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Ken Borland



Play it safe or take on the green? Van Velzen gets it wrong to hand inspired Norris Leopard Creek title 0

Posted on December 15, 2024 by Ken

Shaun Norris poses on the 18th green with the prestigious Alfred Dunhill Championship trophy, behind him the water that poses so many difficulties for the golfers.
Photo: Ken Borland

To lay up and play it safe or to take on the shallow, sloping 18th green is always the question golfers face at the end of their round at Leopard Creek, and on Sunday young Ryan van Velzen made the wrong choice and paid the price as he let the Alfred Dunhill Championship title slip from his grasp.

Shaun Norris, who was six shots back at the start of the final round, was the beneficiary in Van Velzen’s mental implosion, claiming arguably the most prestigious title of his career, as his tremendous five-under-par 67 took him to 13-under-par for the tournament.

Van Velzen was on 13-under as he reached the final hole, a maiden DP World Tour title in sight in just his third tournament as a fully exempt card-holder on the European circuit. A fantastic drive saw him split the fairway and take advantage of the downhill slope. But then the 23-year-old decided to go for the green with his second shot, and his ball bounced off the firm surface and over the back into the water surrounding the famous island green.

Needing a birdie to win the championship, the sensible play for Van Velzen was surely to lay up down the left of the fairway, opening up a comfortable wedge with lots of green to work with towards the back right pin-location. But instead of having a 15-footer to win, with par enough to put him in a playoff, Van Velzen was left with a high-pressure 15-footer for par just to stay alive in the tournament.

Unfortunately for one of South Africa’s great young talents, the putt slid past the hole and he was left in a tie for second place with John Parry (69) and overnight leader Marcus Kinholt on 12-under-par. Van Velzen shot level-par 72 on Sunday, going out in 34 as he birdied the third, fourth and sixth holes, but also dropped shots on the par-five second and par-three seventh. On the back nine, his error of judgement on the last hole was his second bogey, while the only birdie he could gather as the pressure mounted was on the par-four 14th.

Norris, meanwhile, was intent on making a charge. The 42-year-old South African eagled the par-five second to immediately climb up the leaderboard. He picked up further birdies on the sixth and eighth holes, but they sandwiched a double-bogey on the par-three seventh, when he landed in the water.

Norris was inspired, however, on the back nine as he birdied the 11th,13th and 15th holes, and then parred his way home in a bogey-free finish. He then had to wait more than an hour to see if his clubhouse lead of -13 would be overtaken.

“I tried to stay calm, just asking my wife how the kids are and what are our dinner plans. I had a target of 14 or 15-under in mind, thinking if I can post that early, then the leaders will have to chase that and the last four or five holes at Leopard Creek are very tricky. But I didn’t think 13-under would be strong enough,” Norris said after winning his second DP World Tour title and his fourth in South Africa.

“Words can’t describe the unbelievable feelings that are going through me. Thanks to God, my wife and my family because this last year has been very tough, with lots of ups and downs, it’s been all over the place. I’m over the moon.

“I stuck to my own thing, I focused on every shot and doing what I needed to do. The good start was massive, it puts you into a nice rhythm and I was very happy with the eagle. But then I made a blunder on seven, but I told myself not to worry about it, just let it happen,” an obviously emotional Norris said.

Angel Ayora, just 20 years old and playing his first season on the DP World Tour, raced to 14-under-par with four birdies in his first five holes. But a bogey on the par-four eighth would portend a troubled back nine. The Spaniard still reached the final hole on 12-under-par though, but was another to choose badly and fall victim to the folly of youth as he too went for the green in two from far back in the fairway, also landing in the water and finishing with a bogey.

That left him in a tie for fifth place with Darius van Driel on 11-under-par. South Africa’s Keenan Davidse produced one of the best rounds of the day, a 68, to finish on 10-under-par, in a tie for seventh with Andy Sullivan (70), Dale Whitnell (71) and Martin Couvra (71).

Odds against SA as they try to avoid ‘4-day franchise game’ in 2nd Test 0

Posted on August 21, 2023 by Ken

The odds are stacked high against South Africa as their batsmen face trying to avoid turning the second Test versus Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground into something akin to a four-day franchise game, ending the third day still needing 371 runs to avoid an innings defeat.

The Proteas batted for just seven overs in their second innings on Wednesday, but in that time they lost captain Dean Elgar, caught down the leg-side for a duck. Sarel Erwee (7*) and Theunis de Bruyn (6*) then took them to 15 for one when rain stopped play at 4.21pm local time.

Mitchell Starc, bleeding from the finger he dislocated in the field on the first day, swung the ball prodigiously, but it was captain Pat Cummins who grabbed the wicket as he bowled three successive maidens.

The bowlers have been through one of their toughest tests as Australia piled on 575 for eight declared, their biggest total against South Africa since they smashed 652 for seven declared at the Wanderers in 2002. It meant the Proteas conceded a monstrous 386-run first-innings lead.

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 100th Test having retired hurt with severe cramps upon reaching his epic 200*.

