Ken Borland

Keegan Petersen had the ball whizzing past his ears and edges of his bat enough times on Tuesday to know just how tough it is going to be for the South African batsmen to take on the Indian attack in the second innings of the second Test at the Wanderers, which means a quick end to the tourists’ innings on Wednesday will be crucial.

Petersen top-scored for the Proteas with a determined but positive 62 in their innings of 229 which gave them just a 27-run lead. India had reached 85/2 at stumps to go into the third day 58 runs ahead.

“It’s a tough pitch and batting is definitely not going to get easier. And we’re up against a top-quality attack that keeps you on your toes,” Petersen said after his maiden Test half-century in his sixth innings.

“It’s a pitch which you’re never really in on and the session this morning was the toughest. The Indian seamers came out guns blazing and it was a very challenging two hours.

“They were spot-on with both their execution and their strategies, and the pitch is a bit tricky too. We haven’t yet put a number to what we’d like to chase, but anything under 200 I think we can get.

“But it’s a difficult bowling attack to come up against and we’ll have to get stuck in again. I’m not sure what the right way to bat is, the attacking option worked out for a couple of guys,” Petersen said.

The 28-year-old from Paarl has been deposited in the deep end at No.3 in his brief Test career which began in the West Indies last June and he once again came to the crease at the Wanderers inside the first five overs, as he has done in all of his Proteas innings thus far.

While there has been talk of him dropping down the order so a more experienced batsman can come in first drop, Petersen brushed that off on Tuesday by saying he will bat “wherever”.

Clearly a mentally tough individual, he was more upset that he did not go on to a bigger score, having done so much hard work in spending nearly three hours at the crease.

“I’m happy but I wish I had done more,” Petersen said. “I wish I had kicked on and that is the one department we need to improve on as a batting unit.

“You can’t be overly aggressive, but you just try and pounce on the bad ball when it comes. But there weren’t many of those.

“I’m completely confident that I will get to the milestone of a Test century, I thought today was going to be the day. It was not to be, but we will get there,” said the KZN Dolphins batsman whose solid technique and impressive strokeplaying ability was laid down in his childhood years by father Dirkie, his only real coach growing up.

A formidable four-strong Central Gauteng Lions pace attack produced another top-class performance on Sunday as they wrapped up victory by an innings and 72 runs over the North-West Dragons in their CSA Four-Day Domestic Series match at the Wanderers.

Despite a pugnacious 70 not out by captain Nicky van den Bergh, North-West were bowled out for 177 in their second innings. A commanding innings of 159 by Ryan Rickelton had set up a Lions total of 408 after they had dismissed the Dragons for just 159 on the first day.

Duanne Olivier completed a fine return to South African domestic cricket with three for 58 on Sunday, giving him seven wickets in the match, but the chief destroyer in the North-West second innings was Malusi Siboto, who returned outstanding figures of four for 21 in 10.4 overs.

At Centurion, left-arm paceman Marco Jansen showed that he is mature way beyond his years as he produced a brilliant counter-attacking innings with the bat that ensured the Eastern Province Warriors still have a chance of pulling off a thrilling win over the Northerns Titans.

Jansen came in with EP, chasing 236 for victory, on 91 for six, and struck a fabulous 55 off 59 balls.

Together with Lesiba Ngoepe (46*) they lifted EP to 180 for seven when Jansen was bowled by left-arm spinner Neil Brand in the final over of the day with a superb arm-ball.

Junior Dala had ripped through the EP middle-order earlier with two quickfire wickets to put them on the back foot.

But the fact that the Warriors were chasing as much as 236 was thanks to a Northerns innings that just got better and better as it progressed.

Sibonelo Makhanya (74) and Jordan Hermann (62) extended their fifth-wicket partnership to 141 and then Dayyaan Galiem ensured the momentum continued with his 47 off 56 balls.

Corbin Bosch took over from Galiem when he was ninth man out as stroked a confident 40 not out and put on a crucial 43 for the last wicket with Dala, who played sensibly for 42 deliveries.

Mthiwekhaya Nabe was the best of the EP bowlers with four for 89 in 22 overs.

At Newlands, Western Province are in trouble at 186 for seven in their second innings against the KZN Dolphins, still trailing by 34 runs with only a couple of decent batsmen left.

Fast bowler Daryn Dupavillon has taken four for 33 including the wicket of top-scorer Yaseen Vallie, trapped lbw for 76.

Left-arm spinner Bryce Parsons, who took five for 82 in the first innings to bowl Western Province out for 269, enabling KXN to enforce the follow-on, dismissed key batsman David Bedingham for 50.

Wayne Parnell who top-scored with 79 not out in the Western Province first innings, sharing a face-saving 105-run partnership for the eighth wicket with Mihlali Mpongwana (40), is still at the crease of for the hosts.

