Ken Borland

There’s a kind of maturity and boosted confidence that comes from having experienced playing at the highest level and one can tell the DP World Lions’ young star Karabo Meso has come back from her debut stint with the Proteas even better equipped to be a major contributor for the Pride going forward.

The 16-year-old Meso played in the recent series against Sri Lanka that was hosted in South Africa and, while her playing opportunities were limited to two T20s and a lengthy stint behind the stumps in the third ODI as a replacement for the injured Sinalo Jafta, she still had plenty of stories to share.

“Eish, it is a different level, especially in terms of how everything is managed. Being able to do things together with the other Proteas, you can see how those players manage their space. I could see how they get ready before a game, how they are the day before and how they are after the match,” Meso said.

“I was really happy to be there and I was able to learn lots of stuff. Experience-wise, while I was not playing I was able to sit with the coaches and just talk about the game. It was a great experience to have at a young age and I think I handled it nicely with all the support I had and my grounding at the DP World Lions,” Meso said.

Marizanne Kapp is one of South Africa’s all-time greats, but at 34 years old, she is very much part of a different generation to Meso. Kapp made her international debut back in 2009, when fax machines were still being used, but Meso and the veteran all-rounder were still able to connect.

“I was scared at first, but it was a very welcoming team,” Meso said of the Proteas. “I was able to sit with different players and I learnt a lot chatting to them. Like Marizanne, most people think she’s quite scary but she’s not, she’s actually very nice.

“I thought I wouldn’t be able to talk to her, but I ended up drinking coffee with her and she told me all about her first game and her experiences as a Protea, at the Big Bash and just how she manages her life.”

The Soweto resident was thrown into the deep end in the ODI series decider against Sri Lanka, having to replace fellow DP World Lions star Jafta behind the stumps in the closing stages. There were obviously nerves, but Meso bundled together all the advice and support she had received from her team-mates to handle herself with aplomb.

“It was quite an ODI intro! Things happen quickly at that level and you have to show that you are ready, no matter what. You have to be switched on, even though you’re not playing,” Meso said.

But being ready is a quality Meso has shown in abundance with the DP World Lions; coach Shaun Pretorius has never had to babysit her even though she made her debut when she was just a child.

“Karabo is a phenomenally good cricketer, especially mentally, her cricket understanding is so good. We forget that she was just 13 when she debuted for the Pride and she has grown a lot,” Pretorius said.

“She has such maturity and a really good head on her shoulders. She is strong-minded, firm in her belief in her game-plans and how she operates. Karabo wears her heart on her sleeve and whatever she does on the field she does with pride.

“She’s definitely one of the upcoming stars of the DP World Lions and Proteas set-ups and her recent success is testament to all the hard work Karabo has put in.

“But most importantly she is just such a good human being, you just want to be in her space and feed off her energy and positivity. We are all very proud of Karabo at the DP World Lions,” Pretorius said.

We are indeed.

EDENVALE, Gauteng – Norway’s Maiken Bing Paulsen produced a second consecutive top-class round of golf, including a pair of chip-ins for eagle, on Thursday as she gave herself a handy two-shot lead going into the final round of the Jabra Ladies Classic at Glendower Golf Club.

Paulsen shot a four-under-par 68 in the second round on Thursday to climb to 10-under-par for the tournament, doing extremely well to back up her 66 on the first day on a day when the scoring was higher and no-one managed to shoot lower than her.

South Africa’s Cara Gorlei also fired a 68 on Thursday and lies second on eight-under-par, while Elena Hualde (Spain) and the Swedish duo of Lisa Pettersson and Moa Folke were also four-under for the second round and shared third place with England’s Gabriella Cowley (71) on six-under-par.

The 27-year-old Paulsen was level-par through the first seven holes, but then chipped in for eagle on the par-five eighth. She dropped her second shot on the par-four 11^th, but Paulsen caught fire in the middle of the back nine as she birdied the 13^th, chipped in again for eagle on the 15^th and birdied the 16^th.

Unfortunately she bogeyed the par-three 17^th, but Paulsen was still understandably delighted with her round.

“It was a good day even though my putting didn’t get the ball in the hole as much as the first day. But I had three chip-ins, for both of my eagles and to birdie the fourth, and I was really steady off the tee,” she said.

A small struggle with her iron play was the only worry for Paulsen, but she handled it with aplomb thanks to her excellent short game.

“My irons were a bit of a struggle, so hopefully I figure that out for the final round. I only gave myself a few good opportunities on the front nine and I almost lost my ball when I bogeyed the seventh. So it was an interesting front nine, but I just tried to keep going and stay positive.

“There were some interesting pins and because the course is still wet it was playing quite long. But there was a little less wind today, which was nice. I didn’t find a big difference in difficulty today, but then I was hitting the ball so well on to the fairways, I am quite long off the tee, so that advantage meant maybe I didn’t notice.

