlukwayo finished the innings in sensational fashion, blasting 39 not out off just 19 balls, with four sixes. The left-hander plundered 24 off the last over bowled by Michael Neser to lift the Proteas to an above-par score. They really should have been 292 all out but Australia messed up a golden opportunity to run out last man Lungi Ngidi at the bowler’s end as Phehlukwayo came back for two in the final over.

Coach Rob Walter was measured in his delight, refusing to entertain thoughts that Australia have been sent from these shores with their tails between their legs, but chuffed by how the Proteas bounced back from their five-match losing run including the T20s.

“It’s easy to get caught up in the emotion either side of winning and losing, but it’s important to stay level and understand where we are as a team and what we are working towards.

“The best thing about the series win was that we won in different ways: In Potchefstroom we won through spin, at Centurion through pace and today was an all-round performance. We have progressed and improved in all departments and we’re closer to playing good cricket than we were when we started.

“I would be very careful though to read too much into beating Australia and what it means for the World Cup. Conditions might be very different in India, even though we have won with both pace and spin, and their team will change considerably.

“You’re going to have Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc coming at you and they’ll have a couple of other batsmen too. Plus Australia know how to play at a World Cup,” Walter said.

Before the series, South Africa faced questions over the number seven spot and a potentially long tail when they are batting. Jansen averaged 33.50 in the series and scored at a strike-rate of 125.23 – you can’t ask for much more in that position.

“Marco has such huge potential and we saw a bit of that today in the way he contributed with both bat and ball. But he has so much more in the tank, he’s not even close to his ceiling and I’ll be pushing him to achieve that.

“Andile is part of our broader squad and he showed with the bat how capable he is, that innings was highly influential in the match because chasing 270 is very different to 315. He played a massive role today and got an important wicket. It’s great to see him come in and contribute,” Walter said.

The man of the match plaudit, however, belonged to Jansen. The amiable Potchefstroom product confirmed that he just loves to bat; bowling is more like a job for him.

“My main focus is with the ball and taking wickets is expected of me, that’s my primary role. But I’m happier batting, I enjoy that a lot more, I like batting a lot, so I enjoy the hard work I’ve put into it,” Jansen smiled.

“I’ve improved my options a lot. When I started playing for the Proteas, certain shots were my go-to, like against a spinner I would slog-sweep over cow-corner. Now I feel I can play more off the back foot, I can manoeuvre in the crease. And I’m not just trying to plant my foot and hit every ball for six over cow, I can get the other batsman on strike, I can rotate.

“It’s a bit more responsibility as an all-rounder, but it’s important to go out and enjoy it. Luckily I really enjoy batting and just go out and try and express myself. Bowling feels more like my day job.”

Jansen took both his proper job and his ‘hobby’ to new levels on Sunday and he will go to the World Cup as one of several question marks that have been answered for the Proteas.

They will board a plane to India on Saturday, with both Nortje and Magala having to bowl in the nets in the coming days to prove they are pain-free and able to participate in the World Cup.

*Stats kindly supplied by CSA official statistician Andrew Samson.

CAPE ST FRANCIS, Eastern Cape – Golf can be a terribly cruel game at times and while leader Ockie Strydom was busy racking up a quadruple-bogey eight at the par-four 11^th hole, Ruan Korb was putting the finishing touches to his brilliant round of 63 by sinking yet another birdie putt on the final hole of the Vodacom Origins of Golf St Francis Links tournament on Saturday.

Korb’s third successive birdie, to go with two-in-a-row on the 12^th and 13^th holes, saw him go an astonishing nine-under-par in the final round, leaving him on 13-under-par for the tournament.

Strydom had been on 15-under before the awful shock of his snowman on the 11^th, and although he did well to not totally disintegrate, he could only par his way through to the close, settling for a level-par 72 after being four-under at the turn.

That left the 37-year-old in second place on 11-under, two behind Korb. Scottish veteran Doug McGuigan also challenged for the title, but bogeyed the last two holes when pushing for birdies to tie Korb, the 52-year-old closing with a 71 that left him on nine-under and in third place for the tournament.

The 28-year-old Korb admitted that it was just one of those idyllic days when every putt he looked at, he seemed to sink.

“I really enjoyed myself out there today, the weather was better and my putting was definitely the main reason for my win, every putt just seemed to find the bottom of the cup,” Korb said.

“My putting was certainly much better than when I finished second in the SunBet Challenge Time Square in August.”

The Silver Lakes golfer, who had begun the final round seven shots off the pace, had picked up decent momentum on the front nine with three birdies and a bogey in his first four holes, but he really began pushing for the title with a brilliant run that saw him eagle the par-five sixth and then pick up shots at the next two holes.

He was now 10-under for the tournament and in striking distance, but his charge was reversed as he had a 15-minute delay at the ninth tee while the group in front searched for balls. Korb lost concentration and bogeyed both nine and 10.

“I said before the round that if I could get to 14-under then I would have a chance, but waiting on the ninth was a bit of a momentum-breaker,” Korb said.

“But after those two bogeys I just tried to get calm and said to my caddie that we have to do something now otherwise the win is going to get away from us.”

