Ken Borland

How the 1st day of the long-awaited Test series between 2025 World Test Champions South Africa and losing finalists Australia went in Durban.

A dull (in terms of the weather) afternoon in Durban saw Australia reach 187 for six in 65.2 overs before bad light stopped play midway through the final session. Anrich Nortje, playing in his first Test since 2023, had earlier taken two wickets in three balls to plunge the tourists into deep trouble on 124 for six and have the sparse number of South African supporters in sheer delight.

Matt Renshaw (46*) and captain Pat Cummins (33*) showed great determination to keep an excellent Proteas attack out for the remaining hour-and-a-half, but the thrill of seeing a genuine fast bowler return to the Test arena, and enjoy success, had been the highlight of the day.

Having not added to his tally of 70 Test wickets at 26.71 since March 2, 2023, Nortje made a brilliant double strike that left the home side the happier of the two and also allowed him to be full of smiles in the post-play press conference.

“I thought I wasn’t going to get a wicket for the next few weeks the way every ball passed the bat,” Nortje said with the sort of hard-done-by-ness that seems to be hard-wired into fast bowlers.

But after that the 32-year-old was all smiles, delighted just to be out in the middle competing in a format he described as “the best there is”.

“It was good to get the first wicket, it got the blood flowing again, but first and foremost it’s great just to be out there, especially wearing the baggie which was getting a bit worn out just lying at home. Aiden Markram actually said it seems to be part of my game that I don’t get wickets for a while and then I get two very quickly.

“I would have liked to have finished that last spell before bad light and I enjoy the hard graft of coming back for a third or fourth spell, when you have to dig deep,” Nortje said after returning figures of 13.2-2-40-2 on Friday. The way he kept his speeds up above 140km/h spoke to his excellent conditioning.

There are many different excuses given for the poor crowd attendances at Kingsmead, ranging from it being the government’s fault for tanking the economy to the Indian Ocean’s fault for looking so inviting, but it was inexcusable that such a long-awaited series, between great rivals and the finalists of the last World Test Championship, should commence at 9.30am under the bluest of skies but with a backdrop of sheer apathy from so-called cricket lovers.

Marco Jansen and Wiaan Mulder had some unruly moments with the new ball after Australia had elected to bat first, but at least they had a plan. Visiting openers Nic Maddinson and Travis Head are both left-handers, and the tactic early on was clearly to swing the ball back into their pads, looking for lbw.

South Africa should have reviewed when Mulder did just that in the fourth over, but the Proteas declined. Hawkeye showed it was very much out.

Mulder, who moved the ball impressively, did get a wicket four overs later when a delivery swung down leg, Head (9) tried to flick it away but edged the ball on to his thigh, from which it travelled into the gloves of Kyle Verreynne.

Jansen, who also used his ability to extract steep bounce to good effect, removed Maddinson for a 33-ball duck as he threw in a fuller, wider delivery, the left-hander’s eyes lit up and he inside-edged the ball into his stumps.

The debate over Maddinson’s selection has not quite reached the halls of Australia’s government, but it is astonishing. The bare facts are that he turns 35 in December, has not played a Test since 2016 or any red-ball game since March 2025. In his previous three Tests, he batted four times and scored just 27 runs.

On the plus side, Maddinson did survive for 50 minutes in what turned into a probing examination of technique and cha​acter.

From 24 for two, the veterans, Marnus Labuschagne (37) and Steve Smith (25) took Australia to the brink of lunch with a 60-run stand. It looked like the boasting rights for the session would go to the visitors.

But with the last ball before lunch, Mulder managed to nip a delivery into Labuschagne’s pads, the South African-born player trying desperately to get outside the line of off-stump, but his review showing he had just failed (umpire’s call).

Three balls after lunch, Mulder was in the gully to snaffle an edge from Smith’s bat off Jansen, the tall left-armer having thundered a lifter into his gloves the previous delivery.

Alex Carey (14) provided some stabilisation with Matt Renshaw for the next hour, before the return of Nortje and his dramatic one-two.

Carey was removed by a beautiful delivery – perfect length, Carey did not get forward and then the ball moved away and across the left-hander, Markram taking the catch at second slip.

Beau Webster clipped his first ball through midwicket for four, but his second saw him trying to defend well outside off-stump, the delivery straightened and he was caught behind. Umpire Richard Kettleborough, who had a tough day, ruled not out probably because the bat had hit the pad, but another excellent review showed the ball had found the other edge of the bat too.

How Renshaw and Cummins progress on the second morning will decide whether Australia have capitalised on a good toss to win.

Nortje has made a decision of his own during his lengthy injury absences. Just like getting a new haircut for your first day back in the office, he is modelling a slightly new action.

“After the T20 World Cup last year and the IPL, my action wasn’t looking great. When I compared it to old footage I could see how bad it was, in terms of my action, my angles and the flow of my arms.

“So I decided to make it right so I could be more consistent and help my body to prolong things. I decided that I had to change things up, I couldn’t go back to what I was doing in 2020 otherwise muscle memory would just take over again and I’d be back where I was.

