Ken Borland

Pink Day, the charity event raising funds for cancer research, has been hosted by the fast-paced city of Johannesburg at the Wanderers for the last 9 years and Sunday’s second ODI between South Africa and Pakistan may not have any spectators allowed, but the Proteas need to bring their usual intensity and action-packed approach in order to stay alive in the series.

The first ODI was lost on the back of a second-wicket partnership of 177 between Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq; Pakistan scraped to victory off the last ball of the match because the Proteas then fought back and claimed six wickets for 85 runs. They did that using aggressive fast bowling led by Anrich Nortje.

The Wanderers is traditionally a haven for pace and bounce and Autumn on the Highveld adds more moisture and swing into the equation as well. South Africa’s pacemen need to be smarter about exploiting the conditions more, they perhaps relied too heavily on slower balls and cutters at Centurion when an approach more in line with how they would bowl in a Test match was called for.

“The plan was to bowl more Test lengths and we started brilliantly, but as the pitch became harder and flatter it was really difficult to defend and the batsmen were able to score quite freely. But a lot of credit should go to the bowlers, I’ve been in a lot of situations like this on the Highveld and the team chasing gets home with five or six overs to spare,” centurion Rassie van der Dussen said after the first ODI on Friday night.

It was a valuable toss for Pakistan to win in the first game and it was tough going for the Proteas batsmen in the first hour. But some of the strokes offered were not well-executed as South Africa slumped to 55 for four before Van der Dussen came to their rescue.

The star batsman said the shot-selection could be excused, it was just the execution that let the batsmen down, and a similarly positive approach is likely to be brought to the Wanderers.

“Quinton de Kock and Aiden Markram gave us a good start and thought that they could then take on the powerplay. In hindsight they couldn’t because the pitch was a bit more difficult to bat on than they thought. You have to assess conditions and sometimes you make mistakes. But a guy like Quinny has played like that his whole career and we’re not too worried about the batting.

“England have probably been the best ODI team over the last two years and that formula works for them, so we want to give the batsmen the freedom to express themselves, especially up front in the powerplay. Quinny is usually brilliant there but it’s the nature of cricket that you won’t have success every time. Losing three wickets in a cluster is what we don’t want to do though,” Van der Dussen said.

The second World Cup, hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France, was a more competitive affair which featured a qualifying system for the first time and concluded in a scrappy final won by Australia, who beat England 12-6 at Twickenham.

That 1991 Australian team had the makings of a top-class outfit, featuring a powerhouse backline including Nick Farr-Jones, Michael Lynagh, Tim Horan, Jason Little and David Campese and with future legends such as John Eales, Ewen McKenzie and Phil Kearns in the pack.

England were a quality team themselves with players like Will Carling, Jeremy Guscott, Rory Underwood and Rob Andrew in the backs and a tremendous pack spearheaded by the front row of Jeff Probyn, Brian Moore and Jason Leonard, but they made a fatal mistake in the final by switching from a forward-orientated style of play to a running game which suited the Wallabies down to the ground.

Australia made a slow start to the tournament, with their biggest test in Pool 3 coming from debutants Western Samoa, one of the qualifiers. The Wallabies edged them out 9-3 in Pontypool, but the islanders pulled off a sensational 16-13 win over Wales at Cardiff Arms Park to also progress to the quarterfinals. The incredible upset prompted the quip that Wales were lucky they were only playing against the western half of Samoa!

Zimbabwe, featuring future Springbok prop Adrian Garvey, who scored two tries against Scotland, were Africa’s representatives with South Africa still in isolation. They were in Pool 2, which the unbeaten Scots topped to go through to the quarterfinals with fellow Celts Ireland.

Reigning champions New Zealand were with England in Pool 1 and beat them 18-12 in the tournament’s opening game at Twickenham, but the Red Rose systematically crushed Italy and the United States to ensure they reached the knockout stages.

France topped Pool 4 as expected, but Canada upset the applecart by beating Fiji 13-3 in Bayonne to also go through. The mercurial Fijians fell apart thereafter, also losing to Romania to prop up the pool.

Campese was the focal point of the quarterfinals as he scored two brilliant tries to put Australia ahead against Ireland, but then his major error led to Gordon Hamilton racing away for a try that gave the hosts an 18-15 lead in Dublin as the match drew to a close.

But he made up for it by making the break that led to Lynagh finishing the last-gasp try that kept the Wallabies alive.

Campese would score again in Australia’s 16-6 win over New Zealand in the semi-finals and, although he had a quiet final, he arguably won them the game because he taunted the English style of play to such an extent that they changed it for the showpiece game!

England beat France 19-10 and Scotland ended the Samoan dream 28-6 to set up the other semi-final.

England scraped home 9-6 in Edinburgh, Scottish fullback Gavin Hastings missing a penalty from in front of the poles, which he subsequently said he should not have taken having just been smashed by Mike Skinner in a tackle.

