The focus is on the big moments for our DP World Lions women’s team this weekend as they head to Bloemfontein to get the 2024/25 HollywoodBets ProSeries underway against the Free State Knights, with coach Shaun Pretorius saying all the hard work has been done in the pre-season and now it is all down to the execution.
The DP World Lions finished as runners-up in both the Pro50 and Pro20 competitions last season, so #ThePrideOfJozi are hungry to get over the line this season.
“The focus is on BMT, those big situations when we need to step up and show character, those times when our backs are against the wall,” Pretorius said.
“We’ve had quite a few warm-up games, including against the Titans and the Knights, as well as lots of middle sessions and some time in the classroom as well, where we went over our game-plans and KPIs. There’s been buy-in from the squad, all the hard work is done and the preparation has gone really well.
“We could not ask for better in terms of the facilities at the DP World Wanderers Stadium, so now it all comes down to the execution,” Pretorius said.
Pretorius is not a keen advertiser of his selections ahead of matches, and in terms of the squad he is taking to Bloemfontein, all he wanted to say was that there are a couple of injured players at present, for which they have good cover, and that there are very experienced players going to take on the Knights.
The hosts, meanwhile, will be without former Proteas captain Mignon van der Merwe (nee’ Du Preez), who is pregnant with twins. And our DP World Lions have good memories of their last visit to Bloemfontein, when they chased down 248 with 31 balls and six wickets to spare in the one-day game, and then won the T20 match by seven wickets with seven balls to spare.
“Mignon has obviously been a big run-scorer for the Knights, but we will not take anything lightly going there. Even though we won both games there last season, we still have to execute properly and be clinical in the different phases of the game. Free State still have Yolandi Potgieter and Izel Cilliers is back.
“I especially want our batters to try and manipulate spin bowling better, we need to score at a better strike-rate against the slow stuff. Against pace we are executing well,” Pretorius said.
JOHANNESBURG – England-based James Mack shot a six-under-par 66 on Wednesday to lead the Gary & Vivienne Player Challenge after the first round at Kyalami Country Club, but there is a hunk of prime South African Sunshine Tour talent chasing him down just one stroke behind.
Simon du Plooy, Jacques P. de Villiers, Ruan de Smidt, Christiaan Burke, Martin Rohwer and Jonathan Broomhead all posted five-under-par 67s on Wednesday to ensure Mack has plenty of challengers in his rearview mirror.
De Villiers, whose only bogey came on the par-five 13th when he three-putted, said the key to doing well at Kyalami Country Club on Wednesday was shaping the ball on the 6631m course with tight fairways.
“The fairways are very hard and they’re tight, so it’s tough to hit them with the ball bouncing so much. You’ve got to be able to shape the ball off the tee and I did that well today,” De Villiers said.
“I also putted really well and even though I made four birdies and an eagle, I still had a few horseshoes, including one that came right back at me. But it was a really solid round, I played well today in conditions that were very nice. It wasn’t too cold this morning and the wind didn’t blow too much either.”
The highlight of De Villiers’ season thus far has been finishing third in the FBC Zambia Open, which was then followed by a long break. His finishes since the Sunshine Tour returned to action have been 20th, 43rd, 35th and 37th, but the Schoeman Park golfer still feels his game is well-toned as he looks towards the co-sanctioned events in the summer.
“I’ve been working hard on my swing with Doug Wood and the changes are there or thereabouts. But the game has been trending in the right direction for sure over the last couple of weeks. It’s all preparation now for the big events on the summer swing,” the 34-year-old said.
Mack started his round on the par-four 10th hole and immediately picked up a birdie. Two more birdies in a faultless back nine saw him go out in three-under, and he collected four more birdies on the front nine, although a bogey on the par-three fourth hole was a hiccup.
Ten other golfers are two shots behind on four-under-par.
Corbin Bosch’s pugnacious half-century continued his dream debut and gave South Africa a vital lead. Photo: Phill Magakoe (AFP)
Pakistan ended the second day of the first Test against South Africa three wickets down in their second innings and still two runs behind, a poor position that does not reflect the pressure they put the Proteas under at SuperSport Park on Friday.
Babar Azam (16*) and Saud Shakeel (8*) were at the crease when bad light stopped play at 5pm with Pakistan on 88 for three. The visitors were no doubt quite happy to retire to the safety of their changeroom as it had been a disappointing previous hour for them as they failed to capitalise on an opening stand of 49 between Saim Ayub (27) and Shan Masood (28).
South Africa were most relieved to have gained a first-innings lead of 90, thanks to dream-debutant Corbin Bosch and the help of the tail, because they bowled poorly for the first 10 overs of Pakistan’s second innings.
