Ken Borland

Leg-spinner Shaun von Berg ensured that his name will be mentioned more often in future national selection meetings as his three-wicket burst put the Unlimited Titans in control of their Sunfoil Series match against the Knights at SuperSport Park in Centurion yesterday.

After David Wiese (45) and JP de Villiers (59) stretched the Titans first innings to 366, Von Berg claimed three for 10 in his first eight overs as the Knights limped to 212 for eight at stumps, which came with 18 overs left to be bowled due to bad light.

The Titans resumed yesterday morning on 268 for seven, and Wiese and De Villiers ensured they converted a good first day into a meaningful total with an eighth-wicket stand of 81 lasting exactly 100 minutes.

The home side batted through to the brink of lunch, leaving the Knights with three overs to survive before the break, which they did in reaching 11 without loss.

But with Reeza Hendricks (3) lasting just two balls in the second session before edging an away-swinger from Wiese into the slips, the Knights were under pressure from the start of the afternoon session.

Wiese again found swing to bowl Gihahn Cloete through the gate for 12 and Rilee Rossouw (23), having taken four successive fours off Marchant de Lange’s previous over, then edged the fast bowler low to Roelof van der Merwe at third slip in a thrilling passage of play.

Von Berg then took centre-stage in another proof that the hours of work he has put in in the nets are paying off as he ripped through the middle-order.

He landed his first delivery perfectly and it went straight on to trap Obus Pienaar lbw for 14 and he then outfoxed Rudi Second, inducing a return catch, to remove a batsman who had looked capable of causing a few hours of trouble for the Titans as he breezed to 38.

Von Berg’s fortunes changed, however, in the last one-and-a-half hours of play as Werner Coetsee took control.

The 27-year-old returned to the attack straight after tea, changing to the West Lane End, and an inspired piece of bowling saw him rip a delivery across Gerhardt Abrahams (26) and into his off stump in his first over back.

That gave Von Berg figures of 8-3-10-3, but Coetsee ensured 45 runs would come from his last five overs yesterday as he raced to 57 not out off 61 balls.

But the 31-year-old Coetsee was fighting a largely lone battle, with De Villiers removing both Johan van der Wath (10) and Quinton Friend (2) in the 45^th over, in an excellent second spell.

Shane Warne may have been the greatest leg-spinner to ever grace the game, but not even he could also score double-centuries as is the case with South African women’s sensation Dane van Niekerk.

The 19-year-old Van Niekerk will be one of South Africa’s key players in the ICC World Twenty20 tournament in Sri Lanka next month and her confidence must be sky-high after her phenomenal performances in the domestic women’s league last season.

Van Niekerk was a leading light as Northerns defended their title, finishing second in the batting averages with 494 runs at an average of 123.50, including two centuries and a half-century and her brilliant highest score of 203 not out. She scored her runs at a strike-rate of 92.55.

But it is as a bowler that Van Niekerk shows tremendous promise. Her leg-breaks saw her also finish second on the bowling averages with 17 wickets at the laughable average of just 4.29, plus she conceded just 73 runs in the 41-and-a-half overs she bowled!

The national women’s team are fulsome in their praise of their coach, former Dolphins mentor Yashin Ebrahim, and he, as a former spinner himself, has been able to guide young Van Niekerk.

“Yashin has taught me about different tactics, about when to bowl over the wicket or around the wicket, and when to use the googly,” Van Niekerk told supersport.com on Wednesday.

“But I was fortunate at a young age to work with Johan Rudolph – Jacques’ father – and he has a real passion for leg-spin, as well as Harry Shapiro [who modelled his Cricket Coaching Institute on the Australian Academy] and now Henry Williams.”

The South African Women’s team had a morale-boosting series win over the England Academy side in their last competitive outing in April and Van Niekerk believes they are a closing in on the top four of undisputed leaders England, Australia, New Zealand and India.

“We tested ourselves last year against the full English team and came up short, but we’ve made huge strides in the last year. There’s still a gap between us and the top four, but twenty20 cricket is always a huge gamble, you never know what will happen and it depends on who wants it most on the day,” Van Niekerk said.

With the ICC World T20 being held alongside the men’s competition in the sub-continental conditions of Sri Lanka, Van Niekerk’s leg-spinners should be more than useful, but, having had previous experience of those kind of pitches, the Centurion resident knows she can’t just rock up and expect success.

“I’ve been to Bangladesh on a previous tour and, although it’s nice to bowl in the sub-continent, you still have to work hard and sum up the conditions. You need to work out what pace to bowl, whether you need to bowl quick or slow,” Van Niekerk said. “But I’m fortunate in that the team also has another leg-spinner in Sunette Luus and I’m ecstatic that we’ll be able to work as a pair. Leg-spin is always a weapon in any form of cricket.”