“I’ve been trying to work on my swing and I’ve changed a lot, so that’s why my irons are still a bit flaky. Mistakes will happen in this transition period, but in the final round I’m just going to keep doing what I do. It’s the boring answer, but I just want to give myself chances, be in the fairways, try and make sure my irons are decent and hopefully the putts go in and it’s a happy day,” Paulsen said.

It was also a happy day for Gorlei, who scorched through the back nine in four-under 32.

Russia’s Nina Pegova, who shared the first-round lead with Paulsen, started her second round on the back nine and reached the turn in one-under, but then had a nightmare start to the front nine as she bogeyed the second and double-bogeyed the fourth hole. She finished with a 73 to drop back to five-under-par, sharing seventh place with South Africa’s Stacy Bregman, who was also part of the impressive 68-Club.

When Charl Schwartzel drew level again on the 12^th hole, Louis Oosthuizen knew his great friend and rival was not going to go away in the final round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship, and he realised he would have to jack up his game if he hoped to win the famous Leopard Creek trophy for the first time.

Showing his big game temperament, Oosthuizen played beautifully through the middle of the back nine, reeling off three straight birdies from the 13^th hole. It meant he went into the daunting last three holes with a three-stroke lead, and he needed it in the sodden conditions.

Finding a fairway bunker on the par-four 17^th led to a bogey, and then his drive on the par-five 18th found the water down the right, creating an exciting finish as four-time champion Schwartzel was just off the green in two. Oosthuizen laid up his third well, and then nervelessly rolled in a tricky 18-foot putt for par to seal a two-stroke victory, his closing 69 taking him to 18-under-par.

“I knew I had to play well because Charl plays very well around this place and Christiaan Bezuidenhout started well too. Fortunately I made a few putts in the middle that let me get ahead because this is such a good finishing course, you need to hold on and it’s tough to be aggressive,” Oosthuizen said after his first win since his memorable SA Open triumph in 2018.

“I was a bit in-between what to do off the 18^th tee and I had to make par the hard way, because Charl hit a good drive and I knew he would go for the green in two. It wasn’t much fun after that tee-shot, but it feels good now!”

After Sunday’s play was limited to just seven holes for the leading group by thundershowers, Schwartzel started shakily on Monday with bogeys on the par-four eighth and 10^th holes. But he would trade those in for back-to-back birdies on the 11^th and 12^th holes to draw level again. But six successive pars then followed as Schwartzel was just not quite sharp enough to put more pressure on Oosthuizen, closing with a 71 for 16-under-par.

Moving beyond the ins and outs of their respective final rounds, perhaps Oosthuizen was due to win at Leopard Creek, given his pedigree and how badly he wanted the title after twice finishing second.

“Since first playing in this event in 2004, this has been one of the tournaments I’ve always wanted to win, but it took me a while. Like the SA Open, which was my last win, I had to wait a while and now I’m very happy. It’s really special to win here, maybe I should play more in South Africa.

“I was very focused because I really wanted to win and I felt my game was good enough to do it and I’ve been putting well enough. But it was just a fight and I had to make it count with the putter in the end,” Oosthuizen said.

A beautifully curled-in 35ft birdie putt on the 14^th hole was the 41-year-old’s highlight on the greens on the final day.

Bezuidenhout shot a four-under 68 to ensure he was always a lurking presence in the final round, eventually finishing third on 14-under-par.

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Bulls coach Jake White said whether he was right or wrong to rest his first-choice players from European Champions Cup action and then they still lost to the Stormers in their United Rugby Championship derby in Cape Town is only going to be decided at the end of the season.

Despite bringing a fresh, best-available team to Cape Town to tackle the defending champions, the Bulls were humbled 37-27, allowing critics to wonder whether it was worth sending the second-stringers to Devon last weekend and being soundly beaten by Exeter Chiefs.

“We have five points from two games in the Champions Cup, both us and the Stormers do,” White pointed out. “The decision had nothing to do about today, it was not a measure of whether I was right or wrong.

“We will only measure that by June next year. There was no way the same team could play today after flying 26 hours in economy and only arriving back Monday lunchtime.

“We’ve lost four times in a row now to the Stormers, but we will see in June when we have three competitions on the go. If I was only concerned with European competition then maybe I would have done things differently.

“But my brief as director of rugby comes from a decision made by the board. Next year’s Currie Cup will be played Wednesday-Saturday-Saturday, which is a helluva ask. Plus we only have eight training days in January because of the travel,” White said.

The former Springbok coach said the naivety of his team was a concern, putting it down to inexperience.

“It didn’t help playing 20 minutes with 14 guys, but we showed moments of inexperience, which was disappointing,” White said. “There were four minutes of madness when they scored three of their four tries.

“You can’t say you should have won when you’ve conceded four tries, but our attack was held up on the Stormers’ line a couple of times. The Stormers really stormed the breakdown.

“They would rather concede penalties than the try, and defence coach Norman Laker has been there a long time. In fact their whole coaching staff has been there a long time, so they are much more fluent.

“I don’t enjoy losing, but it’s a complete and utter juggling act at the moment. We are still young, every player in the Stormers pack is older than his Bulls counterpart. We have six guys who are 23 or younger,” White said.