Ken Borland

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.

CENTURION – The bold and exciting approach of Gerhard Pepler and the controlled, clinical golf of Leon Vorster had the same outcome on Thursday as they both shot outstanding 65s in the first round of the KitKat Cash & Carry Pro-Am at the beautiful rural setting of the Irene Country Club to share the lead on seven-under-par.

Both golfers began their rounds on the 10^th hole and Vorster made a strong birdie-birdie start. The 27-year-old would collect further birdies on the par-four 15^th and par-five 17^th holes to reach the turn in a faultless four-under 32.

Pepler’s round made for vivid reading: He had birdied the 10^th and then made three pars as he reached the 432m par-four 14^th, which he triple-bogeyed for a seven having gone out-of-bounds off the tee. He immediately rebounded by driving the 308m par-four 15^th and sinking a 10-foot putt for eagle.

The representative of Mogol Golf Club in Lephalele (Ellisras) then sank a superb 20-foot downhill, double-breaking putt for birdie on the par-three 16^th, before a tremendous drive on the par-five 17^th left him with just 122m in and he hit a sand-wedge to two-and-half metres for another eagle. A birdie at the par-four 18^th meant Pepler was also out in 32.

The 24-year-old also started the front nine in rollercoaster fashion, going birdie-bogey-birdie, but he then settled down with a string of pars before finishing strong with birdies on the eighth and ninth holes.

“I must admit I was mentally tired after that stretch on the back nine,” Pepler said. “On 14 my plan beforehand had been to hit a punchy, cut Driver but then on the tee-box I decided to take a two-iron and I hit it straight right into the cows. I just don’t like that hole, I always just see the out-of-bounds on the right and my third was almost out-of-bounds again, but it hit a tree. I then chipped out and two-putted for the seven.

“So I was angry after that and I took my two-iron again on 15, it pitched front-edge and ran to 10 feet from the hole. I said to my caddie that we can still turn level-par, but I guess I was just in the zone. After my bogey on the second – my approach was probably my worst shot of the round, on to the road and into the hazard – I was just determined not to lose any more of what I had gained on the front nine,” Pepler said.

Vorster made a grand start to his back nine by birdieing the first and second holes, and birdies on the sixth and ninth holes made up for a bogey on the par-three fourth hole. The Parys Golf and Country Estate representative is not just using his triumph last month on the Altron Big Easy Tour as his door into the Sunshine Tour, but also carrying through the confidence he gained by winning the final of that feeder tour at nearby Blue Valley Golf and Country Estate.

Stefan Wears-Taylor was one shot off the lead after shooting a 66. The Centurion Country Club golfer also began his round on the 10^th and reached the turn in one-under, but he would tear through the front-nine in five-under 31.

Martin Rohwer also finished on the front nine, and came home in 32 to join Wears-Taylor in the tie for second on six-under-par.

South African cricket was in an ugly place before the arrival of the SA20, and now that the second season has proven to be just as exciting as the first, commissioner Graeme Smith has reason to smile.

The former Proteas captain was certainly a happy man this last week as he got stuck into the post-mortems of the event that once again enjoyed tremendous crowd support, threw up more fantastic cricket, and was once again won by the Sunrisers Eastern Cape.

“In two years we have built something South African cricket can be really proud of. At the end of 2022, we were all looking for something positive. Now people are raving about the SA20,” Smith told Rapport.

“The feedback from the players, the teams and the fans has been extremely positive. The actual cricket played was probably the greatest strength of the tournament, teams and individuals really came to the fore and it was very exciting. And we will never take for granted the number of people who came to the grounds and turned on their tellies to watch.

“Mondays and Tuesdays are the toughest days to get a crowd, but to see the people come and support was fantastic, we were still 65% full on those days. And then from Wednesday to Sunday the crowds were incredible. The final weekend of league action was probably my favourite time because the crowds were amazing and it was tense cricket,” Smith said.

The success of the SA20 has certainly disturbed the cricketing landscape. Australia’s Big Bash League, which this year overlapped with the SA20 because it finished on January 24, is apparently feeling the heat. There has been talk of them bringing their auction forward to try and get the cream of the cop and making players sign guarantees that they will be available for the complete tournament. Smith has heard other rumours, but is not flustered by the competition.

“I hear rumours that the Big Bash will move to December. But those players who sign for them will still have options; those players who initially backed us I will always be grateful to.

“We will look at things like pre-signings and our auctions, but the timing of the auction will depend on what we deicide about pre-signings.”

