Ken Borland

DULLSTROOM (Mpumalanga) – The experienced Louis de Jager has fired rounds of 65 and 67 for 12-under-par in the Vodacom Origins of Golf Highland Gate Mpumalanga event, but he has no more than a one-shot lead after the second round on Saturday.

That’s because fellow veteran Jean Hugo, who has played in more than 450 Sunshine Tour events, has gone 66-67 for a score of 11-under-par heading into the final round.

Kyle de Beer, the leading rookie on tour this season, is one stroke further back on 10-under after shooting a 70 on Saturday, contending strongly in just his 25^th Sunshine Tour event.

De Jager started his round on the 10^th and took a while to really find his range, but birdies on the par-four 16^th and par-five 18^th gave him a boost. His front nine was even better, even though he bogeyed the par-four first hole.

The 37-year-old birdied the par-three third hole and also picked up birdie threes on the sixth and ninth holes, but perhaps his best hole was the par-five fifth, which is more than 600 yards long and plays into the wind, but De Jager eagled it on Saturday.

It will not be an easy night’s sleep though for De Jager going into the final round of the R2 million event because there is a surfeit of quality within four shots of the lead.

Apart from Hugo and De Beer, Luke Brown is enjoying a very solid tournament and is on nine-under-par after rounds of 67 and 68. Jacques Blaauw is enjoying a top-class season, leading the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy, and is tied for fifth on eight-under after notching a two-under-par 70 on Saturday.

Martin Rohwer, a three-time winner on the Sunshine Tour, and Nikhil Rama, a GolfRSA product who is a rising star in the senior ranks, are also on eight-under.

A trio of Sunshine Ladies Tour golfers made the cut, with Danielle du Toit (69) and Gabrielle Venter (72) tied for 35^th on one-under-par, and Lora Assad tied for 47^th on level-par.

October has not been a great month for Proteas captain Temba Bavuma as he has scored just 11 runs in three innings and has been battling with illness. But he has to now lead by example and not only score brisk runs up front but also steer his team through a massive last week of the month in which they play Zimbabwe on Monday, followed by Bangladesh (Thursday) and India (Sunday).

Bavuma has been knocked over in the first powerplay in five of his seven T20 Internationals this year, so there will be plenty on his mind as he opens the batting in what could well be seamer-friendly conditions in Hobart on Monday. He admitted that there are a few “conversations in his head”, but one thing we do know about Bavuma is that he is a tremendously tenacious character and he will be fighting hard at the Bellerive Oval.

“I feel good, I’ve gotten over that sickness in India and I’ve had a couple of net sessions,” Bavuma said on Sunday. “The pressure is not unique to me, all international players have to deal with it.

“Yes, as captain, it is a lot more blown up, all eyes are on you and there’s a lot more critique of your performance and how you lead. It comes with the responsibility, and I won’t shy away from it.

“I will face up to it as honourably and with as much gratitude as I can. I’m aware of the conversations in my head regarding my game and how I’m going to lead.

“But I’m not aware of any outside conversations, those are not discussed within the team. Our focus is on knowing what we want to do and how to do it, anything else is for other ears.” The only selection issues then, with the dominating Reeza Hendricks out in the cold, will be whether South Africa play two spinners or one, and whether their all-rounder will be Wayne Parnell or Marco Jansen.

The Proteas, ranked fourth in T20s to Zimbabwe’s 11^th and Bangladesh’s ninth, will go into their first two World Cup matches as favourites. They learned from last year’s event, in which they lost just one match but were edged out of the semi-finals on nett run-rate, that once they get the upperhand, there can be no hesitation in ruthlessly going for the jugular.

“Our biggest takeway from the previous World Cup was that every game matters, you have to perform as well as you can in every match, and make sure you keep the pulse of the run-rate,” Bavuma admitted.

“If you have the opportunity to win really well then you have to make sure you take it. We’ll be looking to execute as well as we can against Zimbabwe. There’s no time to ease into the tournament, it is so important to start well.

“It’s going to be challenging up front against the new ball, with the bowlers targeting off-stump. We have to be circumspect but obviously with the right intensity to put pressure on the bowlers,” Bavuma said.