Kagiso Rabada eventually broke the opening stand with a tremendous delivery: angled in from around the wicket to the left-handed Saim, it then seamed and bounced past his outside edge and hit the top of off-stump.
Marco Jansen was off-colour in the first innings, but he then produced an excellent spell of two for 17 in four overs late in the day. Shan was smartly taken in the slips by Tristan Stubbs, who had a rough time in the cordon on the first day, and Kamran Ghulam fell for four in similar fashion.
But Ghulam, Pakistan’s top-scorer in the first innings with 54, looked the victim of bad luck as Ryan Rickelton did superbly to scoop up an edge diving forward in the gully. TV replays suggested the ball had bounced just before he got his fingers around it, but third umpire Kumar Dharmasena gave him out.
That the Proteas had a lead as significant as 90 runs was thanks to Bosch, who scored a tenacious 81 not out off 93 deliveries, with 15 fours. He came to the crease after some poor batting by South Africa had seen them slide from 178 for four to 191 for seven, with Naseem Shah taking three wickets.
He joined Aiden Markram at the crease, with the opening batsman casting aside some near misses recently as he stroked a brilliant 89 off 144 balls. It was a defiant innings as he stuck around for four-and-a-half hours on a sporty pitch, but it was also filled with some gorgeous strokeplay as he collected 15 fours.
But when Markram finally fell, caught behind gloving a hook at Khurram Shehzad, the Proteas were 213 for eight, leading by just two runs.
But Bosch, playing positively but sensibly, took control as he continued his outstanding first-class form with the bat. He added 41 for the ninth wicket with Kagiso Rabada (13) and a delightful 47 for the last wicket with Dane Paterson (12), taking his first-class average this season to 96!
Bosch is the first player to take four wickets in an innings and score a half-century on his Test debut for South Africa, although Queenstown-born Tony Greig scored 62 and 57 and took four for 53 on debut for England, against Australia at Old Trafford in 1972. Eleven other debutants have achieved the feat in all Test cricket.
“Corbin’s innings made a huge difference. At one stage it looked like we would only have a lead of 15 to 20 runs. But now Pakistan are effectively none for three and we’ve managed to get a bit ahead in the game, even though we didn’t land the ball as we wanted this afternoon,” Markram said after the close of play.
“Corbin is having a special debut, it looks easy this Test cricket thing for him! It was a hugely valuable knock, probably worth more than a hundred. He’s really talented and he’s grafted really hard to get here. He still has a lot more to offer the Proteas.”
Markram’s impressive innings comes as a relief to himself and his many fans; since his century against India on an even more treacherous pitch at Newlands in January, he had made just one half-century in 10 innings midway through the second Test against Sri Lanka at St George’s Park at the start of this month. But through all that period, he had looked so good at the crease, almost imperious.
He made 55 in the second innings in Gqeberha and backed it up with even more on Friday.
“It was really frustrating because I felt I was moving well and seeing the ball well, but I was finding interesting ways to get out. It would have been different if I was scratching around and felt out of touch. But it still plays on you because you want to contribute to the team winning. Hopefully this can turn things around now,” Markram said after his 13th Test half-century.
“Today there was an ebb and flow to my innings. At times I got into a rhythm when I was moving well, but at other times it feels like you’re fighting with yourself. I was just trying to leave well but also balance that with the desire to score. There were certain lengths that if the bowler hit them then you’re just trying to get through it somehow. But then you need to have the intensity to score around those lengths.
“You don’t want to make it too complicated, but you get good value for your shots on the Highveld, so I like to be positive up here. If the bowlers don’t land the ball in the right areas then the pitch is nice to bat on, but if they zone in on the right spots then it becomes tough to bat. You need to spend time out there, get a feel for it, but the ball keeps nibbling around,” Markram said.
THUMBS UP: Dane Paterson took his second successive five-wicket haul. Photo: AFP
The day after Christmas can be a bit of a downer considering the joy of the previous day, but there were many at SuperSport Park on Thursday who were adamant that they were not going to let anything get them down on the opening day of the first Test between South Africa and Pakistan.
For the festive crowd of more than 16 000 – the sold out signs went up in the afternoon – it helped ameliorate any hangovers, both literal and figurative, that they bought more than a million rand of beer on Thursday. According to Northerns Cricket Union CEO Jacques Faul, this is the first time that has ever happened at Centurion.
But for the Proteas players it took good old-fashioned determination and pride to ensure they kept coming back.
