Ken Borland

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma says the success of their Champions Trophy campaign hangs on how well they bat in good batting conditions in Pakistan.

And the Proteas skipper is heartened by the good form most of his batsmen have shown in the ongoing SA20, which concludes on February 8, nearly two weeks before they open their Champions Trophy campaign against Afghanistan in Karachi on February 21.

David Miller has not only captained Paarl Royals to the top of the log and a place in the playoffs already, he is averaging 91.50 with the bat at a strike-rate of 134. Rassie van der Dussen is averaging 50.40 for MI Cape Town, while his opening partner Ryan Rickelton has been restricted to just four innings due to a hamstring strain, but has passed 50 twice in that time.

Aiden Markram is leading from the front for Sunrisers Eastern Cape, averaging 40.50 at a strike-rate of 138, while all-rounder Marco Jansen averages 32.80 at a strike-rate of 131 for the same team.

Even key finisher Heinrich Klaasen found some form in his last game as he plundered 66 off 43 balls for Durban Super Giants against high-flying MI Cape Town at Newlands.

Miller (6^th), Van der Dussen (3^rd), Rickelton (7^th), Markram (4^th) and Jansen (10^th) are in the top-10 run-scorers list.

“I’m really glad that the core of our batting line-up is doing well in the SA20. In Pakistan we should get friendly pitches for batting, so you need in-form batsmen so that you can take control of matches over there,” Bavuma told sportsboom.co.za.

Interviewed as one of the celebrity guests for a South African Breweries function, Bavuma did, however, admit that the loss of several high-profile Proteas bowlers to injury was concerning. Gerald Coetzee, Anrich Nortje and Daryn Dupavillon, who has played two ODIs, were all recently ruled out of the SA20 tournament, while Nandre Burger, Lizaad Williams and Beuran Hendricks were all forced to withdraw before the event started.

Lungi Ngidi last played on January 18 and has been surrounded by a fitness cloud for most of the summer. He and Nortje were both named in South Africa’s original Champions Trophy squad. No replacement has yet been named for Nortje, with coach Rob Walter hoping Coetzee will recover in time from his hamstring strain.

“There are more question marks over the bowling, but obviously injuries are part of the game,” Bavuma said. “Bowling has always been our strength and you want to be in the position where you can select from everyone. But I have a lot of pride in this team that they always find a way, even if they have to do it the hard way. These sort of injury questions are nothing new.”

Bavuma is probably entitled to feel it will all be okay once they hit the big stage in Pakistan due to the tenacity his team have shown previously. After a torrid start to the World Test Championship, they have regrouped and qualified for the final against Australia in June.

“That this team always seems to find a way speaks to the character and environment in the squad, you are allowed to be yourselves. There have been lots of positives in the last year and the team has been successful in making the Test final.

“We ticked that box, that is a step in the right direction, but we are not at the end of our journey, we still want to achieve more. But we’ve shown we can win away from home, even though we are an inexperienced side. It’s about managing the space. The youngsters have stepped up, the way they have reacted has definitely contributed to our success.

“We obviously want to continue in that vein, but we want to be a lot more disciplined because that will lead to excellence,” Bavuma said.

The Proteas will be able to ready themselves for the Champions Trophy in an ODI tri-series with Pakistan and New Zealand in Lahore and Karachi from February 8.

PORT EDWARD – Jaco Ahlers backed up his opening-day 64 with another six-under-par score on Thursday in the second round of the SunBet Challenge hosted by Wild Coast Sun, once again conquering the blustery conditions with barely a hiccup as he stretched his advantage at the top of the leaderboard.

Ahlers only dropped a single shot on Thursday, at the par-three 17^th, but he collected five birdies and an eagle on the par-five 16^th in his second-round 64 that took him to 12-under-par, four ahead of Keegan McLachlan going into the final round on Friday.

Ahlers started his round on the 10^th on Thursday and was cruising from the outset with two birdies in the first three holes. He again did the bulk of his scoring on the back nine, going out in 31, and his bogey-free front nine featured birdies on the two par-fives – the third and the seventh holes.

