Ken Borland

The North-West Dragons will ponder how they managed to throw victory away, while Western Province will be proud of a marvellous fightback in the field as well as a couple of magnificent catches as they won their CSA T20 Challenge Eliminator by 41 runs at the Wanderers on Wednesday night.

Western Province were sent in to bat and only made it to a decent total of 166 for five thanks to a mighty finish from George Linde, who smashed 49 off just 23 balls, with five sixes – three of them in the penultimate over off Kerwin Mungroo. Linde then completed a memorable match for himself by taking three for 15 with the ball, as well as hanging on to a spectacular catch.

Kyle Simmonds took a career-best three for 14 in his four overs, as the duo of left-arm spinners sent North-West crashing from 77 for two to 125 all out.

The Dragons had taken the match by the scruff of the neck as Meeka-eel Prince (25 off 11) and captain Wihan Lubbe (46 off 20) put on a rollicking partnership of 70 off just 30 balls for the second wicket. This came after Beuran Hendricks (2-0-9-2) had removed both North-West openers for two apiece.

Taheer Isaacs top-edged a hook to fine leg, but Janneman Malan hit a fine short-arm jab that was somehow caught by Linde, diving full-length at a wide mid-on for a spectacular one-handed grab.

Prince lost control of a pull shot off Wesley Bedja and was caught at fine leg, but the Dragons only needed 90 more runs at a rate of 7.3 to the over to win.

With skipper Lubbe still at the crease and enjoying tremendous momentum, Western Province needed more wickets quickly.

And North-West proceeded to gift them those wickets with mindless cricket. First Lubbe ran himself out going for a second run to long-on, beaten by a superb clean pick-up and bullet throw from Bedja, and then Lesiba Ngoepe (17) pulled a long-hop from Simmonds to cow-corner.

Simmonds took all three of his wickets in the 11^th over as Marco Jansen (9), instead of just trying to push the ball straight down the ground, then tried to drive over midwicket and was bowled, and Bamanya Xenxe (0) was bowled by a peach of an arm-ball.

Linde then took the last three wickets as North-West lost eight wickets for 48 runs in eight overs, Mpongwana taking an incredible one-handed catch, low to his left at slip, to dismiss Kerwin Mungroo for a duck.

The well-balanced Dragons attack had earlier bowled in good areas and justified Lubbe’s decision to bowl first as they restricted Western Province to 101 for five in the first 15 overs. The frustration of the batsmen was most evident in the in-form Eddie Moore’s innings of 15 off 23 balls, which ended in soft fashion when he holed out to long-on against tidy leg-spinner Caleb Seleka (4-0-25-1).

The Western Province top-order is still a little wet behind the ears, and they found themselves bogged down as they could only score 46 for two in the powerplay, compared to the Dragons later on racing to 63 for two.

Mihlali Mpongwana looked good in scoring 24 off 19 deliveries before holing out at deep square-leg off Gideon Peters, who impressed the smattering of spectators at the ground with some genuinely fiery fast bowling which netted him excellent figures of three for 24 in his four overs.

But Linde then hit the ball brilliantly down the ground and over the one short boundary as he blasted a handful of sixes, adding 65 unbeaten runs off just 35 balls with Abdullah Bayoumy (14* off 12).

As good an innings as it was, it did not seem to be enough as North-West were cruising. But then came their spectacular implosion.

Western Province will now take on the Northerns Titans in Qualifier 2 at SuperSport Park on Friday evening, the winners returning to the Wanderers on Sunday afternoon to take on the Central Gauteng Lions in the final.

Proteas captain Dean Elgar says he is looking forward to getting home and enjoying a juicy steak on the braai following his team’s 2-0 hiding in the Test series against Australia, but at least some of the hurt and embarrassment was eased by the draw they managed to secure on the final day of the third Test in Sydney on Sunday.

South Africa came through the flames on Sunday, managing to stretch their first innings from 149/6 to 255, and then making 106/2 in their follow-on innings to deny the sizzling hot Australians a 3-0 sweep. They are not scores that would usually prompt satisfied celebrations, but this Proteas team needs small victories at the moment.

“We had a conversation last night where we said we could either lie down today and let Australia roll us, creating more embarrassment, or we could fight it out for the full final day,” Elgar said.

“It was really great to see how the team responded and there were a lot of learnings today. Being hurt and embarrassed probably go hand-in-hand, but maybe we feel that a bit less now. We showed a lot of fight and there were positive signs.”

Elgar must have felt like he was a piece of meat being braaied in the flames as he endured a miserable series, scoring just 56 runs in six innings.

“I could never get going in this series and the one time I did, I managed to run myself out. I can accept being caught down the leg-side twice, but three or four times highly irritates me. That’s something different. Generally there is a way you get out, and bowlers target that.

“Ten years into my Test career and now there’s something new. I’ll have to look at it. There have been a few conversations between me and the batting coach about some extra work.

“But for now I just want to get on a plane, go home, chill out, braai, go to the bush and play some golf. Taking as much time off as I want is what I need,” Elgar said.

The 35-year-old said he still has big ambitions, however, around the whole tricky business of fixing South Africa’s Test fortunes.

