Montagu Toller is not a well-known cricketer with great exploits immediately springing to mind except for those with the most intricate knowledge of the sport, but it looks like the Proteas will need to take a leaf out of his book after the first day of the second Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi on Thursday.
Toller is an Olympic Games hero, taking seven for nine as Great Britain bowled France out for 26 to win the 1900 Olympic final by 158 runs. It was the only time cricket has featured at the Olympics. But the relevant item of trivia from paceman Toller’s tale is that all seven of those wickets were out bowled. In other words, he must have really targeted the stumps and it looks as if that is going to be the best line of attack for the Proteas as well.
That’s because Pakistan won the toss and reached 145 for three on the first day, which saw the final session of play washed out. After early moisture gave the South African bowlers some assistance, the pitch dried out and developed into a real beauty for batting as Babar Azam (77*) and Fawad Alam (42*) shared a really fruitful partnership.
Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada and Wiaan Mulder, the all-rounder who has specifically been chosen for his line-and-length abilities, have all bowled well, but with precious little movement on offer in the afternoon and the ball seldom bouncing more than hip-high, bowled and lbw seem the most likely ways for them to get wickets. So straight lines are going to be essential.
Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj is probably the greatest threat to the Pakistan batsmen and his variations of flight and pace have certainly tested Babar and Fawad. One sensed Babar was just itching to hit him into the spacious gardens of the Nawaz Sharif Park across the road from the stadium, but the closest he came was a lovely straight drive for a one-bounce four as Maharaj showed all his craft, cunning and accuracy.
It was a testing day for Maharaj as well as his first delivery turned sharply, finding the edge of Imran Butt’s bat only for Temba Bavuma to drop the straightforward catch at slip.
But the Dolphins star removed both Butt and Azhar Ali for a duck soon afterwards, the opener being smartly caught behind by Quinton de Kock as the ball turned again and Azhar being trapped lbw by a delivery that went straight on with the arm.
Back-up spinner George Linde left the field after bowling just 2.5 overs as a fierce drive by Babar lacerated the pinkie finger of his left-hand, leaving Maharaj, who turns 31 on Sunday, to toil for 25 overs on Thursday as the turn on offer diminished.
“Getting through the early session is crucial for batsmen here and Babar and Fawad absorbed the pressure nicely and then after lunch it was easier to bat. With the newish ball and the moisture in the morning, the ball tended to stick in the pitch a bit more. But as the moisture seeped away, the turn became substantially less.
“The wicket is pretty hard and the moisture from the rain and tomorrow [Friday] morning might bind it together more, especially if the heavy roller is used between innings. We’ll have a better idea of how the pitch will play at the end of the second day, but everyone has been a bit confused,” Maharaj said after the early close of play on Thursday.
Kagiso Rabada and Aiden Markram were team-mates when South Africa won the U19 World Cup in 2014 and the fast bowler’s career took off immediately as he made his international debut for the Proteas nine months later in a T20 in Australia and has maintained a stratospheric altitude ever since. Markram has looked like a jet fighter pilot at home, but in Asia he has scratched around like the person who cleans the rubbish bins at the airport.
But there was joy for them both in Karachi on Thursday on the third day of the first Test against Pakistan as Rabada claimed his 200th Test wicket and Markram made his first half-century on the subcontinent.
Rabada (27-7-70-3) was the shining light in a bowling attack that travelled far and wide on the third morning as Pakistan’s tail thrashed 70 runs in 12.2 overs to stretch their lead to a commanding 158. He is the eighth South African to reach the landmark, and in terms of balls bowled (8154) he is the third fastest overall, behind only Pakistani Waqar Younis (7730) and compatriot Dale Steyn (7848).
Markram then showed great composure and shot-selection as he scored a five-hour 74; with Rassie van der Dussen (64) they erased the deficit with a courageous second-wicket stand of 129. But the day ended as badly for South Africa as it had begun, with Pakistan claiming three wickets for 12 runs to reduce them to 187 for four at stumps, a lead of just 29 with both set batsmen out.
“We definitely believe the match is still winnable. If anything the pitch is going to deteriorate more and the variable bounce will play more of a role. Wickets can fall in clusters on the subcontinent, but we will be tested first in our batting tomorrow [Friday], but we are up for the challenge,” Rabada said.
“Personally, it’s a massive feat to be included in a list of such names as Waqar and Dale, when you start playing you never think of such stats, you just try to be the best you can. There’s no magic answer as to why I’ve been so consistent, it’s just hard work and spending a lot of time on my craft. It’s not easy, you’re trying for perfection and it takes constant repetition and hours of work, just trying to be relentless in seeing how much better you can get.”