As rugby rapidly hurtled towards professionalism, the second World Cup was seen as a success, with increased attendance and viewers, and was viewed as a major global sporting event for the first time. Of course, the absence of the Springboks meant there was still debate for at least another year as to who the best side in the world really were.

This year’s Tshwane Open will really be played in the heart of the city after the announcement yesterday that the co-sanctioned golf tournament will be hosted by the Pretoria Country Club in Waterkloof from March 12-15.

The Pretoria Country Club is 105 years old and is renowned for being a quality sports and social venue in the capital. Set in the magnificent surrounds of Waterkloof, the Country Club boasts a par-71 parklands golf course, designed by the Gary Player Group.

Sunshine Tour commissioner Selwyn Nathan explained that the tournament has been moved from Copperleaf near Centurion after two years because the Tshwane Metro would like to see the European Tour event move around the city every couple of years. Nathan said he hoped Pretoria Country Club would also be hosts for at least two years.

Subesh Pillay, the MMC responsible for Economic Development and Planning, explained why the City of Tshwane were investing in the tournament again.

“We took a bit of flak initially because many people asked why we are spending money on golf when there are backlogs in housing, electricity and water. But the decision was not taken lightly and we did it because of what the tournament meant for the city, because it added value.

“Tourism is the biggest contributor to our economy and the Tshwane Open received coverage in 47 countries last year and it reached 217 million households. The global media coverage we received was worth $67 million and the direct impact to the city was R44.5 million. Plus 202 temporary jobs were created by the tournament in 2014,” Pillay said.

Pretoria Country Club is not by any means long by professional standards at 6459 metres, but she will be able to protect herself through tight fairways and rough that can be brutal at the end of summer.

Nathan said the Tshwane Open provided an important platform for the rising stars of the game both in South Africa and from Europe.

“It’s an enormous platform for young players, it tests their skills and enables them to compete all over the world. Look at our previous two winners: Dawie van der Walt was nowhere in world terms and now he’s playing in both the United States and Europe and is having big success; Ross Fisher, last year’s winner, is now second on the Race to Dubai,” Nathan said. “I can almost guarantee that whoever wins this year will also go on to great heights.”

Nathan said he was optimistic Fisher would return to defend his title, while most of South Africa’s regular European Tour campaigners should also tee it up because there is no other competing tournament for them on the schedule that week.

“I have commitments from a big group of European Tour golfers, there’s no reason for them to be anywhere else that week plus there’s prizemoney of 1.5 million euro – about R18 million – for them to play for,” Nathan said.

The Tshwane Open will once again attract many of the European Tour’s rising stars when it is held from March 12-15, but this year, it will be hosted by the Pretoria Country Club in Waterkloof, the Sunshine Tour announced on Thursday.

Defending champion, Ross Fisher, currently second in the Race to Dubai order of merit, is expected to enter again, while the bulk of South Africa’s European Tour campaigners should also be there because there is no other tournament on their schedule that week.

Pretoria Country Club is a parklands course, a Gary Player design since 2004/5, set in scenic woodland in a pristine environment that attracts such notable bird species as Rose-ringed Parakeet, Black Cuckoo, Burchell’s Coucal, Crested Barbet, Gymnogene, Ovambo Sparrowhawk and Spotted Eagle Owl.

Sunshine Tour commissioner, Selwyn Nathan, stressed the importance of the event in providing a platform for up-and-coming stars, saying both the previous champions, Dawie van der Walt and Fisher, rose to prominence on the European Tour after their victories at Copperleaf, where the first two editions of the Tshwane Open were held.

The Tshwane Open is the last co-sanctioned event of the season in South Africa, signalling the end of the Summer Swing, which will pick up again in November when the beautiful pink petals of the Cape Chestnut trees will be making Pretoria Country Club even more beautiful than it already is.

Subesh Pillay, the MMC responsible for economic development and planning, said the Tshwane Metro were delighted to reinvest in the tournament because of the benefits it brought to the city.

“We took a bit of flak initially because many people asked why we are spending money on golf when there are backlogs in housing, electricity and water. But the decision was not taken lightly and we did it because of what the tournament meant for the city, because it added value.”

“Tourism is the biggest contributor to our economy and the Tshwane Open received coverage in 47 countries last year and it reached 217 million households. The global media coverage we received was worth $67 million and the direct impact to the city was R44.5 million. Plus, 202 temporary jobs were created by the tournament in 2014,” Pillay revealed at the launch at Pretoria Country Club.

Van der Walt, in particular, used the Tshwane Open to progress from a journeymen pro who had never won a tournament before to someone who now has two victories, plays in both Europe and the United States and has even made two appearances at the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City, courtesy of winning the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit in 2013.

Even for those who don’t end up winning the co-sanctioned event and the European Tour exemption that comes with it, there is prize money of 1.5 million euro – about R18 million – for them to fight over.

http://citizen.co.za/321173/tshwane-open-moves-to-pretoria-country-club/