Ken Borland

In the old days, many metres of newsprint would have been used to try and answer the question of why the Joburg Super Kings, despite finishing in the top four of all four editions of the SA20, have not yet been able to proceed to the final.

These days, the post-mortems will mostly be done in digital form, computer codes leading to text on some kind of screen.

The Joburg Super Kings’ 2026 campaign came to an end at SuperSport Park on Thursday night as they were well beaten by 36 runs by the Paarl Royals in the SA20 Eliminator. Once again they had fallen short and coach Stephen Fleming, at the helm for all four tournaments, admitted to an “empty feeling”.

Having won the toss and sent Paarl Royals in to bat, but allowing them to post a fine total of 210 for five, and then slumping to 103 for six in reply, it is not that difficult to pinpoint where this season’s push for the final was derailed.

Especially when one considers the Super Kings went into their last fixture without their regular captain, Faf du Plessis, and experienced stars like Rilee Rossouw, Reece Topley and Donovan Ferreira. Injuries and the comings-and-goings of players meant 17 different people took the field for them during the season, so they never really became a settled outfit.

“We’ve had players down, and experienced ones at that, which meant there were guys who had to play at a level they have never been at before and it was asking a lot of them to rise to the challenge. They didn’t respond tonight, but I’m proud of the way they stepped up in Paarl to get into the playoffs,” Fleming said after the loss.

Even though they conceded 210 for five, Joburg Super Kings were by no means out of the contest at the midway point.

It was a fine effort by Paarl Royals, but a curious innings because even though such a big score in a knockout match is always daunting, one felt the Boland side had left a few runs on the table.

Lhuan-dre Pretorius was the top-scorer with a commanding 51 off 34 balls, but he did not seem to have hit top gear yet, seemingly setting his stall to bat deep, when he ran himself out (helped by an excellent piece of out-fielding by Matthew de Villiers) in the 11^th over.

There were four other very useful contributions in the Paarl innings: Kyle Verreynne lashed 30 off 15 balls at the start to ensure they had a brilliant powerplay, scoring 61 for one in the first six overs; Dan Lawrence kept the momentum going and had set up a big finish with his 36 off 23 deliveries; and Sikandar Raza (35 off 19) and Asa Tribe (30 not out off 16 balls) provided the big finish with 62 runs scored off the last five overs.

But when the SuperSport Park pitch is as true and well-paced as it was on Thursday, no total is safe if a batter gets in, stays in and goes deep; if one of the Super Kings could score a quickfire 80 and the rest bat around him, then 211 was certainly not out of reach.

But the brilliant Royals attack, led by Hardus Viljoen (4-0-24-3), gobbled up four wickets in the powerplay and some patrons had not yet finished their dinner when the result became fait accompli with the dismissal of Dian Forrester for just three leaving JSK on 103 for six after 13 overs, needing 108 runs off the last seven overs.

Wiaan Mulder deserves credit for showing plenty of fight as he stuck around for three-quarters of an hour to score 41 off 27 balls, while tailenders Duan Jansen (18* off 12) and Nandre Burger (17* off 11) helped themselves to 36 unbeaten runs off the last 23 deliveries.

But shorn of too many inspirational players, there was to be no miracle for Joburg Super Kings.

Despite a small hiccup in the T20 match, DP World Lions women’s coach Shaun Pretorius is sticking to the same squad that did duty in Bloemfontein, with the addition of three returnees from injury, for this weekend’s HollywoodBets Pro Series matches at home against the South-Western Districts Garden Route Badgers.

Our DP World Lions started the season with an impressive Pro50 win over the Free State Knights, headlined by Karabo Meso’s brilliant century and the all-round form of Jenna Evans, but they lost by six wickets with two balls remaining in their Pro20 encounter.

Given that #ThePrideOfJozi had slipped to 113 for five in the one-day match before Meso and Evans batted sensationally to add 171 for the sixth wicket, and that they scored just 115 for five in the T20 game, it is good news that two leading batters have recovered from injury and will return to the squad this weekend – veteran Kirstie Thomson and 20-year-old Netherlands international Madison Landsman.

“We’ve added to the squad with Kirstie back and Madison over her concussion and having scored a century in a club game. Plus our left-armer, Relebohile Mkhize, is back from injury and she was definitely one of our unsung heroines last season, both as a bowler and a member of the team. She is under-rated, but she is so consistent and strikes at the right times for us,” Pretorius said.

“The youngsters got us out of a hole in the 50-over match, but we want to show our backing in our selection. In the T20 game, the pitch was quite up-and-down and our batters just need to read the game better, to understand the conditions and not assume anything. The pitches are deteriorating more because we are having longer matches on them.

“The intent from the batters was not really there and some bowlers did not hit their straps, so we were on the back foot. But we have a quality attack and we did well to make a game of it,” Pretorius said.

In his dozen years and more involvement in women’s cricket, Pretorius said Meso’s innings in Bloemfontein was perhaps the best he has ever seen.

Meso came to the crease at 52 for three in the 10^th over, the DP World Lions having lost two wickets in successive deliveries, and the 17-year-old eased her way in measured fashion to a 56-ball half-century, with six fours. But as her partnership with Evans grew, the wicketkeeper/batted laid into the Knights bowlers, ending with an astonishing 128 not out off 129 deliveries, with 15 fours and a six.

“It’s probably the best innings I’ve seen in the last 12 to 15 years,” Pretorius said. “Just the way she assessed the situation and tried to build partnerships, and then she knew exactly when to take the game forward.

“Jenna was also phenomenal, scoring 65 not out and then making the breakthrough with the ball when Free State had a hundred partnership and then wrapping up the innings with four wickets. They both have a very bright future ahead.”

