Ken Borland

South Africa will be playing in the evening again in Lahore on Saturday as they look to stay alive in their T20 series against Pakistan and opening batsman Janneman Malan said they will be better prepared having now experienced the interesting weather conditions in the ancient city and centre of culture.

Given it is winter in Pakistan and dew is prevalent in the evenings, the Proteas did the right thing after winning the toss and choosing to bat second in the first match of the series, but there was even more moisture than expected but it strangely had less impact than the visitors thought it would. They were hoping it would make a dry, slow surface more slick, allowing the ball to come on to the bat better and negating some of the turn. But that didn’t happen according to Malan.

“It was interesting weather, especially when the fog came in. Credit to Pakistan for taking two important catches in the closing stages in those conditions. There was a wet outfield, the ball was wet, but it still didn’t skid on as much as we expected, so it was quite a challenge against the spinners at the start. So we just tried to capitalise on the seamers while they tried to figure out what to do.

“But now that we’ve seen what works and what doesn’t work, we’ll have better plans for the second game. Some deliveries were more difficult to hit and it wasn’t so much about execution as having the right plans. So there’s room for improvement – we probably need to commit harder and have clearer, better plans. But as a batting unit, we’re not far off where we want to be,” Malan said after blasting 44 off 29 balls in the first T20.

But after Malan’s opening stand of 53 off 42 balls with Reeza Hendricks, South Africa’s next biggest partnership was 32 for the fourth wicket between Hendricks (54 off 42) and skipper Heinrich Klaasen (12) as wickets fell regularly after Pakistan made the initial breakthrough via exciting leg-spinner Usman Qadir. Just one more sizeable partnership would have made the Proteas’ chase so much easier.

“As a batting unit, we want to win games and we’re not far off clicking. Just one more big partnership and we would have won the game. We just need to come up with the best options for each batsman. Experience is important and we’re obviously missing some of that, but it’s more important that every player focuses on doing their job, we can all add value.

“Reeza was in a difficult position when I got out because he had not faced a lot of balls, but he kept a cool head and got the strike-rate up again. He was obviously upset that he didn’t finish the game, but his dismissal was unlucky and he played a very good innings. The second game is a good opportunity for us to bounce back hard and hopefully change the momentum so we can take that into the final game on Sunday,” Malan said.

Farhaan Behardien has been playing for the Multiply Titans since 2006 and, even if his fortunes at national level have dived, his true value has been recognised by his franchise as he walked away with four trophies at the annual awards evening.

Behardien’s stellar season – he averaged 80 in the Sunfoil Series, 48.55 in the Momentum One-Day Cup and 234 in the RamSlam T20 Challenge – saw him claim the coveted Player of the Year, T20 Player of the Year, the First-Class Player of the Year and the Most Valuable Player of the Year awards.

“It’s something really special and the culmination of 12 years of hard work, a very proud moment for me. The Titans have done really well this season which has given me the platform to perform. Apart from playing a few amateur games for Western Province, I have been a one-club man and I have a passion for the Titans.

“Hopefully I can play for them for a few more years. After 12 years of playing, I kind of feel like I’ve got my doctorate now. Initially I was only able to provide glimpses and I seem to be the guy everyone loves to hate, I’ve been abused a lot. But I’m grateful to the Titans because they stuck with me.

“All that experience has now come together and is building to a head. There has always been some amazing talent at the Titans, and hopefully in a few years people will look back to myself, Heino Kuhn, Albie Morkel, Henry Davids, as being legends for the best franchise in the world. Heino and I are probably the only cricketers in the world to have won 14 domestic trophies,” Behardien said.

In one of the Titans’ greatest seasons, Behardien has been the glue in the middle-order, time and again playing the situation perfectly to be the matchwinner across all three formats.

“I’m strictly a middle-order bat and playing the situation asks tough questions of you but it’s part and parcel of the position I play. You learn to deal with it much better, whatever situation is in front of me, I just try and maximise my runs in however many balls I have. When you have not too long left in your career, you also tend to play with freedom,” Behardien said.

Behardien has lost his national contract and seems to be on the periphery of new Proteas coach Ottis Gibson’s plans, but don’t write off the 34-year-old just yet: his desire to play international cricket is as strong as ever and he remains one of the most successful and consistent batsmen in South African cricket.