Knowing he had to be positive, Korb birdied both the par-four 12^th and the par-five 13^th into the westerly wind, and then, with holes 16 and 17 heading in the opposite direction, he took advantage with two more birdies.

The three on the par-four 18^th was the icing on the cake for his second Sunshine Tour victory, his first coming at the Time Square Casino Challenge at Wingate Park Country Club in 2020.

“It’s a big confidence-booster to win at this time of year, with the big summer events coming up,” Korb said.

Lifelong Bulls fans will have seen some brilliant backlines in their lives, but not many will be more exciting than the unit coach Jake White announced on Thursday for their United Rugby Championship match against Connacht at Loftus Versfeld on Friday.

Five Springboks, four of them who are part of the national team’s current plans, have been named. New sensations Kurt-Lee Arendse (fullback) and Canan Moodie (right wing) will have a slightly more experienced international in Sbu Nkosi for company in a class back three.

Johan Goosen, who was eased back into action last weekend at fullback, returns as the starting flyhalf for the first time since injuring his knee 11 months ago, and there will be great interest in how he performs given how other experienced No.10s in the country seem to be falling by the wayside.

And then to round it all off, there is the veteran, evergreen Cornal Hendricks at outside centre. And two other backline Springboks on the bench in scrumhalf Embrose Papier and utility back Lionel Mapoe.

Even White called it “an incredible backline we’ve been able to put together”.

“But it’s their first time together as a combination and I look forward to seeing how quick it is before they click. They are all very talented.

“They all like to keep ball in hand, and in training we see so many line-breaks and so many supporting lines. So hopefully we can keep ball-in-hand on Friday evening.

“But rugby is also about clever kicking and they are all very clever rugby players. A guy like Canan can play 100 Tests for South Africa and people are now seeing what I see in him.

“And then you have a guy like David Kriel at inside centre who sums up what we’re about at the Bulls – you need to be adaptable. He brings incredible work ethic and unbelievable skills and rugby intelligence,” White said.

Although there has been a gorge between Connacht’s score and that of their opponents in their first two URC matches – Ulster beating them 36-10 and the Stormers 38-15 – White says they are a team that stays in the game.

“Connacht never go away and in both matches, with 20 minutes left the result could have gone either team’s way. So we must not think that it’s going to just happen for us.

“They beat us 34-7 last season, which was the biggest score against us. So we know we must play well otherwise we’ll get another hiding.

“They are very direct and well-coached, a typical Irish team that fights till the end. They’re good with the ball and defensively. They were not easy games for either the Stormers or Ulster.

“Connacht play a style of rugby that is very difficult to contain. Against the Stormers they were still in the game until they lost Bundee Aki to a red card, they were just one score away,” White said.

Bulls team: Kurt-Lee Arendse; Canan Moodie; Cornal Hendricks; David Kriel; Sbu Nkosi; Johan Goosen; Zak Burger; Elrigh Louw; Marco van Staden; Marcel Coetzee; Ruan Nortje; Walt Steenkamp; Francois Klopper; Johan Grobbelaar; Gerhard Steenekamp. Substitutes – Jan-Hendrik Wessels; Simphiwe Matanzima; Mornay Smith; Janko Swanepoel; Reinhardt Ludwig; Embrose Papier; Chris Smith; Lionel Mapoe.

Kickoff: 6.30pm.

South Africa rushed to victory by an innings and 12 runs as their combination of brilliant fast bowling and the beguiling spin of Keshav Maharaj saw England bundled out for 149, 20 minutes before tea on the third day at Lord’s on Friday.

England began their second innings an hour before lunch, trailing by 161 runs, and a brutal wake-up call for Brendon McCullum’s team was completed in 37.4 overs.

The innings will be remembered for the blistering fast bowling of Anrich Nortje, who ripped through the middle-order with three wickets in two overs. The quick-scoring Jonny Bairstow was a key dismissal, caught behind for 18, edging a beautiful delivery that was angled in and nipped away just outside off-stump.

Nortje then had dogged opener Alex Lees (35 off 83 balls) and Ben Foakes also caught by tidy wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne in his next over.

But it was Maharaj who began the rout with two wickets before lunch.

Captain Dean Elgar’s decision to bring the spinner into the attack after just seven overs, even though new-ball bowlers Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada looked likely to take a wicket imminently, will be considered a masterstroke as Maharaj trapped both Zak Crawley (13) and Ollie Pope (5) lbw.

Ngidi has bowled beautifully in this Test match with scant reward, but he will be delighted that his one wicket was a major one as he had Joe Root caught in the slips for just 6. It will be a long time since Root has managed just 14 runs in a Test.

Rabada returned to claim the wickets of Stuart Broad (35) and Ben Stokes (20) and Marco Jansen wrapped up the thumping win with a couple of wickets as well.

But it was Nortje who most rattled England with some of the fastest bowling seen in the UK for many years. It must be remembered too how well he batted on Friday morning, scoring 28 not out, a fighting innings that saw him unleash some memorable strokes.

The lower-order produced crucial runs to bump up South Africa’s lead after Stokes had inspired a collapse to 210 for six on the second evening. But Jansen and Maharaj (41) turned the momentum by adding 72 runs in 12-and-a-half overs and Jansen, with Nortje’s help, scored a career-best 48 to lift the Proteas to 326 all out.