Ken Borland

If the main thing is winning then Proteas fans should be delighted to see Simon Harmer back in the Test squad for the tour to New Zealand. Paul Harris, South Africa’s leading spinner when they were last ranked No.1 in the longest format, is certainly very happy to see the Essex off-spinner back in the national team’s ranks.

The returns of Harmer and paceman Lutho Sipamla are the two changes to the squad that did such fine duty against India, with George Linde unavailable due to his wedding and Sisanda Magala giving way to his Central Gauteng Lions team-mate.

The 32-year-old Harmer has played five Tests, the last of which was against India in Nagpur in November 2015. The following year he signed a Kolpak deal with Essex and in the last five years has been the most prolific wicket-taker in first-class cricket anywhere in the world – with 443 wickets at an average of just 22.77. Playing for Northerns, he is the second-highest wicket-taker in the four-day competition behind Duanne Olivier (28), with 27 at 21.40.

“It’s amazing what Harmer has achieved and he deserves his recall,” Harris told The Citizen on Wednesday. “He’ll obviously be coming in with huge confidence because he has taken so many wickets.

“England would have selected him ages ago if they could have. But we might play two spinners and Simon balances it nicely – an offie joining a left-armer.

“He’ll be a great back-up. Keshav Maharaj is our main spinner, but to have Harmer pushing him, putting pressure on him, will be good.

“It’s a great selection and, as much as we enjoy criticising the selectors, we have to give them credit here. It’s a really good squad,” Harris said.

The Proteas leave for New Zealand next week and, due to Covid fears, the second Test has been moved from Wellington to Christchurch, where the first Test from February 17 will be played.

Hagley Oval was the venue where earlier this month the Black Caps snuffed out, via an innings victory, Bangladesh’s hopes of an historic series win in New Zealand following their shock victory at Mount Maunganui.

“We’ve seen lately that there have generally been good pitches there,” Harris said. “There will be a bit in it for the seamers, so it would have been nice to have Anrich Nortje fit.

“But sometimes they can be a bit slow and then the spinners come into it. So you just need to hang in there, hit the deck hard and there may be a bit of turn later. It should be a cracking series!” Harris added.

Proteas Test squad vs New Zealand – Dean Elgar (captain), Sarel Erwee, Aiden Markram, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma (vice-captain), Kyle Verreynne, Ryan Rickelton, Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, Simon Harmer, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Duanne Olivier, Glenton Stuurman, Lutho Sipamla.

It may no longer be a co-sanctioned event, but the allure of playing the SA Open at Gary Player Country Club and having a shot at hoisting that famous and imposing multi-tiered trophy certainly brought out the best of Neil Schietekat on the first day at Sun City on Thursday.

Schietekat fired a marvellous seven-under-par 65 to join Oliver Bekker at the top of the leaderboard and afterwards pronounced his love for the famous Gary Player-designed course, where he won the SunBet Challenge in 2018.

“In my opinion this is the best course in the country and it helps that I’ve won here before,” Schietekat said after collecting six birdies and an eagle. “Obviously I’m going to lean towards this course, but I do love it and I played it today the same way as when I won in 2018.

“When they moved the SA Open here last year, I thought that maybe gave me a better chance of winning it. There’s still a long way to go, but I hit some good shots today on a course that was quite soft.

“It no longer being co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour is another story, but everyone here still wants to win it. It’s still our national open and it’s still the same trophy that you’ll hoist if you do win,” Schietekat said.

Bekker went out early on Thursday morning and made a fast start from the 10^th hole with three successive birdies. The seven-time Sunshine Tour winner was out in 32 and then eagled the first as he came home in 33. Schietekat admitted he felt a bit of pressure chasing the score set by Bekker.

“The scores were pretty good in the morning and I was one-over through four holes, so you put a bit of pressure on yourself,” the 37-year-old from Harrismith said.

But he finally caught him with a run of three successive birdies from the fourth hole, having eagled the par-five first as he spun a pitch-shot back into the hole despite “cursing” himself for finding the fairway bunker from the tee.

Having enjoyed a fine season which includes eight top-10 finishes in 16 events, Schietekat looks well-equipped to win again at the Gary Player Country Club.

But European Tour campaigner Bryce Easton and the experienced Lyle Rowe are just one shot behind on six-under, while there is a group of four golfers tied in fifth place on five-under – Hennie du Plessis, Albert Venter, Heinrich Bruiners and Hennie O’Kennedy.

Former world top 50 golfer Justin Harding is three strokes off the lead after a 68, while the other favourites – Shaun Norris (69), Danie van Tonder (69), defending champion Christiaan Bezuidenhout (70), Dylan Frittelli (70), Dean Burmester (71) and Brandon Stone (72) – have some catching up to do but are decently placed.

