Ken Borland

A probing Knights attack, led by the under-rated Quinton Friend, made it hard work for the Unlimited Titans, but they still managed to post a respectable 268 for seven on the first day of their Sunfoil Series match at SuperSport Park in Centurion yesterday.

Compared to their recent batting performances, it was an improvement by the Titans, who were made to grind by an impressive Knights attack that stuck to their lines and generally succeeded in strangling the home side.

Roelof van der Merwe (87) and Mangaliso Mosehle (42) managed to break free from the stranglehold after lunch, adding 95 for the fifth wicket in 83 minutes, off 123 balls, and David Wiese (24 not out) and Shaun von Berg (32) then showed courage and skill to fend off the second new ball as they added 63 for the seventh wicket.

Von Berg fell just one ball before the umpires took the players off the field for bad light, fending a nasty lifter from Friend to leg-slip.

That gave Friend, who is the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the franchise era (204 @ 24.11), excellent figures of four for 55 in 19 overs at stumps.

Van der Merwe played the innings of the day as he continued his remarkable transformation as a batsman. Previously considered a spinner who could slog – often comically – down the order, the Bulldog has scored five of his 11 Sunfoil Series half-centuries this season and has been the Titans’ best batsman.

He was promoted to number four for this innings and responded with a textbook knock that featured several marvellous punches through the covers. But having gone to a career-best 87 in 136 minutes off just 91 balls, he then failed to press home the advantage.

Friend returned after an early tea break had been taken due to a passing rain shower, and immediately bowled three full, wide deliveries at Van der Merwe, who swung vigorously at all of them. The first was edged over the slips for his 13^th boundary, the second was missed and the third he edged to wicketkeeper Rudi Second.

Five overs later, Corne Dry accounted for Mosehle, caught in the gully, but his 42 was a welcome return to form for the talented wicketkeeper/batsman.

The Titans had slipped from 183 for four to 205 for six, but Wiese and Von Berg dug in manfully, needing 141 deliveries for their 50 partnership.

The Titans had won the toss and elected to bat first, with conditions not offering a huge amount for the Knights bowlers, but they managed to make the first session really tough for the batsmen.

Easterns talent Ernest Kemm scored just three in his first innings at the higher level before edging a pull and being caught behind off Friend, while both Heino Kuhn (37 in two hours) and Henry Davids (8 in 70 minutes) would pay the price for trying to break the shackles and fall to fine catches, by Gerhardt Abrahams off spinner Werner Coetsee and Second off Johan van der Wath respectively.

Centuries by Cody Chetty and Morne van Wyk carried the Dolphins to 339 all out on the first day of their four-day domestic series match against the Warriors at Buffalo Park in East London on Thursday.

The Dolphins won the toss and elected to bat first, but were off to a shaky start as Andrew Birch took two early wickets that reduced them to 102 for four shortly after lunch.

But Chetty and captain Van Wyk then combined to add 144 for the fifth wicket, before Chetty fell to the off-spin of Simon Harmer, the best of the Warriors bowlers, for a fine 120 that showcased the 22-year-old’s talent.

LEAVE IT TO ME, SKIPPER: Cody Chetty showed fine judgement in his 120

Van Wyk went on to bat through the rest of the innings, finishing with 104 not out as Harmer and seamer Rusty Theron worked through the Dolphins lower-order, bowling them out on the stroke of stumps.

Harmer was the most successful of the Warriors bowlers with four for 85 in 24.3 overs, while the pacemen – Birch, Basheer Walters and Theron – each finished with two wickets.

At Boland Park in Paarl, the Cape Cobras gained the upper hand late in the day against the Titans, as Yaseen Vallie and Dane Vilas added 145 for the fifth wicket to take the home side to 345 for five at stumps.

Vallie and Vilas were the producers of the best batting of the day as they blunted a Titans comeback with the ball which had seen the Cobras slip to 189 for four after winning the toss and electing to bat.

The left-arm swing bowling of young Vincent Moore had sparked the comeback as he claimed the wickets of Andrew Puttick (9), Justin Ontong (21) and Stiaan van Zyl (71).

But he lacked support in the final session, with Junior Dala, on loan from the Highveld Lions, the obvious weak link in the attack as he conceded 103 runs in 17 wicket-less and maiden-less overs.

The Cobras had shrugged off the early loss of Puttick, caught behind off Moore, with a second-wicket stand of 114 between Omphile Ramela (59) and Van Zyl.

