Ken Borland

Rassie van der Dussen is known for being a phlegmatic, composed guy, but his mental strength shone as brightly as it ever has in the first ODI against England as not even heatwave conditions that saw other players and spectators require medical treatment could dissuade him as he cruised to a brilliant century that set up victory for the Proteas.

The stadium management in Chester-le-Street issued health warnings to their spectators as temperatures reached 36°C, but Van der Dussen kept his cool, taming the weather and the England attack as he used his three hours at the crease to compile a remarkable 134 off 117 balls.

His best score in Proteas colours led South Africa to their highest ever ODI total in England – 333/5 – and then when the bowlers produced a marvellous all-round display – both the pacemen and the spinners met expectations – victory was completed by 62 runs.

“It was pretty hot out there but not too bad, mid-30s. We’ve just had a tour of India where it was a lot worse,” Van der Dussen said with characteristic understatement after he had met the challenge.

“I just tried to read the situation and adapt. I feel like I have the game and the shot options to put the bowlers under pressure. It was a massive outfield and the wind was quite strong, so it took the six option out for 25 overs.

“We knew we had to play smart cricket, hit the pockets in the field and run hard, make sure we got runs off good balls. The pitch got tough towards the end with the old ball keeping a bit low.

“It was like playing in Bloemfontein in terms of field size and temperature. There was not a lot of bounce and you had to play straight and try and accumulate runs,” Van der Dussen said.

England’s bowlers and fielders looked like they needed medical care as Van der Dussen and Aiden Markram (77 off 61) cut loose in a third-wicket stand of 151 off just 123 balls.

Apart from their meeting against South Africa in the T20 World Cup last November, when the Proteas won by 10 runs but still missed out on the semifinals, the last time England played with much at stake against the Proteas was in 2019/20 when they visited Africa and won the Test series 3-1 and the T20s 3-0 before bailing out of the ODIs due to supposed Covid fears.

South Africa have done much to rehabilitate their image since then and Van der Dussen recognised the importance of the Proteas laying down a marker, while stressing that it was merely the first day of a long tour.

“Obviously it’s a massive result, but it’s only one match on a long tour. We had to prep well, the batting was really good and the bowlers executed brilliantly, and now we will see where we can improve.

“England are still a world-class team, with various matchwinners on their day. But you could see they’ve played a lot of cricket lately, we were a bit more up for it today,” Van der Dussen said.

IRENE, City of Tshwane – Dylan Mostert showed great mental composure and produced a bogey-free back nine for his maiden Sunshine Tour title on Sunday, as he won the KitKat Group ProAm at Irene Country Club by three strokes.

Mostert shot a fantastic 68 in the final round for a 17-under-par total of 199, three clear of MJ Viljoen (67), to become the fourth first-time winner on tour this season.

A bogey on the par-five second hole made for a nervous start for the left-handed Mostert, but he showed he was up for the challenge when he chipped in for birdie on the third in superb fashion on the undulating green.

Malcolm Mitchell went out in three-under 33 to make for an exciting challenge for Mostert, but the 23-year-old from Modderfontein Golf Club birdied the ninth and then produced a fabulous hybrid approach shot from under the trees, in the dirt, finding the middle of the 10^th green and then sinking the putt for birdie for some breathing space.

“I hit some great shots that were really important for me to change the momentum,” Mostert said. “I had just made bogey on two and I was not in a great spot next to the third green, I was just hoping for an up-and-down at best. And then on 10, that was like a one-out-of-10 shot to pull off.             

“A whole bunch of things came together, but it’s definitely my mental game that made the most difference, my main focus was on staying neutral upstairs. Since finishing second in the Blue Label Challenge at Sun City last year, I’ve been working on that with Theo Bezuidenhout.

“I now have a different mindset because before I was up and down with birdies and bogeys. Now it’s about making good decisions and good swings. That builds confidence and belief.

“I probably hit the ball 10 times better when I finished second, but now I know where to miss,” Mostert said.

Further birdies at the 12^th and 17^th holes meant he was partitioned by three shots from Viljoen, five clear of the dangerous Louis Albertse (70) and half-a-dozen strokes ahead of Kyle Barker (67) and Ryan van Velzen (71) by the end of the R1 million tournament.

Mitchell fell away with a horrible double-bogey at the 14^th followed by bogeys on the next two holes as well, finishing on nine-under-par.