The Proteas have been swearing blind that they will give their all in the T20 World Cup and they certainly did in the field after their batting failed, but it was still not enough to deny Australia victory in the opening match in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Having posted just 118 for nine with the bat, South Africa made Australia sweat as they reached their target with five wickets down and only two balls remaining.

Anrich Nortje, save for a short penultimate delivery that Marcus Stoinis swatted away for a crucial boundary in the 19^th over, was outstanding as he took two for 21 in his four overs.

The four other South African bowlers all backed him superbly, but Marcus Stoinis (24* off 16) and Matthew Wade (15* off 10) added 40 off 29 deliveries to see Australia home and fend off a wobble when they lost two wickets for one run in the 15^th and 16^th overs.

Steven Smith top-scored for Australia with 35 off 34 balls before he fell to a wonderful running boundary catch by Aiden Markram off Nortje.

South Africa were sent in to bat and Temba Bavuma made a great start by driving Mitchell Starc through the covers for two boundaries in the first over.

But Bavuma then hung back in his crease to off-spinner Glenn Maxwell in the second over and was bowled for 12 and Josh Hazlewood (4-1-19-2) then struck two major blows by having Rassie van der Dussen caught behind with his first ball and then bowling Quinton de Kock in his next over.

De Kock made just seven and tried to paddle the paceman fine, but edged the ball on to his thigh pad and then it bounced on to his stumps, with the batsman unaware where it was and unable to knock it away.

From 23 for three, the Proteas were indebted to Markram for his 40 off 36 balls, putting away boundary chances with ease, that gave them an almost defendable total.

Heinrich Klaasen (13) and David Miller (16) hung around for a bit, and Kagiso Rabada landed a couple of good blows at the death in his 19 not out.

But with Pat Cummins (4-0-17-1) and leg-spinner Adam Zampa (4-0-21-2) both excelling, there was no let-up in the pressure on the Proteas.

There’s no guarantee that veteran Springbok Ruan Pienaar will enjoy sweet success upon his return to the Sharks team for the first time in 11 years, but what he will certainly bring is the right approach to the game when the KwaZulu-Natalians begin their United Rugby Championship journey with a daunting match against Munster, one of the biggest teams in Europe, in Limerick on Saturday.

Pienaar slots straight back into the starting scrumhalf position for the Sharks and, with a relatively inexperienced flyhalf in Boeta Chamberlain named on Thursday, it is the veteran of 88 Tests who will no doubt be calling the shots in terms of game-management. The 37-year-old has also played plenty of rugby at flyhalf so being the general is nothing new to him, and he also spent seven years playing for another Irish club, Ulster.

“Ruan obviously brings a lot of experience, which is important when you have a young flyhalf like Boeta. He has been training very well, he is a leader in his own right and he knows these conditions and the teams we will be playing against. He has an understanding of what needs to be done to win here, and is presence is massive for us.

“You just see the quality of his training day-in, day-out, and he has settled in very easily because we play a similar style to the Free State Cheetahs, so the transition has been seamless. We need to manage our game better and be more disciplined in that regard, and Ruan understands that. He has good awareness of how to manage a game,” coach Sean Everitt said on Thursday.

The arrival of Pienaar on loan means a top-class talent like Sanele Nohamba is on the bench, but Everitt is clearly expecting a tight, almost Test-like tussle before the Sharks can hopefully use their pace and expansive game later in the match. That is also why Curwin Bosch continues to be preferred at fullback, providing a big boot from the back, and Chamberlain, a 22-year-old who is a tough cookie and has shown a commanding all-round game before, gets the No.10 jersey.

“Curwin is at fullback because of the way Munster play, we’re looking for a kicking option at 15, where we used to have Aphelele Fassi and his big left boot, as well as Andre Esterhuizen at 12. Curwin also has the ability to counter-attack well from the back. Munster defend really well and have a strong kicking game, they want to trap you into playing in the wrong areas.

“Boeta is an all-round player, he has a good skill-set, kicks well, distributes nicely and is good on the counter-attack. We’ve been blooding him slowly, but he started against the Hurricanes in Super Rugby and did very well, plus he had a very good Preparation Series and was excellent when we beat the Bulls at Kings Park in the wet in March. We’ve surrounded him with experience and he’s a guy for the future who can turn a game on his day,” Everitt said.

Sharks – Curwin Bosch, Yaw Penxe, Werner Kok, Marius Louw, Thaakir Abrahams, Boeta Chamberlain, Ruan Pienaar, Phepsi Buthelezi (c), Henco Venter, Dylan Richardson, Gerbrandt Grobler, Le Roux Roets, Thomas du Toit (v/c), Kerron van Vuuren, Khwezi Mona. Bench: Fez Mbatha, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Khutha Mchunu, Mpilo Gumede, Ruben van Heerden, Hyron Andrews, Sanele Nohamba, Jeremy Ward.