Ken Borland

Cell C Sharks coach Gary Gold says his team will continue to play ball-in-hand rugby against the Emirates Lions at King’s Park today, even though this will lead to some close shaves or even defeat as it did last weekend against the Cheetahs.

The Lions are known for a similar approach but have the game-plan bedded down having used it for a few years now under first John Mitchell and now Johan Ackermann, which only increases the challenge for the Sharks.

“We made a lot of errors against the Cheetahs, but you know we were heavily criticised for the way we played last year even though we made the SuperRugby playoffs, and when I was appointed, I spoke to the senior players and they said they want to play ball-in-hand, positive rugby.

“But that comes with risks, it’s easier to coach the other way. It’s a confidence thing, if you get it wrong you’re under the cosh. But it’s about making better decisions in the right areas,” Gold told The Citizen this week.

But playing an expansive brand of rugby also depends heavily on the forwards being ascendant and getting front-foot ball, and the Sharks pack were well-held by the Cheetahs, who dominated the set-pieces.

The return of captain Bismarck du Plessis should add some fire to the Sharks and there will be a fascinating clash between the incumbent Springbok great and the young hooker tipped for great things, Malcolm Marx.

They share a similar physique with Marx being one centimetre shorter at 1.88m and the same weight (113kg) as Du Plessis, according to the Lions website.

“Bismarck brings a different dimension to the Sharks, he is very good at the breakdown, he brings good leadership to the side and he has vast experience, so we know they are going to be a better side than last week.

“Malcolm did very well last week, he has had a game before at this level but it was his first start, and I believe he is only going to get better with more experience. It will be a nice tussle because they are similar in build and frame,” Lions captain Warren Whiteley said.

The Lions fell into the trap of not taking their kicks at goal in last weekend’s defeat to the Hurricanes, while flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff’s boot was also off-form, but Whiteley said he expected all 23 players to step up their efforts today.

They will not be helped by star flanker Jaco Kriel’s absence – he was troubled by a groin strain against the Hurricanes and is now being rested.

Gold was also forced to make changes to the Sharks line-up and has given a debut cap to lock Lubabalo “Giant” Mtyanda.

With both teams coming off home defeats, a titanic tussle can be expected with both packs tearing into each other; for all their big-name players, the Sharks have often been given a hard time by the Lions and that is bound to continue.

Teams

Sharks: 15-SP Marais, 14-Odwa Ndungane, 13-Waylon Murray, 12-Heimar Williams, 11-Lwazi Mvovo, 10-Pat Lambie, 9-Cobus Reinach, 8-Tera Mtembu, 7-Renaldo Bothma, 6-Marcell Coetzee, 5-Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4-Lubabalo Mtyanda, 3-Jannie du Plessis, 2-Bismarck du Plessis, 1-Dale Chadwick. Replacements – 16-Kyle Cooper, 17-Thomas du Toit, 18-Matt Stevens, 19-Marco Wentzel, 20-Jean Deysel, 21-Conrad Hoffmann, 22-Fred Zeilinga, 23-Andre Esterhuizen.

Lions: 15-Andries Coetzee, 14-Ruan Combrinck, 13-Lionel Mapoe, 12-Howard Mnisi, 11-Courtnall Skosan, 10-Marnitz Boshoff, 9-Ross Cronje, 8-Warren Whiteley, 7-Warwick Tecklenburg, 6-Derick Minnie, 5-Franco Mostert, 4-Martin Muller, 3-Ruan Dreyer, 2-Malcolm Marx, 1-Jacques van Rooyen. Replacements – 16-Robbie Coetzee, 17-Schalk van der Merwe, 18-Julian Redelinghuys, 19-JP du Preez, 20-Ruaan Lerm, 21-Faf de Klerk, 22-Elton Jantjies, 23-Harold Vorster.

Dean Elgar produced an innings of enormous class as he scored a century to lead the Unlimited Titans into the Momentum One-Day Cup final with a 58-run victory over the Sunfoil Dolphins in the playoff at Kingsmead on Tuesday night.

Elgar came to the crease in the third over with the Titans in trouble on eight for two, and he mastered a poor pitch as he batted through to the final over, scoring a priceless 100 off 130 balls, with eight fours and a six.

The left-hander spent most of the innings just keeping the Dolphins attack at bay, as their attack made use of a deteriorating pitch that not only provided sharp turn, but also grip and uneven bounce for the seamers, but he received tremendous support from David Wiese, the Titans blazing 109 runs in the last 10 overs.

Chasing 268 batting second was always going to be a tall order for the Dolphins, who paid the price for gambling on a pitch that was more suited to the final day of a Test than a limited-overs knockout game.

