Ken Borland

New Proteas Test coach Shukri Conrad is not aiming to be the manufacturer of some dramatic new way of playing five-day cricket, but he has nevertheless made some brave calls as South Africa head into a new era in what most players still consider the pinnacle of the game as they take on the West Indies in the first of a two-match series in Centurion from Tuesday.

Conrad has not only installed a new Test captain in Temba Bavuma, whose predecessor Dean Elgar remains in the team but needs to regain his ability to make tough runs, but also cut a trio of players who would probably have expected to still be involved.

Dropping two of the three leading run-scorers in the series in Australia over the festive season is certainly a tough call if you are Kyle Verreynne, who scored two half-centuries in the three Tests, or Sarel Erwee, whose last Test innings was the dogged 42 not out he scored to help South Africa save the third Test in Sydney.

Lungi Ngidi has also been a regular in the Test team, playing 11 of the 18 Tests in the last two years. He has taken 33 wickets in that time, at an excellent average of just 21.63. Ngidi has also conceded only 3.06 runs-per-over in that time, all of which suggests he plays an important role in the Proteas attack, but Conrad has seemingly gone the bold route of wanting the express pace of uncapped Gerald Coetzee instead.

Heinrich Klaasen and Aiden Markram are the batsmen to benefit from the axing of Verreynne and Erwee. There is no doubting that both are amongst the most talented strokeplayers in the country, but Klaasen has scored just 48 runs in four Test innings, and Markram makes yet another return based on just how damn good he looks whenever he picks up a bat, except when it comes to actually scoring runs at Test level.

Typically of Conrad, who is never afraid to back his big calls, he has already stated that Markram will return to opening the batting alongside Elgar. The new coach is not reinventing how the Proteas play Test cricket, but he is certainly aiming for a more aggressive, positive approach.

Conrad was walking around the SuperSport Park field on Monday morning during the Proteas’ final preparations like a sergeant major, but he is not all bark and bite; he found time to give the no-doubt hurting Elgar an arm around the shoulder and a rub of the neck.

If the 55-year-old Conrad is the equivalent of the Proteas’ chairman of the board, then Bavuma is the new CEO tasked with getting the best out of the staff.

Bavuma is no stranger to international captaincy, of course, having led the Proteas in 17 ODIs and 25 T20s. He is highly-respected by his team-mates for his tactical acumen, technical ability and tenacity.

Bavuma has been no stranger to tough times recently, and he was stressing the need for his team to embrace a fresh start against the West Indies.

“These are exciting times, it’s the start of a new journey and I would like us to start with a clean slate and play the way we want to play,” Bavuma said at Centurion on Monday.

“We have got enough resources in the 15-man squad to adapt to conditions and back up whatever tactics we want to employ. And there are other leaders within the team, guys who have been around for a while, who I can definitely lean on. We just need to ensure we are all speaking the same language.

“The brand of cricket we play is how we want to measure ourselves, but we still need to man up. We know as a batting unit that we need to score the runs, we need to go out and do what we need to do.

“A lot of these guys have won a series against India not long ago when no-one really backed us to do that. I always preach playing together as a team and we don’t want to lose that,” Bavuma said.

Fresh starts almost always involve a positive approach to things, and it seems the Proteas are as concerned with how they go about playing as what they produce. Conrad will have to live or die by his brave choices, and perhaps he will discover that sometimes producing the goods is all that matters, no matter how you look doing it.

Dean Elgar had not had much time to think about his greatest triumph as Proteas captain when he was asked what were the positives, in terms of leadership, that he had taken out of the remarkable series win over India, but he did correctly point out that all 11 players had to be on the same page for them to stage such a dramatic and composed comeback.

Elgar had captained South Africa to a defeat against England at Lord’s in 2017 and victory over Pakistan at the Wanderers in 2019 before being appointed full-time Test captain ahead of the two-match series in the West Indies last June. He has now led the Proteas to five wins and two defeats in his total of seven matches as skipper.

“I still need to reflect on all the good things that happened,” Elgar said. “But my skin is pretty thick when it comes to on-field matters and this team never lied down, they always fought.

“They stayed in the game-plan, never veered off it and that’s a good strength to have. You need to have all 11 guys on the same page and I think I’ve gained some people skills that I lacked before.

“I’m a lot more experienced now, but it’s still something I will work on so that I can use it to the best of my ability as captain. It’s tough sometimes not being able to control anything out there.

“But I’ve had to learn quickly not to show my emotions on camera. I think I’m more calm now and I don’t panic too soon,” Elgar said.

The gutsy left-handed opener said building momentum after the poor display in the first Test at Centurion had been a tough task.

“Momentum is important, you really need it in a tough series and it’s difficult to gain against quality opposition,” Elgar said. “So you need to capitalise when the sniff is there.

“And you also have to make sure you don’t let it slip when you’ve got the momentum. But I thought we played the big moments brilliantly, especially considering we did not have a lot of confidence.

“But we showed India are also humans and they are beatable. There were a few turning points and building up to the second Test we had a tough chat for maybe an hour.

“It helped to get the appreciation for the badge back and chasing 240 at the Wanderers was a massive confidence boost for us,” Elgar said.

David Miller reproduced his heroics of old as he struck two sixes in the final over as South Africa snatched a dramatic four-wicket victory with just a ball to spare over Sri Lanka in their T20 World Cup match in Sharjah on Saturday.

The win keeps South Africa very much alive in the competition, but it looked like being another frustrating batting performance by the Proteas as, chasing just 143 to win, they got themselves into a tangle and were left needing 15 runs off the last over.

But Lahiru Kumara bowled two balls in the slot on middle-and-leg and Miller (23* off 13) dispatched both of them over midwicket for six. He then took a single, leaving Kagiso Rabada (13* off 7) to slice the winning runs to the third man boundary, having earlier smashed a vital six in the penultimate over.