“Whatever game is put in front of me, I just try and perform really well. Whenever the Titans have called, in whatever format, all three of them, in different situations, I’ve still managed to produce the goods. So I’ll be disappointed if I no longer get higher honours.

“I would love to go to next year’s World Cup, I can see myself at Lord’s scoring a hundred off 120 balls. That World Cup is a massive ambition of mine because I never played too much of a role in the previous world cups I went to. I would love to be part of that squad, but that’s up to the powers that be,” Behardien said.

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Tabraiz Shamsi put the disappointments of the 2016/17 season behind him and was one of the star players for the Multiply Titans as they won two of the three domestic trophies on offer this season, so much so that he was named the Players’ Player of the Year at the franchise’s awards evening.

The left-arm wrist-spinner’s phenomenal form in limited-overs cricket – he was the leading wicket-taker in both the Momentum One-Day Cup (26 @ 14.84, economy 4.50) and Ram Slam T20 Challenge (16 wickets, economy 7.00) – was obviously the major reason he won the prestigious award, but he also made a valuable contribution in the triumphant Sunfoil Series campaign, taking 13 wickets in three matches.

His Momentum One-Day Cup display included one of the greatest wicket-taking runs in South African day/night cricket history as he took 20 wickets in six games.

“It was a very, very successful season and to be the top wicket-taker in two competitions was really amazing for me. Last season there were quite a few disappointments, so it was important I had a good mindset this season because I was a bit disheartened. The best way to do that is to keep performing. To play just the one Test in 2016 was one of the disappointments, although Keshav Maharaj has done an exceptional job since then,” Shamsi said.

At the age of 28, Shamsi is still developing his game and is still a few years away from the age a spinner is usually considered to be hitting his peak.

“I feel in a good space and I’m still very young for a spinner and I still have a lot to learn. But I feel comfortable now at international level. Even against India, who are great players of spin bowling, I felt relatively comfortable. So it was a massive boost doing well against them in unfavourable conditions for a spinner,” Shamsi said.

Shamsi played two of the ODIs and all three of the T20 internationals against India and, added to his experience of playing in both the Caribbean Premier League and the Indian Premier League, it means he is settling in nicely at international level.

“I went to the Caribbean Premier League as an uncapped player and it changed my life to get noticed there and then be signed up for the IPL. There’s a very negative perception of these T20 tournaments in general, which is a bit unfair. They brought me recognition and playing against world-class opposition in those leagues means I felt a lot calmer when I played for South Africa.

“I’ve been selected more for white-ball cricket for South Africa and I’ve bowled to all those international batsmen before. If I’ve made mistakes then I’ve learnt from them and if I can dominate them in the T20 league then I will be able to take that edge into international cricket. I’m a big believer in having the mental edge,” Shamsi said.

Part of the Titans’ success this season has been deploying both Shamsi and leg-spinner Shaun von Berg in matches, and Shamsi believes they dovetail well.

“We’re very spoilt to have Shaun, who is a great spinner, too and it’s quite exciting for a team to have two quality wrist-spinners. Generally I’m more attacking and he does the holding role more, but I also only went for 3.3 runs-per-over in the Sunfoil Series, so we complement each other, I feel comfortable doing both jobs.

“I still dream of playing more Test cricket and there is a sub-continent tour coming up, so I haven’t given up on that. I didn’t play a lot of four-day cricket last season, so this year was about finding my groove again. I’m confident I have a lot to offer with the red ball as well,” Shamsi said.

Having risen from a low ebb, Shamsi will continue to bring the sort of positive attitude to his game that usually brings results.

http://www.titans.co.za/index.php/k2-8/2014-12-23-04-21-46/listing-2-columns/item/834-shamsi-disappointments-of-the-2016-17-season-put-to-bed

The Vodacom Bulls went top of the South African SuperRugby conference as they pipped the Emirates Lions 35-33 in a wild, thrilling evening at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

After the scintillating match between the Hurricanes and the Crusaders earlier in the day, the Bulls and Lions showed that here in Africa there is also skill and running rugby.

It was the Bulls who stampeded out of the blocks first, racing to an 18-7 lead and they were comfortably ahead 25-13 at the break. Both sides played with pace and intensity and were not afraid to spread the ball wide, but there was also plenty of uncompromising forward play, defence and fiercely-contested rucks.