The Titans, combining aggressive pace bowling with cunning seam and spin, performed brilliantly in the field, bowling the Dolphins out for 209 in the 45^th over.

The Titans had earlier won the toss and elected to bat first, and the nature of the pitch was shown when the Dolphins used spinner Keshav Maharaj to bowl the second over.

The left-armer removed the Titans captain, Henry Davids (2), with his fifth ball, the batsman failing to clear the infield with a lofted drive.

The other opening bowler, Robbie Frylinck, then had Theunis de Bruyn (4) caught in the slips in the next over, bringing Elgar to the crease.

The Dolphins soon suffered a couple of killer blows with all-rounder Ryan McLaren, who passed a fitness test on the morning of the game, re-injuring his hamstring and having to leave the field in his fourth over, and Elgar then being dropped on 18 as an off-balance Cameron Delport put down a relatively straightforward chance at backward point off Andile Phehlukwayo.

Despite a poor fielding effort – four catches went down in all – the Dolphins bowlers were not relaxing the pressure they exerted and Jacques Rudolph and Elgar had to work exceptionally hard to add 78 for the fourth wicket in 19.4 overs.

Batting was not a simple task with the ball seaming, turning sharply, sometimes bouncing, sometimes keeping low and often stopping in the pitch.

Rudolph scored 39 off 69 balls before Maharaj claimed a superb return catch to dismiss him, but Elgar is one of the most determined cricketers in the country and one could almost sense him vowing not to get out before the Titans had a decent total on the board.

Qaasim Adams was trapped lbw for 11 by Maharaj and Albie Morkel (24) was just getting into his stride when he was dismissed by Andile Phehlukwayo during an impressive spell by the 18-year-old.

But Elgar and Wiese then added 92 runs during a match-changing 54-ball spell which saw the Dolphins fielders wilting and the bowlers pitching too full on a wicket which rewarded balls that were banged into the surface.

The powerful Wiese was dropped before he got off the mark by Daryn Smit at slip off the aggressive Phehlukwayo, and the Dolphins paid heavily for that as the all-rounder blasted five fours and five sixes in an explosive 71 not out off just 33 balls.

The late assault rather ruined the figures of Phehlukwayo (10-0-64-1), Maharaj (10-0-50-3) and Frylinck (10-1-45-2), but they were the best of the Dolphins bowlers.

Chasing such a large score batting second was always going to be a daunting task for the Dolphins, but truth be told, they made life harder for themselves through poor shot-selection.

Playing cross-batted shots on a pitch with inconsistent bounce is always risky, and Morne van Wyk (12), Cameron Delport (0), Khaya Zondo (72) and Phehlukwayo (2) were all caught pulling or cutting.

Zondo showed what an exciting talent he is with his wonderful innings of 72 off 87 balls and while he was at the crease, there was still danger for the Titans.

But JP de Villiers is bowling with increasing confidence and good pace these days and he bounced out both Zondo and Phehlukwayo in the batting powerplay and there was little hope for the Dolphins after that.

While De Villiers finished with three for 34 in nine overs, there was an equally impressive return of three for 35 in eight from Junior Dala and Morkel was also very handy, taking three for 33 with his seamers and cutters.

The spin bowling for the Titans was left in the hands of Tabraiz Shamsi and Elgar and they both went for a run-a-ball.

Every chance is precious in a knockout game and Davids took an exceptional one-handed reflex catch at slip, with wicketkeeper Mangaliso Mosehle diving in front of him, to remove the in-form Vaughn van Jaarsveld for 15 off the bowling of Dala.

http://citizen.co.za/324296/titans-dominate-dolphins/

Ben Stokes loved the conditions at the Mamelodi Oval as he lashed a magnificent 151 not out off just 86 balls to lead the England Lions to a comprehensive 89-run series-clinching victory over South Africa A in their limited-overs game on Monday.

Stokes, a controversial omission from England’s World Cup squad in Australasia, revelled on a flat pitch and a small ground as he came in at 123 for three in the 24^th over and hammered seven fours and 15 sixes to take the tourists to a massive 378 for six.

He then shone with the ball taking three wickets as the England Lions bowled SA A out for 289, giving them a 3-0 lead in the five-match series with one game to play. Stokes looks like someone who England could really use at the World Cup, being a terrifically clean striker and a brisk seamer.

South Africa A’s execution of their bowling skills at the death was disappointing, with way too many full tosses and long-hops, but you have to give credit to Stokes for taking full, ruthless advantage.

Chris Morris was the one bowler to survive relatively unscathed, managing to find the right lengths as he took three for 50 in his 10 overs, but the other SA A bowlers can’t be happy with their performances. David Wiese went for 82 runs in 10 overs, Marchant de Lange 81 and Mthokozisi Shezi 74, while spinners Eddie Leie and Dean Elgar conceded 42 and 44 runs respectively in five overs each.