While Rabada’s wicket-taking graph has just climbed steadily upwards, Markram’s career has been interspersed with troughs. His 74 on Thursday was his eighth half-century in 23 Tests, while he has also scored four centuries, for a tidy average of 39.51. But in Asia he had scored just 97 runs in nine innings before Thursday’s defiant effort.
“Aiden played an extremely important innings and his partnership with Rassie got us back in the game. He’s a magnificent player and he really applied himself well. He’s been working hard on his game and he really wants to be here. We have been through some of the same challenges and I’m glad he got runs today, he gave us a real chance,” Rabada said of his former U19 captain.
I’m sure I speak for most birdwatchers when I say it’s funny how the memory of spotting a Lifer is often permanently seared on the brain with the details of the moment immediately springing to mind.
So much so that when I came across this sightings list from a February 2006 trip to Ndumo Game Reserve in northern Zululand, I could immediately picture in my mind’s eye the little loop off the Paphukulu road that goes around a corner and then crosses a dry river bed before going slightly uphill again and returning to the main road.
As one approaches the dried up river, there is a thorn tree on the other side that hangs over the bank and there, in the gathering gloom of dusk, was a massive owl perched on the edge of the branches, surprisingly exposed.
By its large size I was immediately thinking Giant Eagle Owl and a quick squizz through the binoculars confirmed the diagnostic pink eyelids of the bird now known as Verreaux’s Eagle Owl, annoyingly because those French naturalists had nothing to do with the discovery nor naming of the bird.
The Giant Eagle Owl normally spends its days perched inside a leafy tree along a watercourse and they often begin their nightly hunting forays along an open, dry riverbed.
So perhaps my Lifer Giant Eagle Owl was eager to get going with what would have been its ‘breakfast’. For which I was very grateful and shall always remember my first sighting of what is truly a magnificently impressive bird. Not for nothing are they known as the Martial Eagles of the night sky.
The Paphukulu road runs along the south-western border of Ndumo and is always a very interesting drive as the sand forest and dense thorn thicket of the central regions of the reserve grades into dry savanna woodland, a more bushveld type area dominated by Knobthorn Acacias.
On that steamy February day, there were typical savanna woodland birds present like the Eurasian Bee-Eater, Masked Weaver, Redbacked Shrike, Cardinal Woodpecker, African Hoopoe, Little Bee-Eater, Sabota Lark and Crested Francolin.
The boundary fenceposts along the Paphukulu road are always worth keeping an eye on and Pallid Flycatcher, which is found in the Acacia woodlands of Zululand but is replaced by the Marico Flycatcher in that habitat further west, was spotted as well and then further down the road an interesting-looking raptor was seen perched.
It was a medium-sized brown bird, initial thoughts revolving around a Steppe Buzzard, which often perch on these fence poles. But this bird seemed a bit bigger and then, when it turned around to show its underparts they were all-rufous brown with no hint of white on the breast.
It was an immature Jackal Buzzard, which is not often seen in the tropical north-eastern lowveld, but juveniles do sometimes wander over from the escarpment, in this case probably the nearby (less than 100km) Lebombo Mountains.
An immature Steppe Buzzard was seen later on and Sombre Bulbuls also make their way into this area, on the fringes of the thorn thicket.
Icterine Warbler was also seen in the thorn trees close to the Giant Eagle Owl spot, a good sighting because it is scarce in these parts and sparsely distributed in KwaZulu-Natal as a whole.
The next day, on a small track leading to the NRC Picnic Spot, an even more seclusive but much bigger warbler was spotted. The Olivetree Warbler is a very uncommon and often overlooked Mediterranean summer visitor and I managed to get a glimpse of one foraging in a dense grove of acacias.
Heading back from west-to-east on the Paphukulu-Balemhlanga roads, the more open knobthorn woodlands allowed one to tick other typical bushveld gems like African Cuckoo and both the Eurasian and Lilacbreasted Roller.
It’s an under-rated but always good drive. Ndumo is more famous for the Nyamithi Pan and its guided walks.
But on this occasion in mid-summer, the pan was full to the brim, meaning a much lower waterbird count. There were egrets patrolling the shoreline and Wiretailed Swallows flew overhead along with passing groups of Trumpeter Hornbills.
A full Nyamithi Pan
Closer observation of the fringes of the pan, with bushy cover now right up to the edge of the water, provided sightings of Purple and Greenbacked Heron and Water Dikkop. Where there were some muddy edges, Wood Sandpiper was seen.
