Ken Borland

Mitchell van Buuren could have followed in the footsteps of his older cousin Graeme and become an émigré to the United Kingdom, but the 24-year-old batsman has decided to stick it out in South Africa and on Friday he was the saviour of the Central Gauteng Lions side in their crucial final round 4-Day Domestic Series fixture against the Northerns Titans in Centurion.

The Lions, frontrunners in the four-day competition for so long, are trying to hold off strong late challenges from Northerns as well as the Eastern Province Warriors, and they were in early trouble at SuperSport Park as they slumped to 79/4.

That was when Van Buuren came to the crease and he showed impressive discipline and composure even as the Lions slid further into the mire on 118/6. Sisanda Magala then joined him and the burly Proteas white-ball player was able to show his value with the bat as he fought hard for nearly two-and-a-half hours, playing some lovely strokes in his 61 and adding a vital 130 for the seventh wicket with Van Buuren.

With off-spinner Simon Harmer (31-7-84-3) wrapping up the tail, the Lions were bowled out for 270 on the stroke of stumps, with Van Buuren finishing unbeaten on a highly-responsible 103, which included 10 fours and three sixes.

Seamer Aya Gqamane was the pick of the Northerns bowlers, taking 3/45 in 16 overs, his victims being the star trio of Josh Richards (33), Ryan Rickelton (24) and Magala. Lizaad Williams was also slippery, taking 2/42 in 22 overs.

The Warriors, meanwhile, were in firm control of their match against the Free State Knights in Bloemfontein until the hosts were lifted to a tolerable 198/7 by a marvellous 107 not out by Patrick Botha.

The EP pacemen, Tiaan van Vuuren (14-4-32-3), Akhona Mnyaka (12-1-49-2) and Mthiwekhaya Nabe (11-1-35-2) quickly ripped through the Knights top-order, with only Raynard van Tonder (34) showing much resistance.

Coming in at 39/4, Botha shared successive partnerships of 54 with Van Tonder and 72 with Migael Pretorious (17). It lifted the mood in a Knights camp that is missing several key players and has been further rocked by the resignation of Allan Donald as coach. The Proteas great is taking up a role as bowling coach of Bangladesh.

Scores in brief for other games

Western Province 332/4 (Jonathan Bird 128, Yaseen Vallie 44, Gavin Kaplan 73, Daniel Smith 46*; Delano Potgieter 2/56) v North-West.

KZN Dolphins 272/5 (Grant Roelofsen 49, Keegan Petersen 115*, Andile Phehlukwayo 69*; Shaun von Berg 3/81) v Boland Rocks.

Andile Phehlukwayo turned 20 last week and has already been anointed as a Dolphins bowling all-rounder fit to follow in the footsteps of legends like Shaun Pollock and Lance Klusener, but he has already achieved so much as one of the successes of South African cricket’s development pipeline.

There was clearly something special about Phehlukwayo when he played for the Dolphins in the 2014 Champions League while he was still in his matric year at Glenwood High School. He scored 22 off 17 balls against the powerhouse Chennai Super Kings in his first game and then 37 off just 18 deliveries against the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Since then, his bowling has become his strongest suit, especially in limited-overs matches, and he has produced several match-winning performances for the Dolphins, most notably with his nerveless, skilful death bowling in the RamSlam T20 Challenge playoff against the Cape Cobras.

He certainly does not want to be pigeon-holed, however, as a limited-overs specialist and the work he has been putting into his long-format game is bearing fruit, with Phehlukwayo taking a career-best four for 39 against the Warriors in East London last weekend.

“I was thrown in the deep end playing in the Champions League while I was still at school, which was a tough one, but I’m grateful for the experience and there’s no pressure on me. I’m my own player, different to other all-rounders, but obviously I would like to try and be like guys like Jacques Kallis and Lance Klusener. I need to perform for  SA A first, and there are lots of guys performing as all-rounders in South African cricket, like Chris Morris and David Wiese. I just need to be consistent, I know there will always be chances for me and I believe one day I will play for South Africa, even if maybe not in the next two or four years,” Phehlukwayo says.

The son of a domestic worker in Margate, who earned a hockey scholarship to Glenwood and was then noticed when he went to cricket trials, Phehlukwayo has every reason to be proud of what he has already achieved despite such humble beginnings.

“My big goal is for my mom to come and watch me play. I was fortunate to have good support in the background and my coaches believed in me. For me it’s just about working hard and not giving up on my dream. I never thought that I would be playing franchise cricket at this age and at some stages I thought I would never play professional cricket.

“I’ve made quick progress as a bowler, T20 does fast-track you, you need to adapt quickly in that format and practise your skills. Playing for SA A over the last couple of months, bowling to people like Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan, taught me that you’ve got to be on-song and stay on your game-plan, back yourself, always believe in yourself. It was definitely an experience I won’t forget, especially bowling a couple of long-hops to Morgan!”