The Badgers come to the DP World Wanderers Stadium having lost both their Pro50 and Pro20 matches against the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins in Oudtshoorn in the opening round of fixtures.

Despite Afghanistan inflicting a bitter ODI series defeat on South Africa in Sharjah, former Proteas fast bowler Allan Donald has nothing but praise for coach Jonathan Trott’s team and their suite of exciting talent.

Afghanistan hammered South Africa by six wickets with nearly half of their overs left in the first ODI, before humbling the Proteas by 177 runs in the second match. The 2023 World Cup semi-finalists were bundled out for just 106 and 134 in those first two matches, but they did record a face-saving seven-wicket win in the third and final game.

Champion leg-spinner Rashid Khan took five for 19 and left-arm orthodox Nangeyalia Kharote four for 26 in the second ODI, but Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar was arguably even more of a mystery to the batsmen as he took three for 20 in the first match.

Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz was outstanding with the bat, scoring 194 runs in three innings, including a matchwinning, fiery innings of 105 in the second victory.

“It’s a quality Afghanistan team and Jonathan Trott does not get enough accolades for what he has done there. He has built that team over two years. It’s been so cool to see the rise and rise of Afghanistan cricket and they play with such flair and confidence. It is great for the world game,” Donald told sportsboom.com in an exclusive interview at the Wanderers, where he is now the bowling coach for the Central Gauteng Lions, the champion first-class and T20 team in South Africa.

“Afghanistan will be more and more a force to be reckoned with if they can sort their batting out. I love the way Trott has demanded that Gurbaz take more responsibility, he’s been on his neck a bit because he wasn’t that type of player before. But him batting like he is now will rub off on the top six and it sets Afghanistan up with the bat.

“And dealing with the spin of Ghazanfar is really hard work. Plus he’s a dangerous hitter as well. That whole spin attack just causes chaos for the opposition,” Donald said.

The great fast bowler, who took 330 wickets in 72 Tests for South Africa at just 22.25, and 1216 first-class wickets at 22.76, said he is not overly concerned by the Proteas’ performance, pointing out that coach Rob Walter was resting several first-choice players. While the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Heinrich Klaasen are actually resting in their jacuzzis and reclining chairs, David Miller, Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi are currently playing in the Caribbean Premier League.

“I can see what Rob is trying to do and he has to rest certain players,” Donald said. “It’s another chance for the next-best players and I get it, it gave him a guide as to where the fringe players are at, where the depth is. It was a great time to blood some players, to show them he backs them.

“So South African fans shouldn’t be too upset. I half-expected it, especially in Sharjah against that quality of spin bowling. I think Rob pretty much knows what his team will look like in 2027 for the World Cup and that team will play together the majority of the time.

“It’s Wiaan Mulder’s time now, Bjorn Fortuin as well, and Reeza Hendricks just needs to keep chipping his way back into form. Kwena Maphaka has three years to get ready and Nqaba Peter definitely offers something different. He was great last year for us, but there’s no doubt his second season at top level will be tougher. We’ve had those conversations with him, told him to expect a difficult challenge this season,” Donald said of the Central Gauteng Lions stars in the Proteas mix.

Bloemfontein (July 20, 2024) – South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus said improving their discipline would be a pivotal part of their focus in the Rugby Championship after they beat Portugal 64-21 in their one-off Test in Bloemfontein on Saturday, despite playing with 14 men from the third minute and with 13 players for 16 minutes.

Centre Andre Esterhuizen was given an early yellow card for head-on-head contact after a crunching tackle on Jose’ Lima sent the Portuguese No.13 off the field with a concussion. Esterhuizen’s yellow card was later upgraded to a red by the television match official.

The Springboks also had wing Kurt-Lee Arendse yellow-carded in the 34^th minute for a dangerous clear-out at a ruck, and debutant replacement fullback Quan Horn was also sent to the sin-bin after playing an opponent in the air in the 74^th minute.

“Discipline is something we will need to look at after getting a red card so early. We had nearly 20 minutes with 13 men and the rest with 14, and obviously we won’t win World Cups like that. So that is something we will focus on. The incidents were all accidents, they weren’t things the players did on purpose.

“But we had to adapt to having 14 or 13 men, so that is a good thing. You get to learn the character of the players in matches like this. We had Duane Vermeulen next to the field and Gerry Flannery was planning how to defend without a blindside wing or a centre. On the field, the players can get rattled or stay calm, so there were big learnings from that tonight,” Erasmus said.

Conceding 10 tries but scoring three themselves was no disgrace for Portugal in their first meeting with South Africa, and their coach Simon Mannix said he could not have been more proud of his team.

“The lessons were enormous tonight and we were monstered in a lot of areas. The physicality of the Springboks was something else and the players felt it was two or three levels higher than what they experienced in the 2023 World Cup.

“I’m not naïve, I know it was a South Africa B team we played against, but they played some really good rugby, they have great athletes. We were beaten up at the breakdown and in a lot of areas, but we showed a lot of courage. I could not be more proud of the boys.

“We will learn and get better, but I’m very proud of the way we tried to play some rugby, especially in the first 10 minutes. We showed we can move the ball and go wide. This was an historic event and I hope the players will remember those first 10 minutes, we showed we were here to play and what we can do, we exposed them on the outside, which I was delighted about.

“We learnt so much about ourselves tonight, you can’t look at it negatively. There’s a huge gulf between No.15 and No.1 in the world. One of my players is in the fifth division in France and tonight he started against the Springboks. We have no full-time pros, but we have incredible spirit,” Mannix said.

South Africa kick off their Rugby Championship campaign against Australia in Brisbane on August 10.