Ken Borland

The Bulls have obviously done plenty of work honing their bodies in the gym and on their skills, but for Victor Matfield, one of their great former players, it was their heart that stood out as they clinched the Currie Cup final with a thrilling comeback and an extra-time try.

Matfield was a driving force behind the last great era of Bulls rugby when they won three SuperRugby and five Currie Cup titles between 2002 and 2010, and he sees a similar sort of belief building in this current Bulls side.

“It was a great final and the Bulls had to adjust to a lot – coming off the field for lightning, having to play extra time … They showed a lot of character because they were deep in trouble. In normal time they managed to defend that lineout right at the end on their line and get the turnover, and then in extra time they really took control.

“But they have shown that character before – that victory over Western Province at Newlands with 14 men, and again in the semi-final when the momentum had gone completely the Lions’ way after they scored two tries. Again this weekend they kept calm and went back to what works for them, they started to maul the Sharks,” Matfield told The Citizen on Monday.

It seems likely that there will be several more tightly-contested clashes between the Bulls and Sharks in the near future as well, what with MVM Holdings now investing millions in the Durban franchise and the Bulls also having healthy financial resources as well as a wealth of young talent.

“They are the two best sides at the moment, the Sharks were at the top of the Super Rugby competition before the Covid break and the Bulls did really well all through Super Rugby Unlocked and the Currie Cup. And the Bulls have a lot of great youngsters, they are the U19 and U21 champions as well so there is a lot of talent coming through.

“But you can’t take away from the influence of experienced guys like Duane Vermeulen, Trevor Nyakane and Morne Steyn. We don’t know how much longer Morne and Duane are going to play for, so the Bulls will need to replace them. The guys in like the middle stages of their careers will need to step up and become Springboks. Hopefully a few of them who did well in the Currie Cup will get that opportunity soon,” Matfield said.

A cricket ball that had had 116 runs belted off it by the opening batsmen was a pivotal item of lost property at SuperSport Park on Sunday as the Dolphins staged an impressive comeback against the Titans.

Having won the toss and batted, the probable Proteas opening pair at the same venue on Boxing Day, Aiden Markram and Dean Elgar, showed their class as they reached 92 without loss at lunch.

The runs were then flowing after the break when Markram unleashed a powerful straight drive for four off Daryn Dupavillon. Bizarrely, the Dolphins then could not find the ball and, after several minutes, a change of ball was ordered by the umpires.

And it proved a turning point as Elgar was caught in the slips off Ottneil Baartman in the next over for 52. Worse was to come in Dupavillon’s next over when the fast bowler got his hand to another fierce straight drive by Markram, deflecting the ball on to the stumps and running out Neil Brand for a duck.

Former Northerns star Ruan de Swardt then took over, removing the in-form Markram for 75 with the help of a superb catch at gully by Andile Phehlukwayo, and the seamer finished the day with career-best figures of four for 41 in 15 overs, nipping the ball in and out, as he did to great effect when he had Diego Rosier caught behind for 27.

With left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj getting some late reward for his lovely bowling all day, the Titans closed on 269 for nine. Maharaj ended the first day with figures of 23-9-48-3, winning his battle with Theunis de Bruyn (22), before Dayyaan Galiem denied him late in the day with a crucial contribution of 45 not out.

Batting at St George’s Park is even tougher, with the match between the Warriors and Cape Cobras looking already as if it is heading for an early finish.

The Warriors were bowled out for just 194 after winning the toss and batting, thanks in the main to Rudi Second’s 55.

Spinner George Linde wrapped up the tail to finish with four for 52, but Akhona Mnyaka (9-2-34-2) and Calvin Savage (15-7-23-2) were the chief threats.

The Cobras then struggled to 72 for three at stumps, but opener Pieter Malan, who is unfortunate not to be in the Test squad, is still there on 35 not out, along with Kyle Verreynne on 21*.

Glenton Stuurman, who is hoping for a Test debut after Christmas, was a handful up front, taking two for nine in nine overs.

In Bloemfontein, the Knights scored 327 for six after batting first, with Raynard van Tonder the only batsman to flourish, scoring a phenomenal 180 not out off just 226 balls against the Imperial Lions, the defending champions.

Van Tonder, who also has reason to feel hard done by with his exclusion from the Test squad, certainly gave the selectors more to think about as he stroked 23 fours and two sixes. No-one else scored more than 28 as pacemen Lutho Sipamla and Tladi Bokako took two wickets apiece.

AB de Villiers got the newest cricket format off to a thoroughly entertaining start as he led the Eagles to victory in the inaugural 3TCricket match at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Saturday, but he also got tongues wagging yet again about a potential international comeback.

De Villiers blazed a typically imperious 61 off 24 balls to lead the Eagles to 160-4 in their 12 overs against the Kingfishers (113-5) and Kites (138-3). With Aiden Markram reminding everyone of his abilities with a dazzling 70 off 33 deliveries at the other end, the Eagles were always going to be tough to catch. De Villiers and Markram shared a stunning partnership of 100 off just 43 balls.

Markram set the tone up front as the Eagles posted 66-1 against the Kingfishers in their first six overs, scoring 47 not out off 23 balls. But they were under pressure early on as the economical Glenton Stuurman bowled Rassie van der Dussen for 8 and the score was only 23-1 after 2.5 overs when wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen dropped De Villiers on just one off wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi’s sixth delivery.