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.

Cummins survived the hat-trick ball but was then caught behind off Kagiso Rabada for 4. With Cameron Green and 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 Alex Carey put on a quickfire 40, and the wicketkeeper/batsman carried on in exhilarating fashion to an exciting 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. Nortje earned immense respect for his effort as he finished with three for 92 in 25 overs.

Ngidi left out of previous game at SCG, but man-of-the-match in Perth, so who misses out v Pakistan? 0

Posted on January 27, 2023 by Ken

Lungi Ngidi was left out of the Proteas XI for their previous game at the Sydney Cricket Ground, but he is coming off a man-of-the-match performance against India in Perth, so South Africa’s selection team face something of a quandary for their crunch T20 World Cup meeting with Pakistan on Thursday.

The pitch for the comprehensive win over Bangladesh in Sydney was certainly slower than the one in Perth, where Ngidi absolutely revelled with figures of 4/29. But pace was still effective against Bangladesh, with Anrich Nortje taking 4/10. But spinner Tabraiz Shamsi also shone with 3/20, so conditions on the day could be the decider.

Ngidi admitted after his demolition job on India that he was by no means certain he would even be playing the match.

“I was a bit surprised, I’ve not played much in this World Cup, so to come in on the day and perform against India … I couldn’t have asked for a better day,” Ngidi said.

“I’m very happy and it is probably one of my best performances. You could see there was pace in the pitch. The plan was to not give any width and try to keep it as tight as possible. Dig it into the wicket.”

South Africa will also be very happy with the way all-rounder Wayne Parnell is performing, and he also enjoyed himself against India with 3/15 in his four overs.

“It was about hitting good areas. Sometimes you can get carried away with bowling short. Personally, it was just trying to hit the top of the stumps and keep things simple.

“We have a group of bowlers who are all capable of winning games. Each of us believes that and we know someone can step up on any given day,” Parnell said.

South Africa also know that if they beat Pakistan, then their semifinal place is almost certainly secure because they will have seven points and only one of India or Bangladesh, who play each other on Wednesday, can get to eight points if they win both their remaining matches. Zimbabwe would have to beat both the Netherlands and India, and substantially improve their nett run-rate, to finish on seven points and edge out the Proteas.

It’s been an eon since Bavuma spent decent time at the crease 0

Posted on January 13, 2023 by Ken

Another side-effect of the Proteas’ unfortunate washout in their opening T20 World Cup game against Zimbabwe was that Temba Bavuma only got to face two balls and it now seems like an eon since the captain was able to spend decent time at the crease.

Bavuma scored two not out but sending him in to open in what was then a nine-over game raised some eyebrows given his own comments the day before about how important nett run-rate is. But coach Mark Boucher, even though he said “the World Cup is cut-throat”, added that the skipper will continue to be in the team until he finds his groove.

The last time Bavuma faced 30 balls for the Proteas was eight innings ago when he scored 35 against India in a T20 in Cuttack on June 12. Since then he suffered an elbow tendon injury and then fell ill when South Africa returned to India for white-ball series earlier this month.

“It’s tough on Reeza Hendricks,” Boucher admitted, “but Temba is back in his place, he was injured, he owned the spot before and he is the captain as well.

“He hasn’t been in great form and we wanted him to get game-time in India, but he got sick. And then today [Monday] he was out there a long time but he didn’t face many balls because Quinton de Kock maximised his time.

“But he’s been batting really well in the nets, these conditions suit his game a lot more and hopefully he will find some good form. We will keep giving Temba opportunities to find some rhythm.

“There might have been a thought about sending another hitter in to open, but you don’t play for rain. It was nine overs and I thought it was a really good opportunity for Temba to go out and express himself,” Boucher said.

Spinner Tabraiz Shamsi was also unfortunate to be on the sidelines in Hobart and he could well return for Thursday’s game against Bangladesh in Sydney, if the weather is clear and the usual long boundaries, especially straight, are in play at the SCG.

“There are other players in the 15 who are also on the sideline, we’ve got good depth and options,” Boucher said. “Playing the extra seamer against Zimbabwe was quite hard on Shamo, but I think it was the right decision.

“We selected the team knowing that there was rain around, giving ourselves the best opportunity if the game was shortened. But all 15 warrant selection, we have great back-up.

“We have a good idea of the venue, we know the conditions and the boundary sizes. Bangladesh made a good start to their campaign, they bowled really well, although they stumbled a bit in the middle of their innings.

“You just need one or two players to really come off in T20 and you win, and we believe we have good quality batsmen and bowlers, so quite a few chances of someone coming off,” Boucher said.

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    2 Peter 3:18 – “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

    True Christianity starts with accepting Jesus Christ as your saviour and redeemer and fully surrendering to him. You have to start living a new life; submit daily to the will of your master.

    We need to grow within grace, not into grace, and the responsibility rests with us. Your role model is Jesus Christ and he is always with you to strengthen you in your weakness, but you have to cultivate your growth. So spend more time in prayer and use the faith you already have.

     

     



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