Ken Borland

AB de Villiers plundered 61 off 24 balls to lead his Eagles team to a commanding total of 160-4 in their 12 overs, something neither the Kites nor the Kingfishers were able to chase down in their 3TCricket match in Centurion at the weekend, and afterwards said he enjoyed the format and it definitely was something worth continuing.

The new format sees three teams of eight playing at the same time, with each side batting for six overs against each of their opponents. With Aiden Markram firing alongside him in a dazzling innings of 70 off 33 deliveries, captain De Villiers was the first to lift the Solidarity Cup, with Kites posting 138-3 and the Kingfishers finishing on 113-5.

“It was great fun and lovely to just be out there, I’ve been pretty frustrated not playing any cricket. It was great to have a hit-around and the format is pretty good. It definitely has scope for the future, I liked the flow of the game that you spend time in the dugout and the teams rotate. I was also incredibly impressed by a lot of the bowling. I thought they’d be rusty but they were nailing their yorkers and clearly there’s a lot of talent around.

“I also really like that the leading team at halfway bats first in the second innings because chasing is definitely an advantage in limited-overs cricket. This was just one of those rare occasions when we were able to take our score out of reach. My only suggestion would be to have teams start from zero again in terms of wickets lost when you bat again, because otherwise they try to consolidate and think of the next innings. With that bit of insurance, teams can have a really attacking mindset,” De Villiers told The Citizen after the match.

With De Villiers in scintillating form, his starring role has again raised questions about his possible return to the Proteas, at least in T20 cricket, in which a World Cup is scheduled for October in Australia but is probably going to be postponed to next year. The 36-year-old said the Covid-19 pandemic has left everything in limbo, but he still has an interest in playing for South Africa again.

“I have no idea when I’ll be playing cricket again, there’ve been lots of talks about all sorts of leagues. So I will just stay fit and keep hitting balls. It’s difficult to commit myself a year ahead of time, but I have a good relationship with Graeme Smith [director of cricket] and Mark Boucher [Proteas head coach] and I would love to play again. But once we know what the calendar will be like then we can sit down and I will make a decision because I have to be either in or out,” De Villiers said.

After a fractious week in South African cricket, the launch of 3TCricket has provided some balm, with an air of unity and reconciliation at SuperSport Park as all the players wore black armbands with Black Lives Matter written on them and all three teams, the officials and the commentators took a knee before the start of play in support of the movement. “I’m happy with how things have unfolded, we’ve had really good communication, nobody felt left out and it was all explained to us. Black Lives Matter and the campaign against Gender Based Violence were the causes that were the focus for today and it was most important for us to show that unity,” De Villiers said.

The Warriors once again showed their ability to chase down almost anything as they beat the defending champion Titans by two wickets with a ball to spare in a thrilling start to the season in their Momentum One-Day Cup match at Centurion on Friday night.

Having chased down a record 354 in the corresponding fixture last season, the Warriors needed 328 on Friday night and were set on their way by a blazing 101 off just 74 balls by opener Jon-Jon Smuts, who shared a commanding second-wicket stand of 133 off 126 balls with young Yaseen Vallie, who scored 52.

After a horror start in the field, the Titans regrouped and seemed on course for victory when they reduced the Warriors to 230 for six in the 41^st over.

But Simon Harmer and Andrew Birch showed that they have serious pretensions as batsmen as they lashed 89 off the next 50 balls.

Harmer was trapped lbw for 42 by Junior Dala in an excellent penultimate over, umpire Shaun George perhaps being alone in believing the batsman did not get anything on a suspiciously leg-side delivery, and Rowan Richards made a good fist of defending eight in the last over.

The left-armer got it down to three needed off the last two balls when Basheer Walters lashed him powerfully through extra cover for the winning boundary. Birch finished on 55 not out off just 28 balls, a great contribution by the diminutive seamer.

The Titans were indebted to some late heroics themselves after they were sent in to bat, their total being boosted by a phenomenal unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 119 off just 71 balls between Grant Thomson and Qaasim Adams.

Thomson, who was not expected to play a role for the Titans this season but was included for his Momentum One-Day Cup debut because of the unavailability of all-rounders David Wiese, Chris Morris and Albie Morkel, hammered a wonderful 98 not out off 71 balls, while Adams, who has really grown as a finisher for the Titans, produced a fine hand of 65 not out off 39 balls.

The Titans’ decision to promote Mangaliso Mosehle to the opening berth was a partial success, with the wicketkeeper/batsman scoring 49, but needing 81 deliveries to do it. Dean Elgar, who moved down to number four, scored a fluent half-century.

But the Titans failed dismally to produce the basics in the field, Smuts being dropped twice, ground fielding errors costing crucial runs at the death and the bowlers too often being wayward or bowling the wrong lengths.

The Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras mounted a valiant effort to chase down 322 to win their Sunfoil Series match against the Chevrolet Warriors at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth on Sunday, but ultimately fell just 16 runs short in a thrilling encounter.

Andrew Birch had produced a tremendous all-round performance to set up victory for the Warriors, lashing 88 off 83 balls to lift the home side from 176 for six to 317 all out, and he then claimed two early wickets to reduce the Cobras to 53 for four.