South Africa have been placed in the same group as hosts Sri Lanka, New Zealand and the West Indies, with the top two teams going through to the semi-finals.

“New Zealand will hopefully not be that familiar with the conditions, so one of our goals is to beat them. They’ve been in the top four for a long time, but their recent results against England were not much different to ours. We have not played them since the last World Cup in 2010, but our scores against England were pretty level,” captain Mignon du Preez said.

“Our first game against Sri Lanka is a big one too, if we can win our first game, then we’ll be on the front foot. They’ll obviously know their home conditions better than us, but matches have always been close between us. We then play New Zealand, and end with the West Indies, who’s strength is more in the twenty20 game.”

It is clear that the South African women’s team are not overawed anymore on the international stage.

“Our goal is to make the semi-finals, even though we have not made the playoffs before,” Du Preez said. “For the first time, we are really well-prepared, we’ve had a strict fitness programme and our own academy.

“Yashin has given us the mindset to perform at international level and we now have different options and styles when we’re bowling, and several batting options too. We’re much more like the men’s side now. There’s not that much awareness about women’s cricket and there’s a misperception, people think you have to be butch to play cricket. But cricket is for any girls – and pretty ones too!” the petite Du Preez smiled.

Those with a longer memory of women’s cricket will be hoping the current crop of young stars does not go the same way as Johmari Logtenberg, the batting phenomenon who gave up cricket in 2007 to take up golf.

Van Niekerk, who is so dedicated to cricket that she is completing her matric through home-schooling, is confident she will not be forced down a similar path.

“I think it’s possible for me to become a professional cricketer, although there’s still a long way to go. We need sponsors, but Cricket South Africa are doing a lot for us. It will take time and performances, but for any sportsperson, the goal must be to do what you love for a living,” Van Niekerk said.

http://www.supersport.com/cricket/women/news/120808/Warne_has_nothing_on_Van_Niekerk

South Africa leg-spinner Imran Tahir is so intent on making an impression against England in their Test series later this year that he turned down lucrative county offers so that he could spend time in Pakistan with the legendary Abdul Qadir.

South Africa visit England in July and August for three Tests in a battle between the number one and two ranked teams on the International Cricket Council’s rankings and the Pakistan-born Tahir is likely to be the leading spinner in a squad that features three of the best pacemen in the world in Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander.

“It’s a very big series against England and if we can win it would be something special, one of the biggest achievements in my career,” Tahir told reporters in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

“I did have offers from counties and I actually accepted one from Surrey, which I then turned down, because I’ve been working really hard on my fitness and I’m going to back to Pakistan to get some help from Abdul Qadir. I’m kind of a bowler like him and he’s been really helpful to me before, since the first time I met him in 2000.

“He’s a legend and he can help me big time … I just need to get him out on to the cricket ground because it’s 48 degrees outside!” Tahir said.

Qadir took 236 wickets in 67 Tests for Pakistan between 1977 and 1990, including 82 in 16 Tests against England.

The 33-year-old Tahir made his Test debut for his adopted country in November and just 18 wickets at an average of 37.05 in seven Tests have led to some English critics writing him off as a threat.

But Tahir pointed out that he has yet to play in a test in helpful conditions.

“There’ve been five Tests in South Africa and three in New Zealand, and maybe one of those pitches took spin, so I had to have defensive fields.”

Tahir, who has played at first-class level for a staggering 18 different teams, said he liked to attack and was unconcerned about criticism that he might try too hard, bowl too many different deliveries in an over or celebrate wickets too exuberantly.

“If I’m playing for my country, I try as hard as I can. I make sure I don’t relax because then I might lose concentration and bowl a bad ball. I like to try too hard!

“I just want to enjoy my cricket and the celebrations just come, I go with the flow. Even in club cricket in England I used to do it … I don’t know if I just lose myself,” Tahir said.

The start of the English season has been marred by terrible weather and Tahir, who has played for Middlesex, Yorkshire, Hampshire and Warwickshire between 2003 and 2011, admitted he hoped for hotter conditions before South Africa arrive.

“It’s normally drier in July and August and I hope there’s a good summer for us, it will be harder for me if the pitches are like they are now. But the fact that most Tests in England are now going into the fourth or fifth day is good for spinners,” Tahir said.

England batsman Kevin Pietersen described Tahir as being “world-class” when they played together in the KZN Dolphins team in 2010.

“He is in a different league. He spins the ball both ways and he’s got incredible control. If you can spin the ball both ways you get wickets.

“He does bowl the odd bad ball, but if managed properly and given lots of confidence, the man can bowl any team out,” Pietersen said.