Ken Borland

David Miller put his foot on the pedal in spectacular fashion at the end of his innings, after the wheels had fallen off the Proteas top-order, leading South Africa to a 42-run win over Ireland in the second T20 International at Stormont in Belfast on Thursday evening, giving them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

Paul Stirling’s part-time off-spin was the vehicle for Ireland to make a dream start after they lost the toss and had to bowl first, the burly opening batsman having both Temba Bavuma and Janneman Malan caught at backward point for ducks in the first over.

South Africa were three down in the fourth over when Aiden Markram, driving loosely, was bowled by Mark Adair for 8, and when Quinton de Kock (27 off 20) was adjudged to be lbw to off-spinner Simi Singh to the first ball after the powerplay, the Proteas were in desperate trouble on 38 for four.

That’s when Miller came to the crease and South Africa were driven to their total of 159 for seven by his fabulous 75 not out off 44 balls. Wiaan Mulder helped his experienced partner to break the cycle of wickets as he contributed an impressive 36 off 26 balls as they added 58 off 43 deliveries for the sixth wicket.

South Africa went into the final over on a moderate 135 for seven, but Miller finished the innings in magnificent style, hitting left-armer Josh Little for four sixes and turning down singles on the other two deliveries.

Left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin then removed veteran Kevin O’Brien in the first over of Ireland’s innnings, for his second successive duck, and left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks had Andy Balbirnie caught behind for 6 inside the powerplay.

The middle overs were once again a time of celebration for superstar wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi as he removed the dangerous duo of Paul Stiring (19) and birthday boy George Dockrell (20) in his first two overs. In between, part-time off-spinner Markram dismissed Harry Tector  as Fortuin plucked a low catch diving forward at extra over.

Shamsi also added the wicket of Ireland’s top-scorer, Shane Getkate for 24.

Ireland were eventually all out for 117 in the last over, with Fortuin finishing with a career-best three for 16 in his four overs, which included a maiden, while Shamsi posted the outstanding figures of three for 14.

Seamers Lungi Ngidi (3.3-0-14-1) and Hendricks (4-0-28-2) displayed encouraging form with the ball as well.

There can now be no doubt that the Currie Cup has fallen from its perch as one of the most respected domestic rugby competitions in the world to an afterthought, something that seems to have become a burden for SA Rugby rather than a jewel in the crown.

While rugby romantics who grew up on the grand old tales of the Currie Cup and its great provincial rivalry will just have to get used to the fact that most of SA Rugby’s resources will now be poured into SuperRugby and the Springboks (and even the Pro14 seems to have jumped the queue in importance), there is one important factor that needs to be dealt with – SuperRugby franchises still get their players from the Currie Cup.

The Currie Cup is still a vital stepping stone from which so many players graduate into the next year’s SuperRugby competition, and most of the franchises will tell you they have half-an-eye on the Sanzaar tournament throughout all their Currie Cup activities.

And, as Jake White has pointed out, what happens now in the Currie Cup affects the Springboks in five years’ time.

“If you look at the kind of players who are playing Currie Cup now, with the Springboks and internationals away, we are saying that the Currie Cup is not what it used to be, and my fear is that we’re accepting mediocrity. When I was a youngster, the likes of Hennie Bekker, Schalk Burger Snr and Henning van Aswegen were playing for Western Province. How many 19-year-olds played then? None. And how many of the youngsters playing today would make that Western Province team? None.

“That’s a worrying sign because whatever is happening now, there’s no doubt it will impact where we will be in the next five years. There are a lot of factors – overseas players, spreading the talent base – but I don’t think people want to admit that the consequences are going to come back to bite us,” White told All Out Rugby.

The downgrading of the Currie Cup is a serious concern that is reflected in attendance figures, but how are people meant to get excited about a tournament that started while SuperRugby’s exciting climax was hogging all the attention? Watching second and third-string teams play is really only going to excite the family members and close friends of the players involved.

One of the biggest questions the current Currie Cup breeding ground is not answering is “Where are we going to get all our future props from?”

It is a disgrace that the Currie Cup is practically the only premier rugby tournament in the world that is still using 22-man squads, which forces most teams to choose only one prop replacement. When it happened last year it was almost forgiven because of the chaotic preparation for the 2016 Currie Cup [http://kenborland.com/2016/08/6043/], but making the same mistake again has drawn fully justified criticism from Sharks coach Robert du Preez and Nollis Marais of the Blue Bulls.

The reason for not moving with the times and having 23 players – which allows a full front row of replacements – is apparently financial. But given that it costs probably R6000 per player per match (and only the visiting team needs a flight and hotel), so with three games per weekend, that’s an extra R18 000 for the 23^rd player.

With the Currie Cup being played over 14 weeks, that’s an extra cost of about R252 000. Surely SA Rugby can get that money from cost-cutting other areas that aren’t so vital for the welfare of the game?

It also avoids the unsavoury sight of uncontested scrums, which are open to abuse whenever a side is under pressure in that set-piece. The scrums are such a vital platform these days for front-foot ball and earning penalties and uncontested scrums are clearly unfair on the dominant team.

Speaking about the welfare of the game, women’s rugby in this country has taken a knock by it not being involved in the ongoing Women’s Rugby World Cup which has reached the semi-final stage in Ireland. The decision was made by SA Rugby to rather invest in the grassroots of women’s rugby, the U16 and U18 championships, to try and broaden the base, rather than sending a team to the World Cup to finish 10th.

While the reasoning is understandable, the enormous strides made by our national women’s cricket team shows that investing heavily at the elite level can also bring rewards.

SA Rugby needs to weigh up the merits of providing opportunities with the harsh economic realities of our time, but at the moment it seems the money men are calling all the shots.

Dale Steyn became the quickest to 400 Test wickets in terms of the number of deliveries bowled at the weekend and former Proteas star and Highveld Lions stalwart Neil McKenzie had some advice for the many batsmen who have fallen to the great fast bowler’s skills and the many who will try and play him in future.

McKenzie, who played 58 Tests and occasionally crossed swords with Steyn on the domestic circuit, said the key to facing the fiery 32-year-old lay in punishing the few bad balls that come your way and being able to handle the short-pitched delivery.

“Of course the batsman is always up against it against Dale, but if you can jump all over the occasional bad ball that comes your way then it helps release the pressure. You’ve also got to be able to play the short ball well because Dale uses that a lot. He has more of a skiddy bouncer, but he uses it to take away the batsman’s feet and the follow-up ball or two deliveries later is often the one that gets the wicket. So the feet have to be working well,” McKenzie told The Citizen.

The scorer of more than 19 000 first-class runs and maker of centuries in England, India, Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa said what made Steyn special as a bowler was his ability to even be a threat on true batting pitches.

“What makes Dale such a great bowler is that he has weapons for whatever pitch, whatever the conditions are. If the pitch is seaming, he can obviously use that, if there’s bounce he uses that, if there’s swing he’s a master of moving it both ways, both conventional and reverse swing. If the pitch is slow or flat, then he has the skills to still be dangerous. That’s the ultimate bowler, McKenzie said.