The left-hander needed 142 balls for his 71 and struck seven fours, taking him past 600 runs in the 2013/14 campaign, at an average of 65.60.

The 23-year-old Vallie took the fight to the Titans in a composed innings which showed impressive shot-selection.

His 80 and the return to form of wicketkeeper/batsman Vilas, who ended the day on 62 not out, ensured the Cobras finished the first day in control.

The first day of the match between the Highveld Lions and the Knights at the Wanderers was abandoned due to the pitch being too wet for play after the recent torrential rain in Gauteng.

http://www.iol.co.za/sport/cricket/domestic/van-wyk-chetty-tons-prop-up-dolphins-1.1657579#.Uxl7rD-Sy9A

South Africa were precariously placed on 201 for five at tea on the first day of the third Test against Pakistan at Centurion on Friday.

The second session was a particularly good one for Rahat Ali, bringing him his second and third Test wickets as the Centurion pitch helped him with just enough lateral movement.

Hashim Amla had been the mainstay of the South African first innings with a classy 92 filled with some great strokes that brought him 13 fours, but Rahat removed him with a wide delivery that was edged to wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed as the Bearded Wonder went on the slash.

It was a stirring fightback by Pakistan after lunch as they claimed three wickets for 97 runs in 26 overs, leaving South Africa in a sticky situation.

Amla and Faf du Plessis had been excellent in adding 66 for the third wicket to lift South Africa to 104 for two at lunch and were looking to crack on the pace after the break.

But Du Plessis would be gone in the fourth over of the session, caught behind for 29 off a fine delivery from Ehsan Adil that was back-of-a-length and nipped away.

AB de Villiers was quickly into his stride as he and Amla added 79 for the fourth wicket off just 112 balls but Pakistan would be the happier side at tea as Rahat struck twice in two overs.

Dean Elgar came to the crease when Amla left and only lasted seven balls when he was trapped in the crease by a Rahat inswinger, wasting a review to compound his error.

When South Africa return for the final session, much will depend on De Villiers, who had gone untroubled to 40 not out.

Much was asked of Robin Peterson in Cape Town and he delivered superbly, but South Africa need another contribution from him as well as he resumes on two not out.

To win the toss, bat first and be bowled out on the first day is not going to please captain Graeme Smith, and he will be looking to his lower-order to help De Villiers steer them to 300 before stumps with the loss of as few more wickets as possible.

The grossly inexperienced Pakistan pace attack were beginning to feel the strain at lunch as Amla and Du Plessis cruised along.

The Pakistanis had claimed two early wickets as the openers, Alviro Petersen (10) and Graeme Smith (5), fell cheaply in the first 10 overs.

The visitors had made two changes to their pace attack with Umar Gul unwell and Tanvir Ahmed dropped. With Junaid Khan still feeling the effects of the strange thigh wound that kept him out of the second Test in Cape Town, the Pakistanis brought in Rahat and debutant Adil.

That left Mohammad Irfan, who made his debut in Cape Town, as the leader of the attack, while Rahat had also played his first Test just 10 days earlier at the Wanderers.

It was Rahat who made the first breakthrough, trapping Petersen lbw for 10, although he had been innocuous up till then.

Petersen’s form may be one of the few items up for discussion in terms of selection, but he had looked good, stroking two boundaries, before receiving a fine delivery from the left-armer (practically his only one of the morning) that straightened sharply back into him.

Smith was less convincing as he scored his five off 21 balls, before he was dismissed in Adil’s first over in Test cricket, edging into the slips, where second slip Younis Khan dived in front of first slip to take the catch. It was a good delivery just outside off stump that bounced a bit more than expected, but Smith’s angled bat towards midwicket was as much to blame as anything else.

South Africa were in some bother at 38 for two, but Amla came in and immediately started middling the ball. He fed off the left-armer’s deliveries angled into him, scoring freely on the leg-side, and reached his 27th Test half-century in the over before lunch, in 102 minutes off 76 balls, with nine fours.

Du Plessis also looked in fine form as he went to 29, collecting three magnificent fours – through the covers, straight and square on the off side – in Adil’s fourth and last over of the morning.

With the inexperienced seamers struggling to regain the upper hand, off-spinner Saeed Ajmal was introduced in the 18th over, but both Amla and Du Plessis continued to score with freedom, using their feet well, and purring along to their 50 partnership off just 74 balls.