South Africa seemed out of the game when leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga took a hat-trick.

He struck a key blow at the end of the 15^th over when he bowled Aiden Markram (19) and he then returned in the 18^th over, with the Proteas needing 31 runs.

With his first ball he had Temba Bavuma (46) caught at deep midwicket off a long-hop and then Dwaine Pretorius tried to clear long-on off his first delivery and didn’t come close, giving the 24-year-old only the third hat-trick in a T20 World Cup, after Brett Lee in 2007 and South African-born Curtis Campher in the qualifying round of this year’s tournament.

South Africa’s problems began though in the powerplay at the start of their innings when Dushmantha Chameera removed Reeza Hendricks (11) and Quinton de Kock (12) in the fourth over.

Bavuma was then involved in the unfortunate run out of Rassie van der Dussen (16 off 11) as South Africa slipped to 49 for three after eight overs.

Bavuma ensured he stuck it out though, fighting hard in his run-a-ball innings as he and Markram added 47 in six overs.

Hasaranga then seemed to have fatally derailed the chase, but Miller and Rabada showed that it is never over until the last over.

Sri Lanka’s batting would have collapsed like a house of cards were it not for opener Pathum Nissanka’s 72 off 58 balls. He anchored the innings much like Bavuma did, before accelerating brilliantly at the death.

South Africa’s bowling was superb though, Markram (2-0-8-0) and Anrich Nortje (4-0-27-2) not giving much away in the powerplay.

Sri Lanka tried to attack in the middle overs but Tabraiz Shamsi was too good for them, bouncing back from his off day against the West Indies with superb figures of 3/17 in his four overs.

Pretorius was once again brilliant at the death, taking 3/17 in three overs from the 15^th.

The South African Open came to a thrilling conclusion at a squelchy Gary Player Country Club on Sunday with Daniel van Tonder holding off Oliver Bekker to claim the title by one stroke with a dramatic 25-foot birdie putt on the 18^th hole.

Bekker and Van Tonder had been tied on nine-under-par, four strokes behind leader Justin Harding, at the end of the third round when it was completed on Sunday morning. While Van Tonder took control of proceedings with three birdies in four holes from the eighth to take a two-stroke lead, Bekker came with a late charge as he birdied the last three holes.

The seven-time Sunshine Tour winner was inches away from making eagle on the 18^th when his 60-foot putt stopped just next to the hole. By then, Van Tonder was in the middle of the final fairway and knew he had to make birdie to win.

More drama was to come though as Van Tonder’s approach only just cleared the water, stopping right next to the yellow markers. He then duffed his chip way short, leaving him with a 25-foot putt for birdie and the win. Fortunately, Hennie du Plessis had a similar birdie putt just before him, which he made to finish third on 12-under-par.

Treading gently is not something the 30-year-old from Boksburg does often and Van Tonder stepped up and nailed the slightly curving putt with confidence.

“All I was thinking was just make the thing, give it a chance. The whole day I had been leaving putts pin-high or lipping out, so I just had to make sure I hit it,” Van Tonder said after his great final round of 65.

“If it goes in, I win, if it stays out then I’m in a playoff. And when it went in I just thought ‘Finally!’.

While Bekker played some amazing golf, chipping in three times on Sunday (making it five for the week), Van Tonder played some tremendous shots of his own.

On the water-lined eighth hole he made a 20-foot birdie putt after having to hit his approach with a mud ball from the rough, and then on the 10^th he chipped in from the bank above the hole for another birdie. On the par-three 16^th, his superb tee-shot was right on course for the hole and he was left with a five-footer for birdie.

“I’ve been seven and nine shots behind and won, I just play my own game, which is looking for birdie putts. I’m not a bad player you know, I can catch anyone,” Van Tonder said with a twinkle in his eye as he clutched the magnificent SA Open trophy.

Van Tonder’s conquest of the South African Open and arguably the country’s best course ends an epic couple of years for the idiosyncratic golfer.

Van Tonder spent 2020 dominating the Sunshine Tour, then spent six months of this year competing on the European Tour, where he won the Kenya Savannah Classic and finished 75^th on the order of merit.

And now he is a South African Open champion.

“I’m very happy. It’s been a long, hard year, having to stay overseas for six months because of Covid. But I love this place, I love playing here and the SA Open is the special one, the second oldest tournament.

“So it’s a big thing to win. It means a lot. Watching others win it has looked so awesome, but now I can walk around and say I’m an SA Open champion,” Van Tonder said.

While the Boksburg golfer generally played extremely well in all four rounds, his 16-under-par total of 272 coming from rounds of 69 68 70 and 65, perhaps his most impressive characteristic was the steel he showed when under pressure.

Bekker’s three-straight birdies to finish left Van Tonder needing a birdie to win, but his approach on the 18^th only just cleared the water. He then duffed his chip well short, leaving him with a daunting 25-foot putt to win.

Before those final-hole heroics, Van Tonder had managed to turn a mud-ball in the rough on the eighth, which many consider the toughest hole on which to keep your approach shot dry, into a 20-foot birdie and then chipped in for birdie from the bank above the 10^th hole.

“When I was young, I was not the longest hitter so I had to chip and putt well. My short game is still not too bad,” Van Tonder smiled. “My mindset is to attack, hit the fairways and greens and then make the putts.

“The other guys know I have a saying: ‘I can smell blood in the air’. This game is something else because I struggled last week at the Joburg Open and then this week I had my normal game.

“Playing overseas with the best in the world, with all that experience you see that their games are the same. There’s no difference, it’s just mindsets,” Van Tonder said.

And Van Tonder is clearly mentally prepared to deal with whatever hardships he encounters on the course.