Ken Borland

Tighthead props have always been the pearl in the crown as far as Bulls coach Jake White is concerned when it comes to picking his teams, but unfortunately the World Cup-winning coach is going to have to do without his first-choice No.3, Springbok star Trevor Nyakane, for their opening Rainbow Cup match against the Lions on Saturday.

According to the injury report released on Monday evening by team doctor Herman Rossouw, Nyakane has a rib injury and “will in all likelihood miss the first game but should not be out for too long”. Rossouw described it as a “new injury”, so Nyakane must have picked it up in training.

Springbok Marcel van der Merwe has been released to play for La Rochelle in France as a medical joker, so Nyakane’s replacement is likely to be 23-year-old Mornay Smith, who is considered a highly promising young tighthead.

Regular captain Duane Vermeulen has received much well-deserved adulation for his role in reviving the Bulls but the Springbok hero also won’t be available on Saturday, although he has begun light training after knee surgery, along with outside backs Gio Aplon and Travis Ismaiel.

Wing Stravino Jacobs, another rising star, is also back in training, while lock Walt Steenkamp as fully recovered from the heart problems he had after contracting Covid and has been given the green light to start training again. Fans will also be happy to see exciting loosehead prop Simphiwe Matanzima is back on the field again after tearing his achilles tendon eight months ago.

There were many blemishes in the Proteas finishing game with both bat and ball in the first T20 against Pakistan at the Wanderers on Saturday, with captain Heinrich Klaasen admitting one of the black marks goes against his name for getting out when he did when South Africa were batting.

Klaasen scored an explosive 50 off 28 balls, producing some great six-hitting, but he was caught at short fine leg trying to scoop Hasan Ali, with the Proteas on 159 for three after 16.2 overs. They ended on 188 for six, a decent total but well short of what looked likely when they already had 151 on the board after 15 overs.

Pakistan won the match by four wickets with a ball to spare as South Africa again failed to execute their skills in the last five overs, conceding 60 runs, as well as missing a couple of catches. Opener Mohammad Rizwan steered the visitors home with his clinical 74 not out off 50 balls.

“We were in a very good position to take the game away from Pakistan, but unfortunately I got out at a bad time. The job of the set batsman is to go deep but unfortunately I couldn’t do that. It was not all bad execution in the end stages, just one or two overs and we had a bit of bad luck too. But we still need to fine-tune that area of our game.

“We may be forced to experiment with players, but the game plan is set and we need to do that going forward to the World Cup. Now we just need to execute it and fine-tune it. Things like the angles we bowled to Rizwan, we need to stay out of his hitting zone, he scored a lot on the leg side. Sisanda Magala and Lizaad Williams are probably our two best yorker bowlers so we needed to stick to that plan,” Klaasen said after the match.

One positive from the match was Aiden Markram reaching a white-ball international half-century for the first time since March 2019. The elegant opener top-scored for the Proteas with 51 and he did not eat up too many balls getting there either – he only needed 32 deliveries.

“I’m really happy for Aiden, he’s fought hard to get back in the white-ball sides and today he really made a statement, he showed that he can play in this format. In the ODIs he just needs to not get out when he is set, but today’s knock was a big step in the right direction,” Klaasen said.

Aiden Markram said on Wednesday that there was no sense of disappointment in being overlooked for the Proteas Test captaincy – and the broad grin he wore when he said it was an obvious sign of relief – and instead he threw his full weight behind the leadership of Dean Elgar, saying it will carry the same hallmarks of his batting.

Markram, who lost his place in the South African side in 2019, has just regained his best form, capped by the magnificent 204 not out he scored for the Titans against the Knights in the 4-Day Domestic Series match between the pool leaders in Centurion on Wednesday. Now that he has confirmed his place in the Test side, there had been speculation that he could be appointed as the full-time successor to Quinton de Kock.

That honour, however, fell to his Titans opening partner Elgar, who scored 90 as they shared a record first-wicket stand of 213, and Markram can now focus on churning out runs as he is doing in such prolific fashion at the moment. He is now the leading run-scorer in the four-day competition with 781 at 97.62, plus he has made 336 Test runs at an average of 56 this summer.

“There is certainly no disappointment. My focus was not on the captaincy, it was all on whatever team I’m playing for and scoring runs for them. I’m over the moon for Dean, we have come quite a way together, he’s a great leader who sets really high standards and demands a lot of his team-mates. Between him and Temba Bavuma [vice-captain], I wish them all the best and look forward to their eras in charge.

“Dean’s captaincy is very similar to the way he bats: he never throws in the towel, he never gives up, he’ll fight tooth-and-nail for every inch. He expects a lot from the team and will certainly never settle for anything below-par or mediocre. The whole Titans team is over the moon for him. He adds massive value in our changeroom and that of the Proteas as well,” Markram said at SuperSport Park on Wednesday.

Markram’s wonderful summer ended a period of immense frustration for the 26-year-old as he could not build on the tremendous promise he showed in scoring a thousand runs in his first year of Test cricket.

“I was happy to spend some more time in the middle and it’s just how sport works I guess: You have your phases when you struggle and I went through a really rough 12-18 months. But that gives you extra hunger and motivation and when you get in you really want to go to town. Because you never know what’s going to happen next week …

“So I’m keeping my feet on the ground, but I feel like I have a bit more clarity at the crease now. Every batsman wants to score a double at some stage and I’ve learnt once I get in to never give it away. You have to try and get yourself out as few times as possible and I’m very relieved that the Titans were able to get out of this match with the draw,” Markram said.

Kagiso Rabada has won accolades all over the world but he has not smiled more broadly as when the Imperial Lions beat the Dolphins by four wickets with an over to spare in the T20 Challenge final at Kingsmead, the fast bowler playing a pivotal role in the victory and another trophy for his franchise.

After the Dolphins won the toss and elected to bat on their home ground, Rabada played a leading role as the KZN side could only post 107 for seven in their 20 overs. Rabada, who gave a superb demonstration of all his wonderful skills, removed key batsman David Miller for two, beat Mangaliso Mosehle for pace and bowled him middle stump for 18 just when the wicketkeeper/batsman was threatening to revive the Dolphins innings, and finished with superb figures of three for 12 in four overs.

He was ably supported by left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin, who bowled a sweeping Sarel Erwee for a duck in the first over and finished with one for 19 in his four overs, and paceman Sisanda Magala who was outstanding again with two for 19.

Opener Grant Roelofsen scored 20 for the Dolphins and Khaya Zondo scored a determined 24, but Robbie Frylinck, who has had a fine all-round tournament, scored 30 not out off 26 balls to post a total that proved challenging for the Lions with all the pressure of a final and a Dolphins side who showed an admirable never-say-die attitude in the field.

The Lions also struggled with the bat with the Dolphins’ key bowler, Keshav Maharaj, also showing his class. The left-arm spinner took one for 22 in four overs, and troubled all of the batsmen, having Temba Bavuma dropped first ball by Khaya Zondo at slip, who was diving and just failed to take a tough chance.

Opner Reeza Hendricks, the leading run-scorer in the tournament, held the innings together with his run-a-ball 39 and his 36-run partnership with Bavuma (22) almost took the Lions to victory. Wiaan Mulder showed his abilities with the bat as he steered the Lions to victory with his 24 not out off 23 balls.

Apart from Maharaj, the Dolphins seamers – Ottneil Baartman (4-0-20-2), Robbie Frylinck (4-0-16-1) and Kerwin Mungroo (3-0-14-1) also showed great determination.