For the spearhead of the attack, Kagiso Rabada, there was the frustration of any number of plays-and-misses by the Pakistan batsmen as he whizzed delivery after delivery past the edges of the bat. But he did not let it get him down, never once dropping his head. His tenacity was not rewarded, but Mother Cricket will surely smile on the great paceman in the second innings.
Having won the toss and sent Pakistan in to bat, the Proteas had to endure a wicket-less first hour. Captain Temba Bavuma said in the huddle at the drinks break that the wickets will come, they must just stay patient.
Debutant Corbin Bosch, who has had to overcome more challenges than most in getting to the international stage, then struck with his first delivery in Test cricket, the first ball after drinks. Pakistan captain Shan Masood (17), having put on 36 with fellow opener Saim Ayub, drove at a full delivery angled across him and edged to gully.
While Bosch finished a memorable first day in Proteas whites, taking four for 63 in 15 overs, it was Dane Paterson who did most of the damage as Pakistan were bowled out for 211 three balls after tea.
Paterson followed up Bosch’s memorable moment – he is just the 25th bowler to take a wicket with his first ball in Test cricket and the fifth South African – by then snaring wickets in successive overs.
Saim (14) was caught behind after edging an excellent delivery that was typical of Paterson’s effort on Boxing Day: In a great channel just outside off stump and the perfect, slightly fuller length.
Pakistan’s kingpin, Babar Azam, was caught in the slips for just 4 edging a limp, indecisive fiddle outside off-stump, and Bosch then claimed a second wicket as Saud Shakeel (14) gloved an attempted hook to wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne.
Kamran Ghulam and Mohammad Rizwan took Pakistan to 88 for four at lunch, and went on to add 81 for the fifth wicket. But it was Paterson who returned to break the partnership, frustrating Ghulam (54) with his accuracy and drawing a reckless charge down the pitch and wild swipe that was caught at fine leg.
Rizwan (27) had also charged and flailed unsuccessfully at Paterson a couple of times, and a hard-handed drive saw him caught in the slips in the Western Province paceman’s next over.
Salman Agha (18) was also caught trying to slog Paterson, who removed five of the top seven batsmen for career-best figures of 16-4-61-5, his second successive five-wicket haul.
The 35-year-old Paterson has had several critics moaning about his selection for the Test side, but he has not let it get him down.
“I’m drifting nicely into the sunset and I’m happy just to be putting the team in good positions. I will be 36 next year, but I don’t really want to mention my age,” Paterson laughed in the press conference after the close of play.
“If people have something to say about me then they should take it in return too, that’s freedom of speech. The critics provide me with fuel to prove people wrong. But my focus is on putting the team in good positions, it’s not about me.
“I’m probably not a fan favourite because I’m 35 and I bowl at 124km/h. But hopefully after these last two Tests I will get some likes!” Paterson said.
The skilful seamer gave his fellow pacemen Bosch and Rabada likes as well.
“Corbin was in his home conditions and obviously has knowledge of what works here, but to have a debut like that and push for five wickets is a dream come true, it was really quite special.
“KG is special; even against Sri Lanka he had a lot of plays-and-misses. But he keeps on coming, which is good to see, and he doesn’t let it get him down, although that sort of bad luck can be frustrating. But he is a quality bowler,” Paterson said.
Proteas Test coach Shukri Conrad often selects on gut feel and Paterson’s inclusion has been controversial but undoubtedly a success. In his five Tests under Conrad this year, he has taken 20 wickets at a brilliant average of just 21.75.
“I’ve known Shukri for a long time, I played a lot of amateur cricket when he was coaching at Western Province. We had a chat in January and I knew that I would be going to New Zealand. I thought that would probably be two Tests and I was done, but we had a chat and he said he had a plan for me. I knew what I had to do after that, I had to get in better shape and put in the performances at domestic level.
“Hopefully Shukri is now chuffed with his selection,” Paterson said.
In reply, a very good 47 not out by Aiden Markram, stroking nine handsome boundaries off 67 deliveries, took South Africa to 82 for three at stumps.
The pitch may have been unusually slow by SuperSport Park standards, but there was movement off the deck right until the close of play. Tony de Zorzi (2), Ryan Rickelton (8) and Tristan Stubbs (9) all fell to fine deliveries from Khurram Shehzad (twice) and Mohammad Abbas, trapping Stubbs lbw, that seamed a long way.
2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come!”
By committing yourself completely to the Lord, you will become a good person. Our personality yields to Christ’s influence and we grow into the likeness of him.
This will not happen through your own strength, abilities or ingenuity, no matter how hard you try. When you open yourself to the Holy Spirit, your personality is transfigured and your lifestyle transformed.