“I’m pretty chuffed because it was a bit windy today. The greens on the back nine are a bit better, less bumpy, so I was able to roll the ball better and make more putts there,” Ahlers said.

“I missed a few putts coming in, I was a bit cautious on the greens and left a few short. But overall I didn’t miss many greens today and that’s the key at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club, to give yourself opportunities. I will just keep doing what I’m doing: hit the greens and hopefully make a few putts. I play the course as it is because I’m not the longest hitter and I can’t overpower it,” Ahlers said.

The 11-time winner on the Sunshine Tour enjoyed a bit of fortune for his eagle on the 16^th. Having tugged his tee-shot a bit on the 492m par-five, it rode the wind and lay in the semi-rough.

“I got a bit lucky,” Ahlers admitted. “That hole was downwind today and I only had 110 to the flag, I hit it to 10 feet and made the putt. Which I was very pleased about because everyone is going to score on that hole today.”

Trevor Mahoney, who shot 65 in the first round to be second, one stroke behind Ahlers, saw his hopes die an ugly death on the par-five 12^th as he posted a 10, on his way to a 78 and missing the cut by just one stroke.

McLachlan is now second after shooting a 66, also with just one bogey, on Thursday. Gerhard Pepler is one stroke further back after a never-say-die 66, in which he bounced back from a double-bogey on the 12^th by collecting birdies on the 14^th, 15^th and 18^th holes.

Brandon Stone is in fourth place, seven strokes behind Ahlers after a second-round 67, but the leader will be anxious about Stone’s ability to go really low in the final round of events.

The Joburg Super Kings were playing in conditions as close to the Wanderers as you can get, but in the end the two-time defending champions, Sunrisers Eastern Cape, were too great an adversary as they won their SA20 Eliminator by a convincing 32 runs at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Wednesday night.

Having won the toss and followed their usual template by sending the opposition in to bat first, Super Kings had reduced Sunrisers to 75 for four after nine overs and all was well. But the Eastern Cape skipper, Aiden Markram, was still there and his experience and skill in pacing the rest of the innings were vital.

Markram and Tristan Stubbs added 56 off 43 balls for the fifth wicket, before Stubbs was dismissed by veteran leg-spinner Imran Tahir (4-0-21-2) at the start of the 17^th over for 26 off 21 deliveries. But Marco Jansen came in and proved that he too can be a deadly force at the death.

Sunrisers Eastern Cape lashed 48 runs from the last three overs to take them to a competitive 184 for six. Markram played the key innings of 62 not out off 40 balls, while Jansen belted 23 off 12.

Poor old Lutho Sipamla has hit the heights in this year’s SA20 and has been rightly praised far and wide. But on Wednesday he travelled all over SuperSport Park, conceding 72 runs in his four overs.

Openers David Bedingham (27 off 14) and Tony de Zorzi (14 off 9) laid into him with the new ball, his two overs going for 33 runs as Sunrisers lashed 42 runs off the first three overs. Sipamla then had the misfortune to bowl the penultimate over and was massacred for 29 runs as he went for three sixes and two fours.

Markram has been full of praise for his bowlers for keeping them alive in this year’s competition and they once again came to the fore to defend a total that the captain admitted he “was a little worried about”.

Devon Conway opened the batting for Super Kings and gave them a brisk start with his 30 off 20 balls. But the other batsmen battled to obtain the same momentum as the Sunrisers bowlers tightened up and gave little away.

Joburg had battled through to 91 for three after 12 overs on the hour mark, when Craig Overton struck a devastating double-blow. The Englishman had Wihan Lubbe (13 off 18) caught behind and then ended a maiden over by dismissing the dangerous Moeen Ali for a duck, Liam Dawson taking a sharp catch at backward point.

The Super Kings, without the injured Donovan Ferreira and a host of bowlers who are also crocked, just weren’t as agile as their opponents in adapting to tough situations. Jonny Bairstow hit left-arm spinner Dawson for two fours and a six in the 15^th over to move quickly to 37 off 16 balls, but he then took up a reverse-sweep position too soon and the bowler fired in the yorker to bowl Joburg’s last hope.