“There are four-day games in February before the two Tests against the West Indies. I still have the hunger and drive, no doubt. And I really believe there’s space for CSA to entertain motivating the players more who play this format.

“There’s room for discussion around compensation for the purest format, and we also need to play more games. At the moment the number of Tests is being stripped back and we are behind the pack,” Elgar pointed out.

The Proteas have managed to mend some of the holes in their leaky batting bucket and will go into the final session of the third Test against Australia with nine wickets in hand at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Sarel Erwee (44 balls) and Heinrich Klaasen (21 deliveries) are both on 18 not out at tea as they took Souithy Africa to 46-1 at tea. A minimum of 32 overs are scheduled to be bowled after the break, with the deficit still 174 runs.

Captain Dean Elgar was once again caught sparring down the leg side, off opposite number Pat Cummins, for 10, bringing an end to another struggle at the crease.

Earlier, South Africa had narrowly failed to avoid the follow-on as they were bowled out for 255, 21 short, at 2pm in Sydney.

That they came so close was largely thanks to Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj in the lower-order, who showed tremendous resistance as they added 85 for the eigjth wicket.

Their stout effort provided a glimpse of what was possible on a reasonably good pitch if the top-order played with application and positivity, trusting their own games.

Harmer was well-equipped for a long stay at the crease, deserving great praise for his defiant 47 in three-and-a-half hours, while Maharaj did his utmost to see South Africa past the follow-on score with his 53 off 81 balls. He got himself in first, and then backed his attacking game as he struck six fours and a six, pulling especially well.

Although they ultimately failed to get to 276 to avoid the follow-on, it was just as important that Harmer and Maharaj took time out of the game, leaving Australia with just a small window of opportunity to bowl the Proteas out in their second innings.

South Africa had begun the final day on 149/6 and Marco Jansen continued his tenacious stay at the crease, batting for more than an hour-and-a-half in scoring 11 off 78 balls before edging part-time off-spinner Travis Head to the wicketkeeper.

The impressive Josh Hazlewood eventually broke South Africa’s resistance in an impressive spell after lunch. Using a hint of reverse-swing, he trapped Maharaj lbw and then bowled Harmer off the inside-edge, to finish with four for 48 in 23 overs, a superb comeback from injury.

Off-spinner Nathan Lyon then caught-and-bowled Kagiso Rabada (3) to end the innings.

Hot weather and the ball flying for miles is always the norm at Sun City, but Belgium’s Thomas Detry managed to master the different conditions in this year’s Nedbank Golf Challenge and soar into a share of the lead after the third round with back-to-back 67s on Saturday.

Heavy showers on Friday meant the second round could only be completed on Saturday morning, with the golfers then only having a half-hour break before heading out again for their third rounds. Although there was occasional drizzle on Saturday, mercifully there was no disruption to play with the rain not nearly as heavy as forecast.

Detry began his round on the 10^th and immediately gathered back-to-back birdies and then another shot on the par-five 14^th. His next birdie came via a lengthy, curling putt on the par-three fourth, and he then finished his round in superb style with three successive birdies from the seventh to the ninth holes. The 29-year-old dropped two shots, on the 17^th and sixth holes, both par-fours.

His tremendous finish lifted him to nine-under-par for the tournament, the mark Rasmus Hojgaard got to on a sensational run that saw him eagle the famous ninth hole and pick up birdies on the par-five 10^th and par-three 12^th holes. The exciting Dane then parred his way home to shoot another 69, just as he did in the first two rounds.

Detry is a leading player on both the DP World and U.S. PGA Tours, and so he has had to learn to be adaptable, especially when it comes to the considerable travel demands and the different courses and conditions he has to handle. It is no surprise then that an unusual day at the Gary Player Country Club did not catch him offguard.

“With all the rain, the course is playing longer. We’re used to hitting Driver 330 metres and seven-iron over 220, but with the colder weather, we’re now hitting five or six iron and I think that surprised some of the players a little,” Detry said.

“It’s also wetter so the rough can be a bit harder to get out of, so it is easy to drop shots here and there. It’s usually hot, so the course is playing much longer than we’re used to.

“The travel between tours is tough, but I really wanted to make these last two events on the DP World Tour, so I flew from Mexico on Sunday night and only arrived here on Tuesday night.

“I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather, so to be able to rest most of Friday was massive for me to play 27 holes today so consistently. Getting a lot of rest and eating a lot of food out there gave me energy,” Detry said.

South Africans Branden Grace and Thriston Lawrence are both just one shot off the pace heading into the final round. Lawrence had the lowest score of the third round with a brilliant seven-under 65 and, starting his round on the 10^th, he had three successive birdies from the 13^th and then another two back-to-back on 18 and the first hole. The 2021 Joburg Open champion completed a bogey-free front nine with two more birdies on the sixth and ninth holes.

Grace lifted himself into contention with a brilliant 67 on Saturday morning, and then struck the ball beautifully again in the third round, but a cold putter meant he had to settle for a one-under 71. But he is in hot form and has the confidence of his 2017 Nedbank Golf Challenge triumph to bolster him.