Ken Borland

Ryan Rickelton celebrated his inclusion in the Proteas squad for the first time with a marvellous unbeaten century to take the Imperial Lions to a bonus-point victory over the Cape Cobras in their Momentum One-Day Cup match in Potchefstroom on Friday.

Rickelton thoroughly dominated the bowling as he stroked an impressive 109 not out off 98 deliveries, as the Lions chased down their target of 222 in just 39.2 overs with six wickets to spare. The 24-year-old Rickelton is one of the country’s brightest young batting talents and this week he was named in the Proteas squad for the T20s in Pakistan, his maiden international call-up.

Opening the batting, Rickelton and Wesley Marshall (28) gave the Lions a solid start by raising the 50 in the 10^th over, before the Cobras struck back with two wickets in four overs. But an inspired stand of 98 in 16.2 overs between Rickelton and Dominic Hendricks (54 off 61 balls) put the Lions within sight of victory.

Rickelton completed his third century in 50-over cricket and a brisk 22 from Nicky van den Bergh ensured the bonus point was gained.

The Cobras, having won the toss and elected to bat first, made a good start, Janneman Malan’s well-controlled 67 off 94 balls driving them to 121 for two after 28 overs. But the Lions attack, bowling straighter and fuller than they had been earlier, fought back impressively by taking regular wickets.

It was fine all-round effort by the Lions attack, but Eldred Hawken, in his first game this season, recovered from a rusty start to lead the pacemen with one for 26 in eight overs, and captain Aaron Phangiso took care of the middle overs, taking two for 33 in his 10 excellent overs of left-arm spin.

Debutant Jean du Plessis scored 34 and Christiaan Jonker struck a quickfire 33 off 35 balls, but the Cobras batsmen were generally lacking enough intent against the tight Lions bowling.

The Cobras will also leave Senwes Park for the bio-bubble feeling they had a raw deal when it came to lbw decisions. Du Plessis looked unfortunate to be given out to Phangiso just as he was starting to accelerate, while Rickelton survived three appeals during his innings when the ball certainly looked wicket-bound.

In-form spin-bowling all-rounder George Linde could be welcomed into the Proteas T20 starting XI for the first time on Friday night as South Africa look to play a sixth bowler against a typically high-scoring England team in the first match of the series at Newlands.

South Africa’s last T20 outing was also in Cape Town back in February when they were thumped by 97 runs by Australia to lose the series 2-1. Australia managed to rack up a sizeable 193 for five batting first, and then skittled the Proteas for just 96, with spinners Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa sharing five of the wickets.

One of South Africa’s chief problems that day was that they only had five bowlers – spinner Tabraiz Shamsi was the pick of the attack, but three of the four seamers went for more than 10-runs-per-over. Linde, whose left-arm orthodox complements Shamsi’s wrist-spin, has been in great form this season with the bat, so he could comfortably slot in at number six in the order. On what is expected to be another slow Newlands pitch, a second spinner is probably going to be more useful than another paceman.

With Dwaine Pretorius ruled out of the matches against England due to a hamstring strain, Andile Phehlukwayo is likely to return to the side as the lead all-rounder.

Given the importance of making a good start to the season against the powerful English side and the eight months of inactivity for the Proteas team, coach Mark Boucher is likely to defy those calling for a new-look team and IPL stars like Kagiso Rabada, Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje and Faf du Plessis will surely feature because they have form and match-fitness on their side.

Lungi Ngidi was outstanding in the T20s South Africa played at the end of last summer and should play on that basis, while Temba Bavuma was also excellent as De Kock’s opening partner and should get the nod, having missed the previous Newlands game because of injury. He would replace Pite van Biljon, while David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen are probably fighting it out for one place in the middle-order.

Probable Proteas XI – Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma, Faf du Plessis, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller/Heinrich Klaasen, George Linde, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi.

Cricket South Africa announced on Tuesday the big news that both festive season Tests this season will be played on the Highveld, but what their press release left undisclosed was the reason for the New Years Test being shifted from Cape Town for the first time in more than a century.

Newlands has been the host every time South Africa has played a New Years Test at home since January 1, 1914, when England clinched their 5-match series with a 91-run win in the third Test, at the Old Wanderers.

But this Christmas, due to Covid-19 and the need to play in a biobubble, Sri Lanka will play the Boxing Day Test against the Proteas at SuperSport Park in Centurion starting on December 26, with the New Years Test beginning on December 3 at the new Wanderers Stadium.

