Ken Borland

The bizhub Highveld Lions put in a stellar performance over the weekend in the Sunfoil Series and it was only the intervention of bad weather that prevented them from taking a near-unassailable lead at the top of the four-day competition’s log.

The wonderful efforts of their four-prong pace attack and centuries by the prolific Stephen Cook and Temba Bavuma gave the Lions firm control of their match against the Chevrolet Warriors in East London and, with Hardus Viljoen taking five wickets and Chris Morris three in the second innings, they were left with a victory target of just 98.

Unfortunately for the Lions, only 21 overs were able to be bowled before bad light stopped play with them on 81 for four.

“It was disappointing, I really thought we were going to get the win,” coach Geoff Toyana told The Citizen on Monday. “It was getting dark when we bowled the Warriors out, so we knew we wouldn’t get 33 overs in. The batsmen tried their best but Andrew Birch (9-3-13-4) bowled very well and made it tough for us.

“The Warriors were taking seven or eight minutes an over, but we still thought we’d get a couple more in.”

The Lions were also hindered by the Warriors tail, with the last three batsmen – Birch, Sisanda Magala and Basheer Walters  – adding 67 runs in 15 overs, but overall Toyana was happy as his team still sits 19.22 points ahead of the Titans on the log.

“The Dolphins were also very unfortunate to have to settle for a draw and these things happen, they’re not in your control. But I’m very happy that Hardus, Chris and Kagiso Rabada are all performing well together and Stephen Cook has now scored four hundreds in a row to put us where we are. He’s a quality opener, he’s batted there all his life, he knows his game and he’s been averaging over 40 for 10 seasons.

“The national selectors want to convert middle-order batsmen into openers, but I’m surprised Stephen hasn’t had a look in, he should be in the mix,” Toyana said.

The Unlimited Titans were also frustrated by the Nashua Cape Cobras’ tail in Paarl, the home side recovering from 198 for eight to 308 in their first innings and then bowling the visitors out for 175, thanks to Mthokozisi Shezi’s brilliant six for 51.

The Titans, set 475 to win after a quickfire Dane Vilas century, were eventually beaten by 170 runs, but the fact that the Lions were held to a draw meant they only lost a little ground on the log.

“We should have closed down their first innings quicker and you can’t really win after being 133 behind on first innings, unless something dramatic happens. But we got a bit lucky with the other two draws , which are pretty much worth the same as a loss.

“We’ve slipped back a bit, but not drastically, and if we can win two out of our last three games, and the Lions draw a couple, then we can win the title,” coach Rob Walter said.

Those who attended the final day of the match between the Sunfoil Dolphins and the Chevrolet Knights at Kingsmead enjoyed a nailbiting finish as the visitors’ last pair of Malusi Siboto and Quinton Friend survived for 53 minutes before bad light stopped play.

Paceman Mathew Pillans, with match figures of 10 for 129, and the Van Wyk brothers – Divan scored 171 and Morne 103 not out – were the stars of the show for the Dolphins.

Kagiso Rabada announced himself on Sunday as the man to lead the future South African pace attack as he single-handedly destroyed the Dolphins and set up a resounding 10-wicket win for the bizhub Highveld Lions in their Sunfoil Series match at the Wanderers.

Rabada claimed a phenomenal nine for 33 in 16.2 overs on Sunday to finish with match figures of 14 for 105.

Only one other man has taken 14 wickets in a franchise match and that was Dale Steyn for the Titans against the Eagles in Bloemfontein in 2007/8.

Rabada could well be South Africa’s next great fast bowler, with the 19-year-old confirming all the good things followers of the game are hearing about him with a thunderous performance at the Wanderers.

The Dolphins were bundled out for just 134 by Rabada, leaving the Lions with a target of just 16 to win, those runs being knocked off by openers Stephen Cook and Rassie van der Dussen.

The Dolphins, trailing by 119 runs on first innings, had resumed on 22 for one on Sunday morning after the third day’s play had been limited to just 29.1 overs by bad light and rain, and they were immediately rocked by Rabada having Daniel Sincuba caught behind for four.

The Wanderers pitch was far from her most venomous, but Rabada managed to swing the ball and generated impressive pace, having Cody Chetty (5) caught in the slips in his third over of the day before taking a break.

Rabada’s second spell was the perfect marriage of control, pace and movement as he ripped through the Dolphins lower-order in a dazzling spell of six for 10 in 6.2 overs.

Rassie van der Dussen dived full-length at backward point to catch Morne van Wyk for seven, but the five other batsmen dismissed by Rabada were all bowled or trapped lbw, save for last man Daryn Dupavillon (0), who popped a return catch back to the St Stithians product.

Opener Divan van Wyk was the only Dolphins batsman to resist for long, batting for 204 minutes and scoring 56 before he chopped Rabada into his own stumps.

Rabada is the youngest South African to take 13 wickets in a first-class match and he will surely continue to follow in Steyn’s considerable footsteps.

Kagiso Rabada chose the day when South Africa’s pace bowling reserves were brought into question at the World Cup to announce himself as the potential successor to Dale Steyn with a magnificent nine-wicket haul to bowl the bizhub Highveld Lions to a crunching win over the Dolphins in their Sunfoil Series match at the Wanderers on Sunday.

Rabada took nine for 33 in 16.2 overs – the sixth-best innings figures in the history of domestic A Section cricket in South Africa – to give him a brilliant match analysis of 14 for 105.