Bulls scrumhalf Piet van Zyl scored the first two tries in a dazzling three minutes and it was a pity he had to leave the field injured in the 36^th minute because it robbed the Bulls attack of some fluency and also penetration out wide because Francois Hougaard had to move in and play halfback.

Van Zyl’s first try came after a superb counter-attack by the Bulls, who ran from deep and used long passes as flank Arno Botha was eventually stopped in the left corner, the scrumhalf then dummying at the ruck and diving over to dot down.

Three minutes later the Bulls again went wide and it didn’t matter that it was the big men there – locks Victor Matfield and Flip van der Merwe both handled with aplomb to send Botha charging down the left again, before he passed inside to centre Jan Serfontein, who then found Van Zyl, who battled through two tackles to score.

Van Zyl’s opposite number, Faf de Klerk, then lit up Loftus as he provided a brilliant finish to a break by right wing Ruan Combrinck and the conversion by flyhalf Elton Jantjies cut the Bulls’ lead to 12-7.

Pollard kicked two penalties to stretch the gap to 18-7, before Jantjies kicked his second penalty.

But the Bulls ensured they maintained a healthy cushion when JJ Engelbrecht teared off through the middle of the field after Serfontein had popped the ball up in the tackle, the outside centre racing clear and then sprinting around the cover defence for an extraordinary try, converted by Pollard.

Jantjies is staking a strong claim for a World Cup place behind Pollard and Pat Lambie, and he maintained his good goalkicking form with his second penalty of the first half.

This Lions team is a never-say-die outfit and the Bulls’ weakness is the scrum, which they managed to largely avoid in the first half. But with the second half starting with several scrums, the Lions were able to squeeze penalties out of the Bulls, denying them possession for long periods and dominating territory as well.

Referee Marius van der Westhuizen is clearly no scrum expert, but there was no denying the clear change in momentum as Jantjies kicked two penalties to close the gap to 19-25 and then the Lions took the lead for the first time in the 54^th minute.

Replacement Courtnall Skosan provided an injection of pace down the left and with impressive flank Jaco Kriel making an incisive run, the Lions swept into the Bulls’ 22, from where their forwards began driving and loosehead prop Jacques van Rooyen was able to go over for an easy try, converted by Jantjies.

Bulls captain Victor Matfield was getting increasingly frustrated with the referee, the Bulls being denied a crucial advantage at one stage, but it was regular captain, Pierre Spies, coming off the bench, who took control of affairs.

The eighthman leapt high to control a chip-kick and then sparked a counter-attack with Hougaard that ended with a ruck penalty inside the Lions’ 22. Spies immediately tapped the ball and powered his way through several tackles, scoring the crucial try that regained the lead for the Bulls with 12 minutes remaining. The Springbok has certainly been playing with tremendous authority in recent weeks.

The momentum also shifted in the scrums, with a massive shove earning the Bulls a penalty in the 76^th minute, Pollard slotting a 50m effort to stretch the lead to 35-26.

The smart money would then have been on the Bulls, but the Lions have a well-earned reputation for earning their pay over the full 80 minutes and the home side still have fresh scars from their last-minute loss a month ago at Ellis Park.

And sure enough, the Lions ensured a grandstand finish as they scored a 78^th-minute try to narrow the Bulls’ lead to 35-33. Coach Johan Ackermann had called on the services of Ross Cronje off the bench at scrumhalf and he sparked a counter that saw wave-after-wave of Lions attacks. Eventually the Bulls simply ran out of defenders and Kriel, one of the Lions’ consistent stars, had an easy run-in for the try.

But the Bulls were particularly effective in the rucks on Saturday night and they were able to claim a turnover from the kickoff and ended the match with a scrum five metres from the opposition tryline.

Scorers

Bulls – Tries: Piet van Zyl (2), JJ Engelbrecht, Pierre Spies. Conversions: Handre Pollard (3). Penalties: Pollard (3).

Lions – Tries: Faf de Klerk, Jacques van Rooyen, Jaco Kriel. Conversions: Elton Jantjies (3). Penalties: Jantjies (4).

http://citizen.co.za/374533/bonus-point-35-33-win-for-bulls-in-loftus-thriller/