With the early moisture having been burnt off and the green tinge gradually disappearing from the pitch, the table is set for the South African batsmen to prosper, even in the absence of Jacques Kallis.

The master batsman injured a calf muscle on Thursday, on one of the rare occasions he attends optional training, and has been replaced by Kyle Abbott, the in-form Dolphins seamer who will earn his first Test cap after excelling in the Sunfoil Series with 49 wickets.

–

Graeme Smith showed that his head was still cool, calm and collected when he won the toss and elected to bat first amid all the hype and hullabaloo at the Wanderers on Friday morning.

Smith was celebrating his 32^nd birthday and also the momentous milestone of becoming the first cricketer to play 100 Tests as captain, so Johannesburg, his place of birth, was  abuzz with tributes and Biff-mania.

There was a great sense of expectation that the world’s number one side would honour their magnificent leader by blowing Pakistan away at the Bullring and the pitch was sporting enough grass for many to back the idea of unleashing the potent South African pace attack.

But Smith, courageously and unselfishly, saw the cracks already present and reckoned it would be preferable to bat out a tough opening session rather than have to bat last.

It was the correct decision for the team, despite Smith, as an opening batsman, having to come out and face the music straight away.

The left-hander was by no means on top of his game, but he and Alviro Petersen added 46 for the first wicket as they saw off the new ball in the first hour-and-a-half. South Africa were on their way and, even though Smith (24) and Petersen (20) fell within five balls of each other before lunch, Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis put the hosts back on top as they carried them to 125 for two midway through the afternoon session.

But the South African batsmen seemed to have other matters on their minds – could they have been distracted by all the Smith hype? – and they frittered away their remaining eight wickets for just 128 runs, nothwithstanding a 64-run fifth-wicket stand between AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis.

It was a similar experience for a Wanderers crowd of just under 10 000 on Friday to the much-anticipated Test against Australia in 2011 when South Africa, 1-0 in the two-match series, won the toss, batted first and were bowled out for 266 in just 71 overs on the first day by an attack that was one man short. South Africa were 122 for two and 241 for four on that day, and a less cavalier attitude would have seen them score at least 400 and shut Australia out of a series they went on to share.

After De Villiers and Du Plessis fell just before the second new ball was due, Dean Elgar was left alone with the tail and when he tickled off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez down the leg-side into the gloves of impressive wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed, the off-spinner was able to run through the lower-order and finish with a career-best four for 16.

Lady Luck had not smiled on the left-hander and she was also blamed for the dismissal of Du Plessis, who felt that the delivery that he had played on to his stumps from Junaid Khan had kept low.

But there was no doubting South Africa’s batsmen had put on a distracted, unfocused display, while Pakistan were disciplined with the ball, brilliant in the field and thoroughly deserved their success.

“From 199 for four, we should have got more and there was not enough from the bottom six, but it was quite tough for batsmen coming in. We were looking for 320 as par, but when AB and myself were together we thought we could get 350 which would have been very good. We got ourselves in position … ” Du Plessis said.

To get only 253 was a particularly poor effort when one considers everyone in the top seven made at least 20, but Kallis was the top-scorer with just 50. Smith and Kallis both played badly-executed shots, although Asad Shafiq, who had to make considerable ground around the leg-side boundary, took a fine catch to dismiss the latter.

Everything Pakistan captain Misbah ul-Haq touched turned to gold on Friday and even part-time medium-pacer Younis Khan was able to make a crucial breakthrough when he removed Amla for 37, thanks to Azhar Ali hanging on to a screamer at gully.

The current Proteas management fobs off criticism of their decision to make De Villiers keep wicket and play a specialist batsman at seven, but there is a hint that the policy is engendering a rather devil-may-care attitude amongst the top-order. With so many batsmen, there seems to be a feeling that someone else can finish the job if I score a breezy 40, much like the 90 for five syndrome in the 1990s when South Africa had tremendous batting depth with Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener and Nicky Boje in the lower-order.

Pakistan openers Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed fended off an over apiece from Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn at the end of the day and the South African attack will need to strike early on the second morning if they are make up for an off-colour display by their batsmen.

Questions will be asked as to just how mentally sharp South Africa were on the opening day and it is difficult to shrug off the feeling that they were distracted by all the hype around Smith. Hopefully the Proteas can return to their clinical best on Saturday and ensure Smith has a suitable celebration.