Janneman Malan, reinventing himself as a middle-order batsman, was the mainstay of the Boland Rocks innings as he scored a composed 139 not out to lead his team to 386 for seven against the Free State Knights in Bloemfontein.

That means the visitors are 66 runs ahead on first innings.

There was some solid top-order batting by Boland as Peter Malan scored 44, Isma-eel Gafieldien 37 and Stiaan van Zyl 48, but Ferisco Adams, who is perpetually and stupidly under-rated as a cricketer, scored 74 not out as he and Janneman Malan put on an unbroken 156 for the eighth wicket.

David Miller crushing the Irish bowlers like ants at the end of the innings was one of the last pieces of the Proteas puzzle to fall into place in the second T20 International and they will be looking to build on that and complete a 3-0 whitewash in the third and final game in Belfast on Saturday evening.

Miller smashed 75 not out off 44 balls, including hitting four sixes in the final over, to lift South Africa to 159/7, a total which proved well beyond Ireland on a tricky pitch. Ironically, it was the failure of the top-order, the Proteas slumping to 58/5, that provided Miller with the opportunity for a lengthy stint at the crease, in which he posted his first half-century since his 85 not out against Pakistan in Lahore in February.

A better display by the top-order, with the Proteas still pondering their best combination there, will be one of the boxes they will want to tick on Saturday night.

But for Miller, there was just satisfaction that a run of minor contributions had come to an end.

“I have not really felt out of form, but in T20 cricket over the last six games, the situations have been tough. Which is why I try and stay away from worrying about form, I just try to make an impact. I want to be hard on myself and do well every game, but doing that in my role at No. 6 is very difficult. Today I had a lot of time to bat and I’m very chuffed to have put the team in a winning situation.

“I have been a bit low in runs, but I’ve been coming in low down the order and haven’t had a proper opportunity to score big runs. So I’ve just been trying to have an impact, rather than thinking about trying to have an average of 50, it’s the strike-rate I look at. So I just trust my instincts, I try and stay in the right mindset, that never changes,” Miller said.

The 32-year-old Miller also paid tribute to another top-class bowling display by the spinners and a vital contribution with the bat by Wiaan Mulder, with whom he shared a sixth-wicket stand of 58 off 43 balls. Wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi took three for 14 and orthodox left-armer Bjorn Fortuin claimed a career-best three for 16.

“The spinners have been phenomenal, we are really blessed with Shamo, Bjorn and George Linde. You can’t necessarily play all of them but it’s a good problem to have since the T20 World Cup is obviously the goal and we are building nicely. But we are still going game-by-game.

“Wiaan also played exceptionally well, that was probably the matchwinning partnership. His intent was great, he took the pressure off me and looked to take the bowlers down. I would like to bat higher but at the same time there is a bigger goal and the other guys are finding their groove in the batting line-up. There’s a particular role required of me, but I love opportunities like this one,” Miller said.

David Miller put his foot on the pedal in spectacular fashion at the end of his innings, after the wheels had fallen off the Proteas top-order, leading South Africa to a 42-run win over Ireland in the second T20 International at Stormont in Belfast on Thursday evening, giving them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

Paul Stirling’s part-time off-spin was the vehicle for Ireland to make a dream start after they lost the toss and had to bowl first, the burly opening batsman having both Temba Bavuma and Janneman Malan caught at backward point for ducks in the first over.

South Africa were three down in the fourth over when Aiden Markram, driving loosely, was bowled by Mark Adair for 8, and when Quinton de Kock (27 off 20) was adjudged to be lbw to off-spinner Simi Singh to the first ball after the powerplay, the Proteas were in desperate trouble on 38 for four.

That’s when Miller came to the crease and South Africa were driven to their total of 159 for seven by his fabulous 75 not out off 44 balls. Wiaan Mulder helped his experienced partner to break the cycle of wickets as he contributed an impressive 36 off 26 balls as they added 58 off 43 deliveries for the sixth wicket.

South Africa went into the final over on a moderate 135 for seven, but Miller finished the innings in magnificent style, hitting left-armer Josh Little for four sixes and turning down singles on the other two deliveries.

Left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin then removed veteran Kevin O’Brien in the first over of Ireland’s innnings, for his second successive duck, and left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks had Andy Balbirnie caught behind for 6 inside the powerplay.

The middle overs were once again a time of celebration for superstar wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi as he removed the dangerous duo of Paul Stiring (19) and birthday boy George Dockrell (20) in his first two overs. In between, part-time off-spinner Markram dismissed Harry Tector  as Fortuin plucked a low catch diving forward at extra over.

Shamsi also added the wicket of Ireland’s top-scorer, Shane Getkate for 24.

Ireland were eventually all out for 117 in the last over, with Fortuin finishing with a career-best three for 16 in his four overs, which included a maiden, while Shamsi posted the outstanding figures of three for 14.

Seamers Lungi Ngidi (3.3-0-14-1) and Hendricks (4-0-28-2) displayed encouraging form with the ball as well.