Ken Borland

Heinrich Klaasen continued his rampant form of late as he roared to a career-best 153 off just 127 balls to lead the Northerns Titans to a 32-run win over the Free State Knights in their CSA One-Day Cup match at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Sunday.

The victory means Northerns also raced to the top of the log after winning all four of their games thus far. They lead the North-West Dragons, who have won three out of five, by two points.

Having been sent in to bat, Northerns racked up a formidable 341/6, built around Klaasen’s ferocious innings, which included nine fours and seven sixes. His second successive century in the 50-over competition has not only rushed the Titans to the top of the log, but will keep him in the conversation for the Proteas team.

Free State, led by Migael Pretorius (10-2-40-2) bowled well up front and reduced Northerns to 15/2 in the first four overs. So Klaasen’s first job was to repair the innings, which he did in tandem with Neil Brand, who made a fluent 87 off 104 deliveries.

The duo put on 167 for the third wicket in 31 overs and Klaasen then unfurled some great attacking strokes in the company of Sibonelo Makhnaya (37).

Free State’s chase was off to a blazing start as they scored 82 runs in the first 10 overs. But the erratic Northerns bowlers also managed to pick up four wickets in that time, three of them to fast bowler Bosch, who also conceded 42 runs in his first five overs.

Four more wickets fell in the middle overs and the Knights had to rely on the go-go-gadget skills of their veteran skipper Pite van Biljon to keep their small hopes of victory alive. The 35-year-old was tenacious to the extreme, running hard and fighting his way to a brilliant 127 not out off 110 balls, with 14 fours and four sixes, an innings full of fine strokes and shot-selection.

Fast bowler Junior Dala was only able to bowl four overs due to injury, leaving Northerns with a makeshift attack, but left-arm spinner Neil Brand, who picked up the extra overs, kept chipping away and finished with 4/61 in 10 overs, as Free State were bowled out for 309 in the 45^th over.

Down the road at the Wanderers, the Central Gauteng Lions used a three-wicket win with three overs to spare over the KZN Dolphins to jump into third place in the standings, two points behind North-West.

Sent in to bat, KZN crashed to 21/4 as Sisanda Magala (10-1-42-2) and Malusi Siboto (10-0-29-2) used the new ball well. It was Andile Phehlukwayo, with a feisty 100 not out, and Eathan Bosch (68) who lifted the Dolphins to 224/8, despite Codi Yusuf taking 4/26.

On a tricky pitch, the Lions slipped to 117/5 after opener Josh Richards scored 44, but Dominic Hendricks dug in for 43 and wicketkeeper Connor Esterhuizen made a great debut with 52 off 58 balls to all but finish the chase with Sisanda Magala (28* off 24).

Kyle Verreynne and Wiaan Mulder were the last two bollards standing between New Zealand and the tail as South Africa closed the third day of the second Test on 140/5, a lead of 211, at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Sunday.

Having gained a handy 71-run first-innings lead, the Proteas second innings was an uphill struggle, with Neil Wagner’s two afternoon strikes reducing them to 114/5. But the inexperienced pairing of Verreynne (22*) and Mulder (10*) then batted with determination as they posted an unbeaten stand of 26 to take South Africa to stumps.

Frustratingly for the visitors, Wagner’s two victims, Rassie van der Dussen (45) and Temba Bavuma (23), were both soft dismissals.

Van der Dussen had survived a torrid time before tea but was looking increasingly solid when left-armer Wagner turned to his trademark short-pitched strategy. Van der Dussen took just about everything on, was dropped at square-leg by Colin de Grandhomme on 40, and then tried to pull out of a hook shot, only to send a return catch back to the bowler.

Bavuma was well set and looked as likely a candidate as anyone to play a matchwinning innings, but then drove Wagner straight to cover.

Tim Southee had earlier removed both openers, Sarel Erwee (8) and Dean Elgar (13) with quality swing and seam bowling, while Aiden Markram once again looked good in scoring 14 before being bowled by an excellent yorker from Matt Henry.

New Zealand had begun the day on 157/5, with Daryl Mitchell and De Grandhomme having already added 66 for the sixth wicket. They took their partnership to 133 before left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, who could well be a key figure in the final innings, trapped Mitchell lbw for a tenacious 60 with a delivery that skidded on straight.

New Zealand’s fast bowlers were much less effective with the bat than they had been in the first Test, with Marco Jansen (22-2-98-4) and Kagiso Rabada wrapping up the tail as the Black Caps were bowled out for 293.

De Grandhomme’s brilliant, career-best innings of 120 not out was perhaps not used to its full potential in the end, but he certainly kept New Zealand in the game. He adapted to the differing situations out in the middle extremely well, eventually needing just 158 deliveries for his runs.

Rabada produced another fine, controlled display of fast bowling to finish with 5/60 in 19 overs.