“So I’ve been working on a new action, the angles of my run-up, my jump and how my arms flow. It might look the same but it’s not, technically it’s slightly different. My action is always a work in progress, I’m never 100% satisfied, but it feels better than ever and I’m very happy with where I’m at,” Nortje said.

And so he should be. As should the Proteas after a successful opening day of the series.

Veteran scrumhalf Conor Murray scored for Munster in the 74th minute to snatch a 27-22 victory over the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night, moving the defending champions into the top three in the United Rugby Championship standings.

Graham Rowntree’s team were inspired in the first half as they took a 17-10 lead, but the second half saw them embroiled in a punishing dog-fight with the Bulls, despite the home side losing their flyhalf, Johan Goosen, to a red card in the 54^th minute.

Goosen was sent from the field after he rushed forward to try and envelop replacement scrumhalf Craig Casey ball-and-all, he was always upright in the tackle and made head contact with the halfback as he stood up. In a double blow for the Bulls, Canan Moodie’s try after he gathered the loose ball was disallowed. It would have put the home side 27-17 up after a strong start to the second half.

Casey left the field for a concussion check and never returned, and it was ironic that that brought the seasoned Murray back on the field and he claimed the matchwinning try.

The Bulls had dominated the opening exchanges of the second half, but as soon as Munster enjoyed a one-man advantage, they turned the screw and dominated the rest of the match.

The equalising try came just four minutes later when excellent flyhalf Jack Crowley put in a crosskick for John Hodnett, the replacement flank going around Moodie and through Kurt-Lee Arendse to score.

But the Bulls then stepped up a gear and were in their faces with tremendous defence, making it hard graft for the visitors to seal the deal.

With both packs bashing away at each other, Murray sniped around the defence to give himself some space and then reached over the decisive try.

Having been mostly the architects of their own problems in the first half, one could bet one’s house on the Bulls fighting back strongly after the break and they did that with two tries in the first 10 minutes. Lock Ruan Vermaak’s powerful surge set up field position, but the Munster defence was superb at close quarters. Eventually the Bulls went wide to the blindside wing and Kurt-Lee Arendse sniped over for the try.

Goosen’s arcing run then put the Bulls on attack again, leading to hooker Johan Grobbelaar going over from a tap penalty.

The former Springbok flyhalf kicked some lengthy touchfinders and a brilliant 50/22 that led to their opening try, eighthman Elrigh Louw muscling over from eight metres out, but Munster had the better kicking game and looked more secure tactically in the first half.

Lock RG Snyman showed why he is in the high-finance section of the rugby world with a dominant display, ruling the lineouts. The Bulls felt the pressure in the first half with several throws going astray, including the one pouched by hooker Niall Scannell in the 19^th minute, with the ball then slickly shipped out wide for wing Shane Daly to score in the corner.

The Bulls did level matters seven minutes later, but Munster were able to give themselves a handy halftime lead with 10 points in the last three minutes of the first half. The scrambling, never-say-die defensive effort kept the Bulls pinned in their 22, and as the visiting pack rumbled forward carry-after-carry, Snyman reached over for the try.

A Jack Crowley penalty on the whistle was an encouraging end to the half. It was not smooth sailing in the second half and the Bulls did help by shooting themselves in the foot, but Munster deserved the spoils for a performance of great character and control.

Scorers

Bulls: Tries – Elrigh Louw, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Johan Grobbelaar. Conversions – Johan Goosen (2). Penalty – Goosen.

Munster: Tries – Shane Daly, RG Snyman, Josh Hodnett, Conor Murray. Conversions – Jack Crowley (2), Penalty – Crowley.

Teams

Bulls: Le Roux, De Klerk, Moodie, Kriel, Arendse, Goosen, Papier, Steenekamp, Grobbelaar, W. Louw, Vermaak, Van Heerden, Hanekom, Ludwig, E. Louw.

Replacements – Williams for De Klerk (40th-41^st), Gumede for Hanekom (52^nd), C. Smith for Le Roux (63^rd), Van der Merwe for Grobbelaar (64^th), Matanzima for Steenekamp (64^th), M. Smith for W. Louw (64^th), Swanepoel for Van Heerden (69^th), Burger for Papier (72^nd), .

Munster: Zebo, Nash, Frisch, Nankivell, Daly, Crowley, Murray, Loughman, Scannell, Archer, Snyman, Beirne, O’Mahony, Kendellen, O’Donoghue.

Replacements – Coombes for O’Mahony (52^nd), Hodnett for Kendellen (52^nd), Casey for Murray (52^nd), Wycherley for Loughman (54^th), Murray for Casey (54^th), Clarke for Scannell (63^rd), Jager for Archer (63^rd), Carbery for Nankivell (67^th).

Our DP World Lions women’s team find themselves in a de facto final for the One-Day Cup at the Wanderers on Saturday and in those situations, your success comes down to your plans and your execution thereof, according to head coach Shaun Pretorius.

