Ken Borland

The Sharks were utterly dominant in the scrums but failed to take full advantage of that edge and were held to a 22-22 draw by the gutsy Stormers as they conceded a final-minute penalty try in their United Rugby Championship match at Kings Park on Saturday.

The Stormers, trailing 15-22, were hard on attack and had a two-man overlap against a 14-man Sharks team when fullback Aphelele Fassi’s deliberate knock-on killed the move and he was the last defender, leaving the officials with little choice but to award the penalty try which earned the visitors a share of the spoils.

The home side were also extremely wasteful in terms of their goalkicking, as they only succeeded with three out of their eight shots at goal. Starting flyhalf Boeta Chamberlain only kicked three out of seven, but he did at least slot an impressive 47m drop goal on the stroke of halftime, following a goal-line drop-out by the Stormers.

It put the Sharks 11-3 up at the break and was important as the home side were already struggling to make their dominance count on the scoreboard.

The Sharks started in superb fashion as they won a penalty, set the lineout and then, after a ruck deep inside the Stormers 22, wing Makazole Mapimpi joined the line, but instead of knifing through on his own as he usually does, he threw a long pass out wide for outside centre Lukhanyo Am to stroll over for the opening try after just four minutes.

The Sharks stayed on attack but were then penalised five times in a row by referee Marius van der Westhuizen and the first time they infringed inside their 22, Am was yellow-carded for offsides. Flyhalf Manie Libbok put the Stormers on the board from the resulting penalty.

A massive scrum by the Sharks earned Chamberlain a penalty (8-3), but three minutes later he took too long over taking another shot at goal and the penalty was overturned. He then missed another scrum penalty, so it was relief all round in the Sharks camp when he did slot his drop goal.

The Sharks also made a great start to the second half with a splendid try. Prop Ox Nche’s leg-drive got him half through a tackle, but his skill in throwing a long pass out wide to Fassi at the same time was the key factor. Fassi then put through the perfect grubber for Mapimpi to show why he is the Finisher Supreme.

Chamberlain missed the conversion but added a 51^st-minute scrum penalty to lift the Sharks into a commanding 19-3 lead.

But the Stormers kept nipping at their heels and metaphorically kicking them in their shins as they staged another late charge after their impressive win over the Bulls last weekend at Loftus Versfeld.

Warrick Gelant once again sparked matters as his little shimmy and lovely offload in the tackle to Damian Willemse saw the fullback provide a great finish through two tackles for the try.

A Chamberlain penalty put the Sharks 22-8 ahead after 65 minutes but the Stormers thoroughly dominated the closing stages.

They got their rolling maul going well and earned their first penalty try in the 69^th minute when replacement prop Khutha Mchunu came in on the side a couple of metres from the line to kill the momentum. Van der Westhuizen awarded a penalty try and a yellow card.

With three minutes remaining, the Sharks were actually down to 13 men as wing Sbu Nkosi clattered into the back of Seabelo Senatla, preventing him from following up his deft grubber, and was also sent off.

Mchunu returned for the final minute, but was not able to prevent the Sharks from suffering a draw that will hurt plenty.

Meanwhile the Stormers will be celebrating seven hard-earned points on the road in the last fortnight.

Scorers

Sharks – Tries: Lukhanyo Am, Makazole Mapimpi. Penalties: Boeta Chamberlain (3). Drop goal: Chamberlain.

Stormers – Tries: Damian Willemse, penalty tries (2). Penalty: Manie Libbok.

27-year-old Jason Smith is a proper adult in cricketing terms, and his maturity was on full display on Wednesday as he steered the KZN Dolphins to victory in their CSA Provincial T20 Knockout quarterfinal against the Eastern Province Warriors in Kimberley.

KZN were chasing a mediocre total of 128, but paceman Glenton Stuurman (4-0-18-2) imposed himself with the new ball as they crashed to 33-4 after seven overs.

But Smith then came to the wicket and, striking the ball cleanly for three fours and three sixes, but also working the gaps really cleverly, struck 60 not out (41) to ensure a win for KZN by six wickets with four balls left.

Keegan Petersen weathered the early storm, batting through to score 38*.

EP in the end did well to post 127-9 after they had chosen to bat first and slumped to 8-3 in the first three overs as Daryn Dupavillon produced a fiery display of fast bowling, ending with explosive figures of 4- 18.

He wasn’t threatening to send anyone to hospital, but he targeted the stumps superbly, dismissing both openers, Lubbe (lbw) and Breetzke (bowled) for first-ball ducks and then having Smuts caught behind off an inside edge.

The Warriors were rescued by Diego Rosier’s composed 51 off 41 balls and a patient 28 by Sinethemba Qeshile.

Young Duan Jansen was the star of the show as the North-West Dragons snatched victory by three runs over the Boland Rocks in their quarterfinal.

Excellent bowling by Boland, especially spinners Manack and Mahima, reduced North-West to 104 for five in the 14^th over with the dismissal of opener Eben Botha for 41 (34).

Lesego Senokwane (40 off 31) was then run out brilliantly by wicketkeeper Clyde Fortuin, but Jansen lifted the Dragons to 156-8 with some hearty blows, slamming 27 off 21 balls.