Coach Sean Everitt was at pains on Thursday not to criticise his team’s game-management after they let slip a handy lead in their previous game against the Stormers, but the Sharks will go into Saturday’s United Rugby Championship rematch in Cape Town with someone a bit more ‘adult’ pulling the strings at flyhalf in Tito Bonilla.

The 32-year-old Bonilla, who has played four Tests for Argentina and was the Jaguares first-choice flyhalf when they reached the Super Rugby final in 2019, replaces 22-year-old Boeta Chamberlain at pivot as the Sharks look to go one better than their 22-22 draw with the Stormers last weekend, after leading 19-3 with half-an-hour to go in Durban.

Bonilla has also played for high-profile clubs in Racing 92 and Leicester Tigers.

“Tito has been on the bench for a number of games and hasn’t got the time for an extended run,” Everitt said after announcing his team. “He hasn’t really got the time he would have wanted on the field.

“He’s an international and will bring calm and composure. He likes to direct things on the field, he can guide the team around really well.

“Our draw did not have too much to do with game-management, we played in the right areas but our accuracy and discipline let us down. It’s always tough if you’re giving away yellow cards.

“We knew if we gave the Stormers back three space to run at us, then we would be in trouble,” Everitt said.

The Sharks squad are certainly treated like adults in a player-driven environment, and Everitt expects those discipline issues to be sorted come Saturday.

“The game of rugby starts with discipline and you can’t win if you concede four yellow cards and two penalty tries. They were individual things, we’ve certainly spoken about it and addressed it.

“We will be better on Saturday. Our discipline has actually been very good in the Currie Cup and URC, we are below average in conceding penalties. Against the Stormers we conceded 14 penalties to their 16.

“So it’s not a chronic problem for us and it’s not due to our relaxed approach. The players do work extremely hard and Bongi Mbonambi drives the discipline side. The coaches set the rules and standards,” Everitt said.

There is also a change at scrumhalf for Saturday, with Jaden Hendrikse starting in place of Grant Williams. But the livewire Williams has certainly not been thrown to the dogs, Everitt saying he played really well last weekend and he foresees his No.9s rotating through the season.

Inside centre Ben Tapuai is currently troubled by a knee injury and captain Lukhanyo Am will shift to No.12, where he was man of the match against the Bulls in December, with Jeremy Ward coming in at outside centre.

Sharks: Aphelele Fassi, Sbu Nkosi, Jeremy Ward, Lukhanyo Am (c), Makazole Mapimpi, Tito Bonilla, Jaden Hendrikse, Phepsi Buthelezi, Jeandre Labuschagne, Siya Kolisi, Hyron Andrews, Ruben van Heerden, Thomas du Toit (v/c), Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche. Replacements – Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Khutha Mchunu, Gerbrandt Grobler, Henco Venter, Grant Williams, Boeta Chamberlain, Werner Kok.

Having seen his team squander a 19-3 lead in the third quarter and be forced to finish all-square on 22-all with the Stormers in their United Rugby Championship match at Kings Park at the weekend, Sharks coach Sean Everitt said it just goes to show how “small mistakes can have big consequences”.

And those consequences snowballed into an absolute train wreck in the last 10 minutes as the Sharks conceded three yellow cards and two penalty tries to leave them with a frustrating draw from a match they had otherwise dominated.

“We did everything right for 70 minutes and threw it away at the end,” Everitt bemoaned. “It shows that small mistakes have big consequences, especially when it comes to discipline.

“Our kicking at poles also wasn’t good enough and we had other opportunities to win the game as well – we could have finished off Grant Williams’ quick tap better and we had opportunities five metres out too.

“The guys are really disappointed and it’s not the result you want from a game you dominated. At 19-3 it then came down to discipline and we put ourselves under the pump; we beat ourselves tonight,” Everitt said.

The one big positive for the Sharks was their outstanding scrummaging display, thanks to the impressive cohesion shown by their all-Springbok front row of Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi and Thomas du Toit.

“The fantastic thing was the cohesion that was there,” Everitt said. “The Stormers won four scrum penalties against the Bulls last weekend so we knew we could take nothing for granted.

“But Thomas has been a standout in the URC, he had four great games in the UK, and has clearly learnt a lot in the last couple of years. He’s been outstanding.

“And Ox as well, they are all scrumming together with the Springboks and he has also come a long way. He’s being dominant every game,” Everitt said.

It was an assessment Stormers coach John Dobson was happy to co-sign, giving man of the match Nche glowing praise.

“Ox was absolutely magnificent and has shown incredible growth. He’s got to be one of the best looseheads in the world at the moment,” Dobson said.

On the final penalty try that Aphelele Fassi conceded with a deliberate knock-on, Everitt said his fullback should not have chased the ball so hard.

“Ideally you don’t want to get your hand to the ball unless you’re sure you can catch it. In that situation, you should try force them into the corner so at least the conversion kick is difficult.

“Or hover between the two men so they have to go over you. But with one back short already, it was always going to be difficult to defend,” Everitt acknowledged.