Ken Borland

Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers batted through the second session and carried South Africa to a commanding 225 for three at tea on the first day of the first Test against the West Indies at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Wednesday.

Both batsmen were closing in on centuries with Amla on 79 not out and De Villiers on 85 not out, having added 168 for the fourth wicket and thoroughly shifting the momentum after a tough morning session in which South Africa had been sent in to bat in overcast, bowler-friendly conditions.

Kemar Roach had been the best of the West Indies bowlers with two for 28 in 11 overs and he was unfortunate not to bowl Amla on 25 in the first over after lunch as he hit the off stump but the bails merely wobbled without coming off.

The other two West Indian quicks, Jerome Taylor and Sheldon Cottrell, were all at sea as they sprayed the ball around and were duly punished by two of the classiest batsmen in world cricket, Amla and De Villiers collecting 18 fours and a six in the 30 overs bowled after lunch.

While Amla was not entirely on top of his game, he was also fortunate not to be bowled on 33 when he was beaten all ends up by left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn’s arm-ball, De Villiers was all class, marching to his half-century off 78 balls, with 10 fours.

Amla showed why there is so much hype about his wristy strokeplay, however, as he reached his 50 off 87 balls, with seven fours, most of them spanked through the off-side with superb timing.

Apart from the lack of control displayed by Taylor and Cottrell, the West Indians also erred badly in only bowling Roach for five overs in the second session, all of them straight after lunch.

Amla and De Villiers were once again earning themselves gold stars as they steadied South Africa after the loss of three wickets without a run being scored, taking the hosts to 102 for three at lunch.

Amla and De Villiers came together after an amazing collapse saw South Africa slump from 57 without loss to 57 for three, a previously-toothless West Indian attack suddenly taking wickets in three successive overs.
It was an extraordinary turnaround given how poorly the visitors had bowled in the first hour, producing assorted lengths and lines as openers Alviro Petersen and Dean Elgar brought up their 50 partnership in just the 10th over.

Petersen was the first to go, getting a start but only making 27 before he pushed at a regulation shortish delivery from Roach and edged it to first slip.

Just seven balls later, Elgar edged a loose drive at a short, wide delivery from Cottrell and was caught by Marlon Samuels in the gully for 28.

It was not smart batting by the South African openers, letting an ill-disciplined West Indies side back into the game, and worse was to follow another seven balls later when Faf du Plessis fell for a duck.

Du Plessis couldn’t resist sparring at a fine delivery from Roach that just shaped away a bit and bounced more than expected, the edge safely taken by wicketkeeper and captain Denesh Ramdin.

South Africa were shaky at 57 for three after being sent in to bat, but Amla and De Villiers are both well-versed in saving the Proteas.

Amla swiped three fours through the off-side off Taylor, while De Villiers played himself in, playing straight and reaching 16 not out at the interval.

With debutant Stiaan van Zyl and young Quinton de Kock next to bat, South Africa’s hopes of a good total probably rested on their two best batsmen putting together a sizeable partnership and that has been achieved.

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Richard Sterne won the Joburg Open by a commanding seven strokes on Sunday, finishing the co-sanctioned event at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club on a new record score of 27-under-par 260 and going to the top of the European Tour’s Race to Dubai order of merit.

Sterne began the final round level with fellow South African Trevor Fisher Jnr on 19-under-par and the battle was tight to begin with, Fisher eagling the first hole while Sterne picked up a birdie.

Sterne birdied the par-three second hole as well after a superb tee-shot to three feet and claimed a one-shot lead when Fisher bogeyed the third.

But the stretch of holes between the sixth and eighth holes was where Sterne really won the tournament and where it all went wrong for Fisher.

Sterne’s precision golf earned him a run of three successive birdies, while a bad miss for par on the sixth and a wayward drive under a tree on the seventh led to consecutive bogeys for Fisher and the 33-year-old was suddenly facing a six-shot deficit as they reached the ninth hole.

Sterne, the 2008 champion, played top-class golf as he closed with a 64, hitting 12 out of 14 fairways off the tee and 17 greens in regulation during his magnificent round.

Despite picking up a birdie on the ninth, Fisher was still in need of a miracle to catch Sterne, but the gap only grew wider as he double-bogeyed the par-four 11th after an awful drive way right into the trees and then a second shot into the stream in front of the green.

Sterne, meanwhile, continued to have the measure of the tough Royal Joburg East Course as he picked up three more birdies on the back nine and finished the tournament with just one bogey in 72 holes.

While Fisher failed to give Sterne any sort of workout on the final day, shooting a 73 to finish in a tie for sixth on 18-under, there was an intriguing battle for second place.

Charl Schwartzel, who has always done well at Royal Joburg, winning the title in 2010 and 2011, eventually muscled his way into the runners-up spot on 20-under with birdies on the last two holes.

Schwartzel was once again in solid form, shooting a six-under 66, but his game just lacked that extra oomph required for him to challenge Sterne.

It was a tough battle though with fellow South African George Coetzee, who shot a 67, and Chile’s Felipe Aguilar and Portugal’s Ricardo Santos, who fired a brilliant 64, finishing on 19-under.

South Africans Keith Horne and Thomas Aiken finished in the tie for sixth with Fisher on 18-under-par.

The 17th hole dished out more misery for Fisher as he three-putted from eight feet and the 2012 Sunshine Tour Players’ Player of the Year was a relieved man when he eventually left the course with a birdie on 18.

Sterne also made birdie on the par-five last hole after blasting out of a greenside bunker to three feet, cleaning up the rest of the field by a record seven strokes.

Schwartzel held the previous records for both the lowest winning score (-23) and biggest winning margin (six strokes), set during his 2010 triumph.

Sterne’s 260 72-hole total has only been bettered five times in European Tour history, by Ian Woosnam, David Llewellyn (both 258), Tiger Woods and South Africans Ernie Els and Mark McNulty (all 259).

Els’s 29-under to win the Johnnie Walker Classic in Australia in 2003 remains the lowest winning score in terms of par, with Sterne now joint second with Jerry Anderson and Louis Oosthuizen.

Oosthuizen’s 27-under 265 to win the Africa Open in East London last year was the previous lowest winning total in a co-sanctioned event in South Africa.

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