This is the best return in the history of franchise cricket, improving on the 14 for 110 Steyn himself took for the Titans against the Eagles in Bloemfontein in 2007/8.

Rabada’s extraordinary performance – three of his victims were caught behind the wicket, three were bowled and one was trapped lbw – skittled the Dolphins for 134 in their second innings.

This meant that the Lions had a nominal target of 16 to win the game, which openers Stephen Cook and Rassie van der Dussen quickly knocked off for a 10-wicket win that increases their lead at the top of the log to just over 17 points.

And it wasn’t the case that Rabada took advantage of a Wanderers greentop either: there was some steep bounce, but apart from that the enormously-talented 19-year-old showed his ability to get swing, hit good areas and bowled with impressive pace on a flattish pitch.

Rabada made an early start to his amazing demolition job when he removed Daniel Sincuba (4), edging a lovely away-swinger to wicketkeeper Dominic Hendricks, with his second ball of the day.

An over from Rabada went by without incident, but he then picked up another scalp in his third over of the day, Cody Chetty (5) edging an easy catch to first slip.

An exceptional catch by Van der Dussen at backward point gave Rabada his fourth wicket, Morne van Wyk dismissed for seven, and the St Stithians product marked the occasion of his maiden 10-wicket match haul by shattering the stumps of Keshav Maharaj (5), who was way too late on his shot.

Graham Hume was trapped on the crease and lbw for nought, while opener Divan van Wyk, who held on for 204 minutes in scoring 56, eventually played on.

History was then made on the famous Wanderers turf when Tshepo Moreki was bowled for 2 and last man Daryn Dupavillon (0) spliced a simple return catch to Rabada, who is the youngest South African to take 13 wickets in a first-class match.

He joins an elite group of just 25 other bowlers who have taken 14 wickets or more and there can be no doubt Rabada is on his way to even greater things.

Kagiso Rabada showed once again why he is one of the most exciting teenagers in world cricket as he spearheaded a strong first day for the bizhub Highveld Lions against the Dolphins in their Sunfoil Series match at the Wanderers on Thursday.

Rabada dismissed three of the Dolphins’ top four batsmen and with Hardus Viljoen running through the lower-order with the second new ball, the Lions had reduced the Dolphins to 289 for eight when bad light stopped play with one over remaining to be bowled.

The 19-year-old junior world cup winner is not only a wonderfully athletic quick bowler, but is also mastering the important art of control and adapting to different surfaces. On a Wanderers pitch that certainly provided assistance with the new ball but was otherwise pretty flat, Rabada maintained an excellent length and was rewarded with fine figures of four for 65 in 23 overs.

The one top-order batsman not to fall to Rabada was opener Imraan Khan, who scored 29 before being dismissed in highly unusual fashion.

Pumelela Matshikwe forced Khan back into the crease with a delivery that spat back at the left-handed batsman and, as the ball went behind Khan from his defensive bat, it hit the glove on the hand that he had taken off the bat.

The senior Lions players were alert to the handled the ball rule and Khan became the first South African since Free State wicketkeeper/batsman Lefa Mosena, against Limpopo in 2007/8, to be dismissed in that way.

The unlikely wicket left the Dolphins, who had won the toss and elected to bat first, on 53 for three, but the momentum then shifted the way of the visitors as the pitch settled down against the softer ball.

The wristy Cody Chetty and the determined, experienced Daryn Smit dominated the second session as they took the Dolphins to 156 for three at the tea break.

Smit had scored a dogged 60, the tenacity he showed in handling the aggressive short-pitched mode of attack from around the wicket by the fiery Chris Morris being one of the highlights of the day.

But the resistance came at a cost and the blow Smit took behind the ear from Morris in the fifth over before the interval eventually caused him to retire hurt in the second over after the break.

Chetty and Smit had added 107 for the fourth wicket off 231 balls, but the unfortunate departure of Smit did not stop the runs from flowing as captain Morne van Wyk came to the crease and the fifty partnership came up at a run-a-minute.

There was little inkling of the carnage to come when Australian exchange umpire Gerard Abood waved the second new ball around at the start of the 82^nd over with the Dolphins cruising on 238 for three.

A couple of half-volleys from Rabada in the fourth over with the new ball gave Chetty (106) the opportunity to register his fourth Sunfoil Series century, a gritty effort that saw some fine strokes for his 16 boundaries off 192 balls, but some equally impressive defence and the ability to pick up singles all over the field.

But that was the high point of the day for the Dolphins: from 253 for three when Chetty reached three figures, they lost five wickets for 26 runs.

Three balls after his century celebrations, Chetty’s stay of 312 minutes was ended by Rabada nipping a delivery back into him and just clipping the bails; there were more high-fives for the Lions soon thereafter as Viljoen trapped Van Wyk lbw for 44 with the next delivery and four balls later also had Graham Hume adjudged leg-before for a duck.

Both decisions by Abood were contentious – Van Wyk was well forward while the left-handed Hume seemed to have been struck outside the line of off-stump – and they wrested control of the day away from the Dolphins.

Rabada then had Mathew Pillans (2) caught behind and Viljoen removed Keshav Maharaj (13), Neil McKenzie tumbling backwards and taking a spectacular catch at first slip, before Tshepo Moreki (2*) and Daryn Dupavillon (8*) battled through to stumps and lived to fight another day.

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