The costs of setting up a biobubble for just one game in Cape Town were deemed to be too much, with Sri Lanka and the Proteas able to stay in the same place for their two Tests over the festive season, which makes financial sense, especially with no spectators expected to be allowed to attend. England are paying for a substantial portion of the biobubble for their white-ball series against South Africa in a month’s time, and they insisted on staying in Cape Town.

“It’s great for our brand and for our sponsors, so it’s a really great thing to be the host from that point of view, but we are sad that we won’t see any fans here at the Wanderers. We are thankful and excited that Cricket South Africa have chosen us as hosts. It certainly wasn’t something we planned for at the start of the year.

“But with the Boxing Day Test happening at Centurion, it means the players can stay and travel from the same place, plus Cape Town will have the England series. If even a reduced number of fans are given the go-ahead to attend then we will be ready to go. We’ve geared ourselves to be ready for whenever fans can return and all safety measures are already in place,” Jono Leaf-Wright, the CEO of the Central Gauteng Lions, told The Citizen on Tuesday.

While only the Proteas fixtures up to that second Test against Sri Lanka were confirmed on Tuesday, that is certainly not the sum total of their summer. CSA revealed that Australia and Pakistan would also feature during the summer.

Australia will arrive for three Tests in February/March, which will undoubtedly be the pinnacle of the season, while a Pakistan tour comprising three ODIs and three T20s will end the summer.

South Africa are also scheduled to tour Pakistan in January for the first time since 2007, with CSA saying a delegation leaves for the subcontinental country at the weekend to do a security assessment.

Fixtures

England tour – Friday, 27 November (18h00):1^st T20I Newlands, Cape Town; Sunday, 29 November (14h30):2^nd T20I Boland Park, Paarl; Tuesday, 1 December (18h00): 3^rd T20I Newlands, Cape Town; Friday, 4 December (13h00): 1^st ODI Newlands, Cape Town; Sunday, 6 December (10h00): 2^nd ODI Boland Park, Paarl; Wednesday, 9 December (13h00): 3^rd ODI Newlands, Cape Town.

Sri Lanka Tour – Saturday, 26-30 December (10h00): 1^st Test SuperSport Park, Centurion; Sunday, 3-7 January (10h00):2^nd Test Imperial Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg.

Beuran Hendricks has become a contracted Protea for the first time and the left-arm pace bowler admitted on Monday that it has taken him a while to understand just what a different level international cricket is, as his career has gone from the basement to the attic of the game in the last four years.

Hendricks actually first played for South Africa way back in 2014, appearing in a couple of T20s against Australia before going to the ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh. He did well enough to gain an IPL contract with the Punjab Kings XI, but he then suffered a stress fracture and when he returned at the end of 2015, he struggled to make the Cape Cobras side.

A move to the Highveld Lions, initially on loan, in early 2017 rejuvenated his career, however, and he was back playing T20s for South Africa that October. He has now played 13 T20 Internationals, taking 20 wickets, an ODI debut followed in January 2019, then he was a late replacement for the World Cup in England, and he reached the Holy Grail in January this year when he made his Test debut against England at the Wanderers and took five for 64 in the second innings.

“I’ve been playing pretty decently at franchise level, enough to warrant selection for the national team. I started my international career well enough but then I felt that my performances dipped and they weren’t really at the standard I set for myself. But I now know the intensity and levels I need to be at which should lead to more consistency for the Proteas.

“My Test debut against England was pretty special and I learnt that you can’t drop your intensity at all, it’s five days against opposition who aren’t giving you anything. I was put under pressure in the first innings [23-3-111-1], on the back foot, but in the second innings I picked it up a notch, my intensity was higher and I was able to bring it back a bit. I now know and understand the intensity I need at that level,” Hendricks said on Monday.

“To get my first Proteas contract makes me feel special and proud, it shows that hard work pays off. It has settled a lot of nerves, I now feel part of the Proteas family and team. A lot of positive decisions have got me where I am now in my game and my personal life etcetera,” he added.

But there will be no resting on his laurels for the 29-year-old because Hendricks believes there are no guarantees of Proteas selection given the amount of talent he sees coming through the franchise system.

“There is so much talent coming through, every year there’s a new name. The franchise system just needs to tap into all that talent and make sure that it’s ready for international selection. I think the national selectors are going to be busy over the next two to three years because there will be a lot of options for them to consider, we’re not far off that point.

“But I’ve thought about what I want for my future and I will do whatever I can to make sure that the Proteas stay one of the best teams in the world. Fortunately I have a pretty good relationship with Charl Langeveldt [bowling coach], he understands my bowling best and we know how to communicate with each other. I’m very sure he’s going to be successful now that he’s back with the Proteas,” Hendricks said.