Dane Vilas (84) and Sybrand Engelbrecht (72) then added 159 for the fifth wicket to get the Cobras back in the game.

But the persistent Birch returned to remove both of them in successive overs and off-spinner Simon Harmer then took three quick wickets to send the Cobras crashing to 237 for nine.

But life quickly became miserable for Harmer as number 11 batsman Dane Paterson belted him for five fours and a six in two overs.

Suddenly the Cobras were making significant progress towards their target, with Paterson and Justin Kemp adding 68 in 12 overs.

Kemp carted Birch for three fours in an over on his way to 34 not out and Paterson launched left-arm spinner Jon-Jon Smuts for six to take the Cobras past 300.

But Paterson tried to cut the next ball and thick-edged a knee-high catch to Ryan Bailey in the gully to be dismissed for a pugnacious 42 off 36 balls.

The Cobras are the defending champions, but they have only flattered to deceive in this season’s Sunfoil Series, propping up the log after losing three of their four games.

*Fast bowler Daryn Dupavillon and spinner Keshav Maharaj took eight wickets between them as they bowled the Sunfoil Dolphins to a crushing 242-run win over the Chevrolet Knights in Kimberley on Sunday.

The Knights, chasing a daunting 369 for victory, began the final day on 11 for three and Dupavillon (15-4-38-5) condemned them to defeat with a three-wicket burst that reduced them to 89 for six.

Maharaj then wrapped up the tail, the Knights being bowled out for just 126, to clinch a second victory for the Dolphins, which keeps them in the title race, 20 points behind the first-placed bizhub Highveld Lions, with a game in hand.

The Lions were unable to extend their lead in the competition as they were held to a draw by the Unlimited Titans at Willowmoore Park in Benoni.

The Titans began the final day on 374 for four in their first innings, still trailing the Lions by 111 runs, and they batted on until 550 for five when they declared.

By that stage, Heino Kuhn boasted a franchise record 244 not out and Qaasim Adams made a maiden Sunfoil Series century.

Richard Sterne and Trevor Fisher Jnr shared the lead after the second round of the Joburg Open, but European Tour stars George Coetzee and Charl Schwartzel were hard on the chase at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club on Friday.

Fisher, after a brilliant 62 on the West Course, and Sterne, who shot a superb 65 on the tougher East Course, are both on 15-under-par, but the names of Coetzee (-12) and Schwartzel (-10) loom dangerously just below them on the leaderboard.

Sterne held a share of the overnight lead with Germany’s Maximilian Kieffer on eight-under-par and the winner of the 2008 Joburg Open immediately went to nine-under with a birdie on the par-five first hole.

Sterne’s strategy of minimising mistakes obviously paid off as he completed a second bogey-free round and collected three more birdies on the front nine and three coming in, including successive birdies on the last two holes.

“I was quite conservative, you have to be on this course, and my game didn’t feel great but I putted well and had a couple of good up-and-downs,” Sterne said.

Fisher has been a Sunshine Tour competitor since 2002 but has become one of the leading players only recently, finishing fourth and ninth on the order of merit in the last two years and being named as the 2012 Players’ Player of the Year earlier this week.

He looked ready to become a regular European Tour contender on Friday as he roared through the back nine in five-under, including three successive birdies to end his round, having earlier eagled the par-five second hole.

“I’m a late bloomer and I think I’ve matured in the last couple of years, but I need to get to the next level now,” the 33-year-old said.

“I was in a happy place out there, everything just happened for me and I sank the putts I needed to sink. I was patient, walked slow and did everything slow. You’ve got to be in the moment, you can’t think about your score … I think that’s the secret to scoring low around here: not trying to make birdies, but trying to hit good shots,” Fisher said.

Coetzee, who shot a phenomenal 64 on the East Course, was playing in the same three-ball as Sterne and he said he had fed off the success of his fellow Pretorian.

“Richie was getting a birdie every other hole so that made me want birdies too. I made some nice putts early on which gave me momentum and I hit the ball great in the stretch. I was pretty happy with my game, except for my long putts, I left a lot short,” Coetzee said.

Schwartzel, who missed the cut when defending his title last year, is cosily positioned just five shots off the lead heading into the weekend, after shooting a 65 on the West Course.

“There’s still a long way to go and Trevor Fisher is playing fantastic golf, but at least I’m still in range. My ball-striking has been good, where I left off last year. So the big thing is that I’m hitting the ball well and giving myself chances. I just need to make more putts from short range,” Schwartzel said.

Fisher, however, said he was ready to make the step up and win his first European Tour co-sanctioned event, having triumphed seven times on the regular Sunshine Tour.

“I’ve been here for 10 years and it’s been a good stepping stone to the European Tour. But I’ve stepped on a lot of stones now and it’s time to get to the top,” Fisher said.

South African Keith Horne and Chile’s Felipe Aguilar are tied with Schwartzel on 10-under, having both shot 66s on the East Course.

Kieffer could only manage a par-72 on the East Course and slipped down into a tie for 11th.