African Fish Eagles were seen in the Fever Trees on the other side of the pan, while both Pied and Giant Kingfisher were present, and a Hamerkop came yelping past as Hippopotamus frolicked in the water.
The road back from Nyamithi Pan to camp takes one past the reserve’s vulture restaurant, an open patch in which carcasses of deceased large mammals like Giraffe are dumped. There’s almost always something interesting hanging around and occasionally some real specials wander into this area.
On this occasion a Lesser Spotted Eagle, a Palearctic migrant which, given its preference for savanna and open woodland you wouldn’t fancy seeing at Ndumo, was strolling around on the ground. A real raptor special.
A Reedbuck was also pottering around.
The most famous of the Ndumo guided walks is probably North Pongolo, which takes one through the climax riverine forest of the beautiful dark brown river that has flown from Utrecht in Northern Natal, crossed the Lebombo Mountains and is now close to its confluence with the Usutu and its journey to Maputo Bay.
But the fullness of the Nyamithi Pan was a hint to the conditions of the Pongolo floodplain in general and the North Pongolo forest had been flooded and was temporarily off the roster for guided walks.
So instead a guide and I went to Shokwe Pan, an ear-shaped, generally shallower pan nearly seven kilometres long and in the western portion of Ndumo.
This turned out to be an excellent move because we came across, there in the thickets below the majestic Sycamore Fig trees, an African Broadbill, one of the Ndumo specials that is especially challenging to find.
But on this occasion this largely black, grey, brown and white oddity was just sitting on its display perch and allowed us to approach close enough for me to get a photo.
African Broadbill
Other typical forest birds seen at Shokwe were Squaretailed Drongo, Collared Sunbird and Blackheaded Oriole, while Samango Monkey were enjoying themselves high in the trees, keeping their distance as they usually do.
A couple of Darter flew over and there were also a few flocks of Whitefaced Duck which passed by.
The route to and from camp, which is in the south-east of the park, to Shokwe takes you right through the centre of Ndumo and the densest, most impenetrable thickets probably anywhere in the country.
Birding is difficult but there are always surprises for the keen-eyed.
On this occasion the biggest surprise was coming around a corner and finding a thorn tree had toppled over and was blocking the road. Refusing to be denied my route through the wonderful sand forest in the middle of the park, prime birdwatching territory and known for the rare birds that are in residence, I was forced to tow the offending tree out of the road with my car!
Tree v Car … and the Car won
My determination was partly rewarded with good sightings of Crested Guineafowl, Orangebreasted Bush Shrike, Dwarf Mongoose and Scimitarbilled Woodhoopoe, while little pans secluded in the forest provided Woollynecked Stork, Common Sandpiper and Greenspotted Dove.
The woodlands on the southern, hilly side of the park are also rich in birdlife. In the thickets and rank grass under the trees one gets the beautiful Melba Finch busily going about its business, normally with a Rattling Cisticola shouting the odds nearby. Neddicky (especially where there are fallen trees), Bronze Mannikin and Common and Blue Waxbill share this habitat too and Tawnyflanked Prinia is often around as well.
Bleating Warbler prefers thicker cover and will often call from a perch two-to-three metres up a tree. While looking for this secretive little bird, the likes of Paradise, Spotted and Black Flycatchers, Redfaced and Speckled Mousebird, Longbilled Crombec, Brownhooded Kingfisher, Puffback, Blackbellied Starling, Crowned Hornbill, Southern Black Tit and Purplecrested Lourie can also be spotted in the trees.
Searching carefully in the canopies threw up African Green Pigeon and Eurasian Golden Oriole.
Birding around the main camp, set in typical Maputaland woodland, is also good and the highlights from there on this trip were a Lanner Falcon, a regionally threatened bird that happened to fly by, probably heading to nearby grasslands to forage, while I was patiently watching the sky from my camp chair, and a Grey Sunbird, an Important Bird Area trigger species, that popped in for some nectar from the flowering hedge and a drink from a birdbath.
Philippians 2:5 – “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”
“One thing we know, those who call themselves Christians and walk in fellowship with him must grow in the knowledge and grace of their Lord and Master so that they can become like him.” – A Shelter From The Storm, Solly Ozrovech
This requires spiritual discipline.
Free your thoughts of fear, bitterness, hate, greed and pride; i.e. develop and maintain Jesus’s attitude towards life.
How do we do that? – by studying his life in the Bible and willingly and unconditionally following his guidance.
