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Ken Borland



Miller able to capitalise on life & find top form 0

Posted on November 02, 2015 by Ken

 

David Miller was able to find the form that eluded him in India as his unbeaten half-century took the Dolphins to a six-run win against the Titans in their RamSlam T20 Challenge match at Centurion on Sunday night.

Miller was able to double his score off his next 10 balls after being dropped on 31, as his brilliant 62 not out off 32 balls carried the Dolphins to 179 for four after they were sent in to bat. The left-hander survived the crucial let-off in the 18th over as Marchant de Lange put down a comfortable catch at backward point after Miller failed to clear the fielder with a cut off wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi.

Miller then hit Chris Morris for 19 runs in the penultimate over and then belted the hapless De Lange, who conceded 48 runs in three overs, for 14 off the last as he finished with eight fours and two sixes.

It provided the Dolphins with the strong finish they needed after they had slid away in the middle overs, thanks to excellent bowling by Albie Morkel (4-0-28-2) and spinners Shamsi (4-0-31-0) and Henry Davids (3-0-14-1).

The Dolphins had started strongly with Morne van Wyk (41 off 29), Cameron Delport (25 off 18) and Kevin Pietersen (22 off 21) taking them to 88 for one in the 10th over, but Morkel then dismissed Pietersen to restrict the visitors just as they were gaining dangerous momentum.

Cody Chetty (21 not out off 16) provided able support to Miller in their unbeaten fifth-wicket stand of 63 off 35 balls.

Morkel, having shone with the ball, then so nearly carried the Titans to victory with his blazing 67 off 34 balls, before being run out trying to get back for a second in the final over.

The Dolphins used their spinners well, with Prenelan Subrayen managing to remove the dangerous Quinton de Kock (11) in the second over, before seamer Andile Phehlukwayo removed Grant Mokoena (6) and Heino Kuhn (5) in successive overs to leave the Titans under pressure on 54 for three in the eighth over.

Opener Henry Davids went to 31 off 26 balls before left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj bowled him round his legs and Subrayen then returned to claim the key wickets of Farhaan Behardien (11), Chris Morris (14) and Mangaliso Mosehle (11), the batsmen battling to get after his slow off-spin.

Morkel hit Maharaj for three sixes and two fours as 30 runs came off his last two overs, but Subrayen conceded just five runs in the 18th over and dismissed Mosehle to finish with four for 22, the third-best T20 figures for the Dolphins and best against the Titans.

Phehlukwayo (4-0-29-2) then bowled an outstanding penultimate over, conceding just four runs to leave Kyle Abbott with 24 runs to protect in the final over.

 

Amla shining like a diamond in the gloom 0

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Ken

Hashim Amla’s skill was shining like a diamond in the Centurion gloom as his unbeaten half-century gave South Africa a solid platform on a SuperSport Park pitch on which steep bounce made batting hard in the fifth Momentum One-Day International against the West Indies on Wednesday.

Amla had moved to 54 not out off 52 balls, taking South Africa to 114 for two after 21 overs, midway through their innings in a match reduced to 42 overs a side due to rain.

The West Indies had won the toss and unsurprisingly elected to bowl first after bad weather wiped out two-and-a-half hours of play, and their pacemen were able to extract awkward bounce, some of it inconsistent, to trouble the South African top-order.

Cross-batted leg-side shots cost both Quinton de Kock and Faf du Plessis their wickets, while Rilee Rossouw was enjoying a few lives as he battled to 24 not out off 40 deliveries with just one boundary.

De Kock, playing his first game for the Proteas since doing his ankle ligaments at the same ground in mid-December, had just one scoring stroke, a lofted square-drive for four off Sheldon Cottrell, before Jason Holder removed him with his third delivery of the match.

De Kock tried to pull a shortish delivery away on the leg-side but could only splice the ball, sending a simple catch looping on the off-side.

Du Plessis hung around for 27 balls, hitting two fours, as he and Amla added a run-a-ball 53 for the second wicket, before Andre Russell banged one in head-high, a top-edged hook landing in fine leg’s hands. South Africa’s T20 captain was out for 16.

Rossouw, the ultimate in feast or famine batting it seems, came to the crease in the 11th over in the number four position, the return of De Kock having shifted him out of the opening berth.

The left-hander was not always fluent at the crease, but he enjoyed some of the luck which has previously not been with him in the 13 other innings of his ODI career.

Seamer Carlos Brathwaite was the best of the West Indian bowlers, joining the attack in the ninth over and immediately dropping the run-rate with a tight line on the off stump, just 18 runs coming from the 26-year-old’s six-over spell.

 http://citizen.co.za/316612/amla-shines-centurion/

All-round Gayle steers Lions to victory 0

Posted on December 03, 2014 by Ken

Chris Gayle struck a half-century and took four wickets to steer the bizhub Highveld Lions to a six-wicket victory over the Sunfoil Dolphins in the final match of the RamSlam T20 Challenge triple-header at the Wanderers on Sunday night.

The Lions were chasing 173 for victory and Gayle belted six fours and two sixes as he scored a belligerent 56 off 38 balls. He and Jean Symes added 89 off 68 balls after the hosts were struggling on 36 for three in the fourth over, steering them to victory with seven balls to spare as Thami Tsolekile (23* off 12) hit a couple of sixes in the penultimate over to clinch the win.

Symes compiled a beautifully-paced 58 not out off 50 balls, with four fours and two sixes, and played the perfect foil to Gayle, who showed what a big drawcard he is going to be over the next month.