Shamsi’s day grew progressively worse as he ended up conceding 56 runs in his three overs.

The Eagles’ total was the best after the first half of the match, better than the 58-1 posted by the Kites against them and the 56-2 scored by the Kingfishers against a Kites attack led by Anrich Nortje. So they batted first in the second half and De Villiers immediately got the momentum going with successive sixes and 19 runs off spinner Jon-Jon Smuts’s first over.

De Villiers was eventually dismissed in the penultimate over, skying the excellent Nortje (3-27-2) to long-on, but the Eagles had already scored enough to secure first place.

The Eagles bowlers also did their bit in limiting their opposition with left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin (3-20-1) and Andile Phehlukwayo (3-24-2) being particularly outstanding. Fast bowler Junior Dala was tidy, conceding just 18 runs in his two overs.

The return to cricket in these days of Covid-19 got off to a heartwarming start as all the players, officials and commentators took a knee in support of Black Lives Matter before the first ball was bowled. All the players wore black armbands with Black Lives Matter on them and, after a fractious week in South African cricket, there was a pleasing air of unity and reconciliation, with Graeme Smith and Makhaya Ntini taking a knee next to each other with their right fists raised. They then commentated together with Smith saying he “could feel the emotion” and Ntini replying, “We stand together”.

The Kites finished second after Smuts provided a solid platform with his 48 off 26 deliveries and all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius added to their halfway total of 58-1 with a ferocious 17-ball 50 not out.

The Kingfishers were the first team to bat and battled to get going even though captain Reeza Hendricks (20) and Janneman Malan (31) shared the biggest opening partnership of the day – 51.

Batting for the second time, Faf du Plessis gave the Kingfishers some momentum with his 28 off 12 deliveries, before he was beaten in the flight and bowled by Fortuin.

Young all-rounder Gerald Coetzee, who bowled with good pace and skill, scored 24 not out off 15 balls, but he could not prevent the Kingfishers from finishing last. But their paceman Stuurman took two for 26 in his three overs and was the most impressive bowler of the day.

But it was the veteran De Villiers who showed once again that he remains South Africa’s most destructive batsman. With a T20 World Cup still hovering somewhere on the horizon, it was clear the Proteas could certainly use him in the shortest international format.

There were many inspiring individual performances in the Proteas’ 3-1 win over Australia in what was an incredible series, but the events in Durban on the fourth afternoon of the first Test may have been the most important catalyst for the impressive comeback.

It’s fair to say that the Proteas probably weren’t in the good books of their fans after they were walloped 5-1 in their ODI series against India and lost the T20 rubber as well, and then they were decidedly flat at Kingsmead as Australia put themselves in an unassailable position.

And then David Warner behaved as if he had a hornet in his pants, never mind sandpaper, after AB de Villiers was run out in the second innings, with an unhinged display of angry, crass celebration in the face of young Aiden Markram. It was clear Australia’s attack dog in chief had lost control, but insipid umpiring ensured nothing was done.

Much of the afternoon session was spent verbally abusing Markram and Quinton de Kock, who eventually decided to respond to all the personal taunts with a verbal volley of his own. Of course, according to the Australian team rules, that crosses the line and Warner was now threatening physical harm.

All of this drama had the effect of making the Proteas angry, as captain Faf du Plessis admitted, and from that moment on they were a different beast, and the South African public rallied behind their cause. It was like an unstoppable wave and all because of Warner’s sledging, a tactic which Du Plessis considers counter-productive, due to its motivational effects on the opposition.

The Australians were also angry, Warner’s exposure, Kagiso Rabada winning his appeal in Port Elizabeth and then the crowd in Cape Town making them feel more and more victimised. Warner, who was made vice-captain to bring positive energy into the camp, then crossed over onto the dark side because of how unfair he felt it all was. Ironically, it was he who had set all this in motion.

On the outside, Cricket Australia have seemingly been very upfront in dealing with the issue. But, as the dust has settled, it has become clear that they have merely stage-managed the whole fiasco, they have been doing their utmost to control the narrative and ringfence themselves from any major damage.

They have their three scapegoats in Smith, Bancroft and Warner, who have now accepted major penalties, but what of the organisation itself which has promoted the win-at-all-costs attitude in crass social media posts and that awful gloating podium presentation set-up after the Ashes?

Cricket Australia have not made the whole truth accessible, leaving questions unanswered such as how was it possible that not a single bowler knew what was going on? South African media were deliberately excluded from Darren Lehmann’s first press conference after the scandal and I was effectively banned from asking questions at Australian press conferences – whenever my hand was up, a firm shake of the head by their media manager would follow.

It should also incense South Africans that Cricket Australia came into this country, which holds democratic ideals so dear after our dark past, and tried to interfere in the rights of free speech of spectators. In Cape Town, several spectators were evicted for using abusive or foul language, the kind that is commonplace in Australia, at the behest of the tourists’ management, who had their security manager practically in the field of play.

There has, however, been a lot of soul-searching in Australian cricket this past two weeks, which is a positive, and in Tim Paine they have a captain who can lead them into the new brand of cricket they say they want to play.

But there are already murmurs in Australia that perhaps some leniency should be showed to the culprits, so whether they really do head in a new direction is by no means certain.

https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/the-citizen-gauteng/20180407/282475709397424