But it is the International League T20 in the United Arab Emirates, which had its final on Saturday, which is causing the greatest ruction when it comes to these rapidly-spreading franchise leagues.

“We’ve built up our SA20 against the Big Bash and the ILT20 sitting right on top of us, so there are a thousand more positives for us than negatives. We obviously want some high-quality overseas players, but our tournament definitely has a local player base.

“But the ILT20 consumes too many overseas players; they require nine foreign players in an XI. So it’s not really an investment in UAE cricket. That also puts them up against the ICC, who passed a ruling that franchise T20 leagues are only allowed up to five overseas players. They gave the ILT20 an extended time to sort it out because they said they had existing broadcast deals,” Smith said.

With the Sunrisers Eastern Cape once again dominating the SA20, questions were asked as to why they don’t get home ground advantage in the playoffs. But the nature of the tournament, with this season’s qualifiers only decided after the last round-robin match, means it is logistically near-impossible to give the top two teams home fixtures.

A short, one-month tournament is what the SA20 is all about, and only deciding who will host the final at the end of the event would require nearly a week to be added to the schedule in order to satisfy the logistics of making the last game a real extravaganza and fitting finale.

“We’re trying to keep the tournament short and exciting, four or five weeks maximum. The SA20 is a massive ship to move logistically and it’s very difficult to do that in one day. We have to sell tickets for the final and brand the stadium properly …

“The final was sold out two weeks before the game, which is a real sign of success. We understand the fans want to see their team play in the final at home, but the format will probably stay the same. The IPL have a very similar set-up with neutral venues for the final, it’s like Champions League football as well. Like this year, we’ll probably give the winners the opening game next season,” Smith said.

Apart from stimulating the economy – Smith pointed out how airports around the country have been full of SA20-connected people for the last month – the successful league has also planted the first seeds of what will hopefully be a hugely successful 2027 World Cup in South Africa.

“The SA20 means that there should be a lot of high-quality people who have worked on an event of similar level to the 2027 World Cup. We’ve given them incredible experience of working under high pressure to very high standards, it’s a really high-performance environment. Our staff have made me proud and I want to see an outstanding World Cup here in 2027,” Smith said.

Given his success in setting up and driving the SA20, what chance Smith for the tournament director role in the new organising company CSA have just registered?

South Africa conceded a monstrous 386-run first-innings lead as Australia piled up a massive 575 for eight declared, wicketkeeper/batsman Alex Carey stroking an exciting century, on the third day of the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday.

Anrich Nortje produced a thrilling double-strike in his second over of the day as he bowled Travis Head for a dashing 51, shaping the ball back into the left-hander. That brought second-day hero David Warner back to the crease, the left-hander celebrating his 100^th Test having retired hurt with severe cramps upon reaching his epic 200 not out.

But Nortje, whose tremendous fast bowling the previous day had thrilled the MCG crowd almost as much as Warner’s innings, bowled the veteran opener first ball back with an excellent yorker.

Pat Cummins survived the hat-trick ball but was then caught behind off Kagiso Rabada for 4. With Cameron Green and Mitchell Starc both nursing hand injuries, South Africa may have expected to wrap the innings up quickly as Nathan Lyon came to the crease with Australia on 400 for six, leading by 211.

But Lyon batted brightly to score 25 off 17 balls as he and Carey put on a quickfire 40, and the wicketkeeper/batsman carried on in exhilarating fashion to his maiden Test century, one that ensured Australia enjoyed an insurmountable lead.

With Green surprisingly returning to the crease with a fractured finger and defending stoutly, Carey feasted on the tired bowling on a flat pitch, scoring a superb 111 off 149 balls before offering a return catch to Marco Jansen as he tried to withdraw his bat from a steepling, tennis-ball bounce lifter from the left-arm quick.

Green became more fluent the longer he was at the crease, but his 51 not out was still a grind, albeit a brave one, coming off 177 deliveries in 224 minutes.

Having bowled themselves into the ground, South Africa’s bowlers eventually received some respite when Australia declared shortly before tea, having batted for 145 overs. Starc also came out to bat and scored 10 not out, a blow to the helmet from Jansen bringing the declaration.

Nortje earned immense respect for his effort as he finished with three for 92 in 25 overs.

The Proteas should have a bit more than 30 overs to weather in the final session on the third day, and although the pitch looked fantastic for batting, there will not be a lot of rand bet on them avoiding an innings defeat.