Opener Jason Roy scored 67 off 72 balls and there were a pair of 34s from James Vince and Jonny Bairstow to provide a platform for Stokes to bring SA A to their knees.

Morris emerged as the best of the bowlers as he had Alex Lees caught behind for 10, removed Bairstow, spooning a catch into the covers, and then yorked Sam Billings, who belted 55 off 36 balls in a late blast.

The England Lions attack featured one of yesterday’s heroes in Tim Bresnan, but they all bowled with much better discipline and skill, and backed that with good intensity in the field.

Reeza Hendricks was out early, caught at square-leg off Mark Wood for nine, but Elgar then added 63 for the second wicket with Stiaan van Zyl (28).

The lanky Boyd Rankin removed Van Zyl with a short ball and with Bresnan removing the in-form Theunis de Bruyn for nine, SA A were falling behind on 89 for three after 17 overs.

A series of useful but ultimately vain partnerships with the middle and lower-order followed, with Elgar scoring a top-class 79 off 84 balls. But he was hampered by a throw that hit him on the ankle bone and was run out by wicketkeeper Bairstow soon thereafter.

Justin Ontong made 22 and Dane Vilas 29, before Wiese and Morris added 50 for the seventh wicket in just 5.2 overs before Stokes produced a full, straight delivery to bowl Wiese for 37 and settle the outcome.

Morris went on to score a highly-entertaining 58 not out off just 33 balls, but it was never going to deny the English a crunching victory.

The bizhub Highveld Lions have a handsome lead at the top of the Sunfoil Series log after winning three of their four matches but, as their opponents this week from the other side of Gauteng would say, they are certainly lus for more.

The Lions hammered the defending champions, the Nashua Cape Cobras, by an innings last weekend in Potchefstroom and they can now take control of the four-day competition if they beat the second-placed side, their neighbours the Unlimited Titans, at Willowmoore Park in Benoni from today. The Lions are currently 16.22 points ahead of the Titans with the competition heading into a midway break after this weekend’s full round of matches.

“We’ve played some good cricket but we’re not looking at the league positions, the competition only really starts taking shape after seven or eight games. We just want to keep doing our skills right and do what we need to do to get results, that’s how we like to play. We want to make sure we break the opposition game down slowly, not try to win on the second or third day, but take it to the last day after tea,” Lions coach Geoff Toyana told The Citizen.

The other matches this weekend see the Sunfoil Dolphins, smarting from their defeat in East London against the Warriors, travel to Kimberley to take on the Chevrolet Knights, while the Chevrolet Warriors host the Cobras in Port Elizabeth.

The Lions married patient batting up front, led by Stephen Cook’s marvellous century, with disciplined seam bowling and penetrative fourth-day spin from Dale Deeb to beat the Cobras. Paceman Sean Jamison announced his arrival in franchise cricket with eight wickets in the match, while Dwaine Pretorius claimed four first-innings wickets.

With Pumelela Matshikwe also bowling steadily, the Lions have successfully adapted to the loss of almost their entire attack – Eddie Leie, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Aaron Phangiso, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Hardus Viljoen all being unavailable.

“The most pleasing thing was the way the guys who came in performed. I’m very happy with the depth here, because last season I wasn’t happy when they didn’t come to the party,” Toyana said.

Titans coach Rob Walter knows the importance of the clash.

“If we can get a win then we’ll be in a great position for the second half of the competition, but if the Lions win then they’ll open up a big space on the log at the halfway mark,” he said.

The Titans’ first priority is to absorb the loss of batsmen Dean Elgar (wrist injury), Theunis de Bruyn and Farhaan Behardien, as well as all-rounder David Wiese. Graeme van Buuren should play his first four-day game of the season, having regained form with a century this week against Holland, while Heino Kuhn and Henry Davids will also have key top-order roles.

The Knights are having an even tougher time in terms of losing batsmen, with Gihahn Cloete, Reeza Hendricks, Rudi Second and Rilee Rossouw all unavailable. Gerhardt Abrahams, Michael Erlank, Patrick Botha and Diego Rosier are their replacements against the Dolphins. But in Quinton Friend, Dillon du Preez, Malusi Siboto, Corne Dry and Werner Coetzee, coach Sarel Cilliers is able to field one of the better attacks around.

The Dolphins have lost Craig Alexander to a hamstring injury, with coach Lance Klusener calling up promising pacemen Mathew Pillans and Graham Hume.

The Warriors are the most settled of the franchises at the moment and they welcome back Simon Harmer for their match against the Cobras, who will be hoping the experience of the returning Justin Kemp can change their fortunes.