Markram called his bowlers “incredible”, while appreciating that the troublesome batting is moving in the right direction.

“We probably could have got a few more runs with the bat and I would have been happy with 195+ or more than 200 if we really pulled away. So I was a little worried when we went out on to the field to defend 185, but luckily our bowlers are incredible and they bring a lot of calm.

“The bowlers have been really good the whole tournament and there are so many different types of experience in the attack, especially with the seamers. They bounce ideas off each other, they almost run the show with very good plans and I’m happy with that. Liam Dawson has also been massively under the radar because he really helps us get ahead of the game.

“The batting just hasn’t clicked so we keep having to play catch-up, but there were good signs tonight. That opening partnership was massive, it allows you, if you lose a flurry of wickets, a bit of time, which is important, especially at a venue like this. The other guys were able to spend some time at the wicket, which was positive,” Markram said.

The Sunrisers Eastern Cape now take on Paarl Royals at Centurion on Thursday evening, the winner going through to the final against MI Cape Town at the Wanderers on Saturday.

Joburg Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming, ever pragmatic, intimated that it felt like his team had been put out of their agony.

“If we unravel the season a bit, then we’ve probably just been hanging on. We’ve been missing a lot of glue because of injuries and we’ve had holes in each game, so we just haven’t been accurate enough. Sunrisers played very well, they got themselves out of a difficult situation, but I thought 185 was about par.

“But we were sloppy with the bat, we gave wickets away too often and we needed one guy to get 75 or so. I hate looking for excuses but our player turnover has been high and we were just not able to settle. I take responsibility because in trying to take the team forward, I chopped and changed a bit and things got a bit confused. We were a bit frantic with the bat tonight when we needed calm,” Fleming said.

Our DP World Lions reaped the benefits of having an attack suited to all conditions as spinners Nqaba Peter and Bjorn Fortuin led them to an outstanding victory over the GBets Rocks in their CSA T20 Challenge match over the weekend at Boland Park in Paarl.

The win has lifted the DP World Lions back into second place on the log, ahead of Western Province on nett run-rate.

Leg-spinner Peter claimed a career-best three for 14 in his four overs and slow left-armer Fortuin produced brilliant figures of 4-1-15-2 as they took full advantage of the slow and low conditions of the Rocks’ home ground to restrict them to 116 for eight in their 20 overs.

Having lost the toss, captain Fortuin took the new ball and set the tone, alongside the impressive Wiaan Mulder, for an excellent display in the field, claiming the first two wickets. Proteas Test batsman Keegan Petersen was beautifully beaten by flight and bowled for 7, while Clyde Fortuin tried to hit out and was well-caught at deep extra cover by Reeza Hendricks for 8.

The 22-year-old Peter then showed superb control and some skilful variations as he ripped through the middle-order to leave the Rocks 80 for five in the 14^th over. Adrian du Toit (15) and Michael Copeland (17) were both caught trying to release the pressure, and Aviwe Mgijima (9) was bowled by a superb delivery, with the experts still trying to figure out whether it was a flipper or a slider! What chance did the batsman have?

Seamers Mulder (4-0-26-2) and Evan Jones (3-0-20-1) then closed out the innings extremely well, as the Rocks finished with a run-rate of less than 6.

The #PrideOfJozi then chased down their target of 117 with such ease that it was difficult to believe they were playing on the same pitch, or that the DP World Lions were the away team.

Ryan Rickelton (23 off 30 balls) played with control as he and Hendricks provided a composed start by putting on 47 inside the first nine overs, before Jones came in and showed his power by slamming 43 not out off just 27 balls, including two sixes.

Hendricks also hit a couple of sixes as he finished on 53 not out off 47 deliveries as our Pride completed a nine-wicket hammering with 16 balls to spare.

Our Pride remain in the Western Cape for their next match as they take on Western Province at Newlands on Wednesday, a crucial match-up between second and third on the standings.