Brothers Janneman (74* off 56) and Pieter Malan (46 off 38) had Boland well on track though with their opening stand of 108 in 12.5 overs.

But impressive 18-year-old spinner Caleb Seleka (4-0-25-2) removed Proteas Pieter Malan and Christiaan Jonker in successive overs and Jansen dismissed the dangerous Fortuin.

Nevertheless Jansen only had nine runs to defend in the final over. But Adams (21 off 13) stupidly ran himself out, wicketkeeper Nicky van den Bergh doing great work, and Janneman Malan failed to make contact with a couple of shots and in the end Jansen (4-0-19-2) conceded just five runs off the last over.

Leus du Plooy will make an emotional return to South African cricket as he turns out as the overseas pro for South-Western Districts in their CSA T20 Knockout Cup quarterfinal against Northerns in Kimberley on Tuesday, but it is three returning full internationals for the Titans who will probably have a greater impact.

Du Plooy’s last appearance in South Africa came in April 2019 when he scored a century for Northerns against Eastern Province at St George’s Park. He then joined Derbyshire as a Kolpak player and did well enough to receive a contract until the end of next season, as well as being chosen to play in The Hundred for Welsh Fire.

But Northerns will welcome back an even bigger star of English county cricket in off-spinner Simon Harmer, as well as batsman Theunis de Bruyn and fast bowler Junior Dala.

De Bruyn has had a wretched time with injury lately and will be eager to stamp his mark on the early-season with big runs, while Dala gives the Titans a trio of fearsome fast bowlers as he joins Corbin Bosch and the in-form Okuhle Cele.

With Dean Elgar still injured, left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso will lead the Titans. He may be 37-years-old, but he showed in the pool stages in Bloemfontein, as he took four for 52 in his 10 overs overall, that there is no mould on his skills and he is still quite capable of keeping batsmen in the dark.

The hard-hitting Donovan Ferreira and opener Jandre Pretorius are two young guys who grew their reputations in Bloemfontein.

The Free State Knights take on Western Province in Tuesday’s other quarterfinal, while Wednesday morning’s clash between the high-flying KZN Dolphins and the aggressive Eastern Province Warriors should be fun.

The Boland Rocks play the last quarterfinal against North-West in a match that will showcase what CSA are hoping are two growth areas of the game.

Jason Smith is 27 years old now so a proper adult in cricketing terms, and his maturity was on full display on Wednesday as he steered the KZN Dolphins to victory in their CSA Provincial T20 Knockout quarterfinal against the Eastern Province Warriors in Kimberley.

KZN were chasing a mediocre total of 128, but paceman Glenton Stuurman (4-0-18-2) imposed himself with the new ball as the Dolphins crashed to 33 for four after seven overs.

But Smith then came to the wicket and, striking the ball cleanly for three fours and three sixes, but also working the gaps really cleverly, he struck 60 not out off 41 balls to ensure a win for the Dolphins by six wickets with four balls to spare.

Opening batsman Keegan Petersen weathered the early storm, batting through to score 38 not out.

Eastern Province in the end did well to post 127 for nine after they had chosen to bat first and slumped to 8 for three in the first three overs as Daryn Dupavillon produced a fiery display of fast bowling.

He bowled a fullish length so he wasn’t threatening to send anyone to hospital, but he targeted the stumps superbly, dismissing both openers, Wihan Lubbe (lbw) and Matthew Breetzke (bowled) for first-ball ducks and then having Jon-Jon Smuts caught behind off an inside edge.

The Warriors were rescued by Diego Rosier’s composed 51 off 41 balls and a patient 28 by Sinethemba Qeshile.

Dupavillon ended with explosive figures of four for 18, but fellow pacemen Ottneil Baartman (4-0-21-1), Thando Ntini (4-0-25-2) and Ruan de Swardt (4-0-17-1) also did a fine job.

Young Duan Jansen was the star of the show as the North-West Dragons snatched victory by three runs over the Boland Rocks in the last quarterfinal.

Excellent bowling by Boland, especially their spinners Imraan Manack (4-0-23-1) and Siyabonga Mahima (4-0-24-1), reduced North-West to 104 for five in the 14^th over with the dismissal of opener Eben Botha for 41 off 34 balls.

Lesego Senokwane (40 off 31) was then run out brilliantly by wicketkeeper Clyde Fortuin two overs later, but Jansen lifted the Dragons to 156-8 with some hearty blows, slamming 27 off 21 balls.

But brothers Janneman (74* off 56) and Pieter Malan (46 off 38) had Boland well on track for victory with their opening stand of 108 in 12.5 overs.

But impressive 18-year-old spinner Caleb Seleka (4-0-25-2) removed Proteas Pieter Malan and Christiaan Jonker in successive overs and Jansen dismissed the dangerous Clyde Fortuin in between.

Nevertheless Jansen only had nine runs to defend in the final over. But Ferisco Adams (21 off 13) stupidly ran himself out, wicketkeeper Nicky van den Bergh doing great work, and the left-arm quick dismissed big-hitting Hardus Viljoen.

Janneman Malan failed to make contact with a couple of shots and in the end Jansen (4-0-19-2) conceded just five runs off the last over.