The #PrideOfJozi take on the HollywoodBets Dolphins in the last round of fixtures and need to win with a bonus point in order to claim the title. It’s a straightforward equation, nett run-rate will not come into it because beating the KwaZulu-Natalians will give the DP World Lions their sixth victory of the campaign, compared to the five of the opposition.

“We’ve got to win with a bonus point and according to CSA, they will not be looking at nett run-rate to split us,” Pretorius said. “So to do that, obviously all the right boxes are going to have to be ticked, but the important thing is to win all the small phases of the game.

“It’s all about making sure you win all those small moments you can celebrate, like if they score 30 in the powerplay then we want to score 35. We are in a really good space and the dynamics of the team are very good at the moment.

“It’s an unofficial final, we will embrace that and it’s going to come down to who executes best. We will still play according to our plans and then we have to execute those. It’s no good having great plans and then not backing them up with good field placements or good shots,” Pretorius said.

The DP World Lions began the campaign superbly with three straight wins, but a torrid November, with lots of call-ups for representative sides, saw them then lose three in a row. But coach Pretorius kept faith in his charges and the repayment for that backing came through in March with back-to-back wins over the SWD Badgers and Western Province reigniting our Pride’s title hopes.

“At the break in the season we were in fifth place and now all of a sudden we are in contention to win the competition. This is a big one for us and the ladies have done really well to get here. It’s been a tough season and hard on the bodies, especially since this is the first season of professional cricket.

“But the standards have definitely picked up and I am just so thankful to CSA, the sponsors and our Lions CEO, Jono Leaf-Wright, for empowering these ladies,” Pretorius said.

While having to win with a bonus point is always a tough challenge, Pretorius says the Pride have the advantage of playing at the DP World Wanderers Stadium and they hope the famous venue will become an intimidating arena for the visitors.

“Playing at the Bullring is an advantage for us, it’s our backyard, our own conditions. The DP World Wanderers pitch is always a good wicket whether you bowl or bat first, it stays consistent through the day, it’s not going to become more up-and-down. But all the rain we’ve had might impact how quick the outfield is,” Pretorius said.

The Dolphins will bring a strong spin attack to Johannesburg and it is important the DP World Lions batting line-up does not become bogged down. Strike rotation will be important and our Pride certainly has the batters to put the visiting bowlers under a lot of pressure.

The Joburg Super Kings were bundled out in just 15.2 overs for 78 – the second-lowest total in SA20 history – as they were thrashed by the Sunrisers Eastern Cape at the Wanderers on Wednesday evening, coach Stephen Fleming once again expressing his disappointment over the pitch.

Sent in to bat, the Super Kings lost both Faf du Plessis and Reeza Hendricks to the outstanding Daniel Worrall (4-0-20-3) for ducks in the second over. Moeen Ali also made a duck and Leus du Plooy (18), Wayne Madsen (32 off 23) and new Kiwi recruit Doug Bracewell (12) were the only batsmen to reach double figures against an attack that was not necessarily inspired, but certainly very disciplined and controlled.

The Sunrisers then knocked off their target in just 11 overs to earn a bonus point win, Dawid Malan scoring 40 not out off 32 balls and Tom Abell an undefeated 26 off 20 deliveries, assuring the defending champions of a place in the qualifiers.

“I love this competition, it is outstanding. Short and intense, although that does make the travel tough, and the support is tremendous. But the pitches have dropped off a bit from last year. We are in the entertainment business, I don’t mind the ball dominating every now and then, but we have to make sure there is a balance,” Fleming said after the Super Kings’ third loss in four matches at home.

“Today in particular was not great for the product, which is a pity because this is a great place to play. We’re struggling to read the pitch and there is an advantage to bowling first. The ball sits up and creates problems.

“Each surface here we have struggled to understand. The pitch seems to be transforming, it was slowish last year but now it is somewhere in between that and the traditional Wanderers wicket that flies through.

“We bought tall fast bowlers in the auction and it’s been disappointing because the real character of this pitch is being lost. We need to pivot quickly, but today was one of those days we nicked everything, on both sides of the wicket. And then you see how many times we go past the bat and you just have to shake your head,” Fleming said.

The Joburg Super Kings are in the fourth and final qualification place on 13 points at the moment and have one match remaining – against the high-flying Durban Super Giants at the Wanderers on Saturday. With the Pretoria Capitals and MI Cape Town three and four points in arrears respectively, and playing each other twice before the end of the round-robin, JSK have to beat the top-of-the-log KwaZulu-Natalians on Saturday to have any chance of progressing.

“It’s thanks to the nature of this year’s tournament that we are still alive and the scenarios are right in front of us, but unfortunately our fate is out of our control. We will be doing lots of mental work over the next few days.

“Luck wasn’t with us today, but some people will say maybe we should have been more defensive, but then you can become too cautious. Sometimes you just have to bluff confidence and step forward. You can’t over-analyse days like this,” the highly-lauded former New Zealand captain said.

Madsen, Moeen and Donovan Ferreira (8) were all caught down the leg-side, the sort of thing that happens to a batting line-up low on confidence and perhaps wishing they didn’t have to play at home.