The West Indian left-hander took a while to get going, but was just beginning to break free, having completed his half-century off 35 balls, when Prenelan Subrayen bowled him in the 14th over.

The Lions still needed 48 off the last six overs, but the Dolphins were unable to restrict Symes and Tsolekile, who completed a comfortable victory over the defending champions.

The Dolphins had to break free from their own poor start after winning the toss and electing to bat first, Cameron Delport falling first ball to Lonwabo Tsotsobe, who seems to be well and truly over his long-term injury niggles, and Morne van Wyk (5) being trapped lbw by Hardus Viljoen’s first delivery.

The Dolphins were 27 for two in the fourth over and desperately needed the stand of 71 off 45 balls between Cody Chetty and Vaughn van Jaarsveld.

Van Jaarsveld stood up from a painful blow amidships from Chris Morris to slap the fast bowler for four and six in the seventh over as the Dolphins passed 50, and Chetty completed a 32-ball half-century with five fours and three sixes.

But the introduction of Gayle with his flat and crafty off-spin derailed the Dolphins progress.

The tall 35-year-old claimed wickets in each of his four overs: Van Jaarsveld (40 off 25) mistimed a lofted straight drive to long-on, Jonathan Vandiar (8) and Khaya Zondo (5) both walked across their stumps and missed sweeps to be given out lbw, and Chetty top-edged a sweep to long-on to fall for a classy 68 off 44 balls.

That allowed fast bowlers Viljoen and Morris to gain access to the lower-order and they wrapped up the innings in style as the Dolphins scored 37 for four in the last four overs.

Viljoen returned in the penultimate over to remove the dangerous Subrayen for 26 off 13 balls and Morris claimed two wickets in the final over to leave the Dolphins short of a winning target on 172 for nine.

Gayle finished with four for 36 to claim the bowler of the match award, but Viljoen returned the best figures of two for 14 in three overs, while wrist-spinner Eddie Leie also managed to frustrate the Dolphins in tandem with Gayle.

All-round Kallis brilliance steers SA to win 0

Posted on January 06, 2012 by Ken

 

An immense all-round performance by Jacques Kallis carried South Africa to a series-clinching 10-wicket win over Sri Lanka on the fourth day of the third and final test at Newlands on Friday.

    Kallis, having scored 224 in the South African first innings, claimed three for 35 to end an obdurate Sri Lankan second innings on 342, leaving the hosts with a nominal target of two runs to win.

    Kallis, playing his 150th test, also took four catches to equal the South African record for the most catches by an outfielder in an innings as well as the mark of six catches in a test set by Albert Vogler in 1909/10 and matched by Bruce Mitchell in 1931/32.

    South Africa’s win brings to an end a run of four winless series at home dating back to 2008/9.

    They were held up on the fourth day by the determined Thilan Samaraweera, who scored a defiant 115 not out in 325 minutes, off 215 balls, showing fine technique and concentration.

    Angelo Mathews scored 63 and the tail-enders had some fun as well as they helped the experienced Samaraweera prolong South Africa’s time in the field to nine minutes after the scheduled tea break.

    Kallis, who had removed stubborn opener Lahiru Thirimanne for 30 on the third day, moved sharply to take a return catch from Rangana Herath (0), his record-equalling fourth catch of the innings and sixth of the test, and then bowled last man Chanaka Welegedara for 14.

    Sri Lanka appeared to be on track to take the game into a fifth day as Samaraweera and Mathews took Sri Lanka’s overnight score of 138 for four, still trailing by 203 runs, to 240 for four with their record fifth-wicket stand of 142 in 200 minutes. Sri Lanka’s previous best fifth-wicket partnership against South Africa was 121 between Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga in Moratuwa in 1993/94.

    But Mathews, who had shown plenty of strokeplaying ability, was trapped in front of the stumps by a Vernon Philander delivery that kept low in the fourth over after lunch and Dinesh Chandimal could score just a single before he edged the same bowler into the slips, where Kallis took a sharp catch.

    Sri Lanka were 248 for six with Samaraweera on 86, but the tail stayed in long enough for the 35-year-old to reach his 14th century in his 71st test and his second of the series.

    Thisara Perera (30) and Dhammika Prasad (16) both prospered briefly with some fairly reckless hitting to save Sri Lanka from an innings defeat, but not their ultimate fate.

    While the inspirational Kallis boasted the most impressive bowling figures, he was well-supported by Philander, who took three for 54 in 20 overs and has now taken 30 wickets in his first four tests.

    Leg-spinner Imran Tahir took three for 106 in 32 overs.

    South Africa’s innings is likely to feature prominently in future sporting trivia quizzes as Dhammika Prasad’s first delivery was a no-ball, which Alviro Petersen drove down the ground for the winning runs. It meant the innings officially lasted 0.0 overs.

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  • Thought of the Day

    Ephesians 4:13 – “Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

    The standard against which we measure our progress is nothing less than the character of Christ. It sounds presumptuous to strive for his perfection, but we must aim no lower.

    Of course, comparing what you are to what Christ is could make you pessimistic and you give up. However, intellectual and spiritual maturity doesn’t just happen – it requires time and energy to develop your full potential.

    “Never forget His love for you and that he identifies with you in your human frailty. He gives you the strength to live a godly life if you will only confess your dependence on him every moment of the day. Draw daily from the strength that he puts at your disposal for this very reason.” – Solly Ozrovech, A Shelter From The Storm

     

     



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