In the separate pro-am competition, Viljoen’s joint-best round of the day of 67 allowed himself and Japie Holtzhausen to claim the title on 19-under-par, two ahead of Madalitso Muthiya and Nash Soni, and Hennie O’Kennedy and Moe Mitha, on 17-under.

South Africa’s Marco Jansen not only removed two key New Zealand batsmen with the ball but also made a career-best, momentum-shifting 37 not out with the bat on the second day of the second Test in Christchurch on Saturday, and then said he was in debt to former Proteas batsman Neil McKenzie for helping him with the mental side of batting.

The 21-year-old Jansen has long been considered to have enough ability with the bat to perhaps become a bowling all-rounder, and he certainly did justice to his talent on Saturday as he came in at 277/6 and helped South Africa to a sizeable 364 all out.

They looked like falling well short of that, though, when they slumped to 302/8, before Jansen and Keshav Maharaj (36) belted 62 off 79 deliveries. A fine day for Jansen was then completed with the wickets of Devon Conway (16) and Henry Nicholls (39).

“When I was chosen for the  SA A squad last year, I was fortunate to work with Neil McKenzie [CSA high performance batting lead]. He helped me a lot with the strategic side of batting,” Jansen said.

“It’s all about game-plans and there’s more focus on how I approach my batting mentally. I still work a lot with our Proteas batting coach Justin Sammons as well, we are tweaking my technique, trying to tighten it up a bit.

“Kesh and I decided while we were batting that we would take the positive option. Not be reckless, but if the ball was in our area then we would have a full go.

“You know that the bowlers are going to bowl short at some stage and then you have a choice: To take it on or stand back. I don’t want to ever say I did not give it my all, so I always give a bit more in those situations,” Jansen said.

Growing up with a twin brother, Duan, who is also a talented cricketer, playing for North-West in a similar bowler-who-can-bat role, helped finance a tremendous competitive fire in Marco Jansen. He has given as good as he has received in feisty exchanges already with Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and with fiery Black Caps paceman Neil Wagner on Saturday.

“My brother and I are very competitive when it’s anything to do with sport,” Jansen said. “Whenever there’s a bit of an edge to the contest, then I try to always bring that bit extra, I see it as my one opportunity and I give everything.

“It’s a huge honour for me every time I walk on the field with that green cap on, so I just try and grab every opportunity now with both hands. Neil Wagner as always came hard, especially with the short balls.

“A few words were said, but it wasn’t that heated, just two guys being very competitive. I spoke Afrikaans to him and he replied in English … ” Jansen confirmed.

Sarel Erwee has the physique of a boxer and the mental focus of an endurance athlete, but the man from Pietermaritzburg was candid about the personal mountains he has had to climb in order to play Test cricket.

The 32-year-old reached the summit of his journey on Friday as he notched his maiden Test century in just his second game, his 108 leading the Proteas to a commanding 238/3 at the end of the first day of the second Test against New Zealand in Christchurch.

“It’s a very special day for me, 28 months ago I didn’t think I was even close to the Test squad, in fact I was one phone call away from calling it quits on my cricket career,” Erwee revealed.

“But thanks to my parents’ encouragement and the help of a sports performance psychologist I began seeing in Durban, I got motivated again to give my best. We worked on my mental wellbeing.

“That was the turning point, it was daily work and a hard slog, but I could not just give up all the years I had sacrificed, even though at one stage it felt pointless and I felt worthless.

“But thanks to them I sit here today with a Test hundred behind my name, which is extremely special, even more so because of all the hard yards to get here,” Erwee said.

The left-handed opener was adroit in his shot-selection, showing great resilience, restraint and composure as South Africa elected to bat first in tricky conditions. Erwee showed a clear focus on playing straight, leaving well and putting away shots like the cover-drive that could get him in trouble early on in his innings.

“A lot has been said about the first Test and our preparation, and our backs were against the wall today,” Erwee said. “We had to stand up and deliver a punch and the best way to do that was by sticking to the basics.

“The way we performed today is going to be very uplifting for the next four days. We were all on the same page and we had a clear mindset before we went in to bat.

“The wind played more of a role today and the ball swung all day. But we are here to win, we want to leave these shores at 1-1 in the Test series.

“To do that we’ve got to man up, front up, and that’s what we did today. It’s a new Test with new energies, and if it meant batting first on a greenish pitch then so be it,” Erwee said.