Ken Borland

So South Africa’s gritty women’s cricket side fell once again at the semi-final stage of the World Cup, bringing an enthralling campaign to an end. So where to next for Hilton Moreeng’s plucky Proteas?

It is vital that the feel-good factor surrounding the women’s Proteas is maintained. While there has been a substantial improvement in the amount of investment into the women’s game in recent years, thanks to the sponsorship of Momentum and the increased focus from Cricket South Africa, there is still a sizeable gap when it comes to the amount of money flowing to the men’s game as compared to our ladies.

It is the same with every sport and Momentum issued figures this week which show that 61.1% of commercial investment in South African sport goes to the men, and only 4% of television coverage goes to women’s sport. This despite 40% of all sports participants being women.

The reason for this disparity is partly because of the lower viewership numbers for women’s sport. So if you want to support the Proteas women, make sure you watch all their televised games and encourage others to do so too. Of course they also need the backing of the television stations to actually broadcast their matches and it would also help if South Africa’s ladies could play more often.

Having unequivocally proved that they are one of the best sides in the world, and with superstars like Laura Wolvaardt, Marizanne Kapp, Sune Luus, Shabnim Ismail and Dane van Niekerk (when she returns from injury), there should be teams eager to play against us.

Although South Africa were rather heavily beaten by England in their semi-final, it will please coach Moreeng that his side won several desperately tight encounters at the World Cup. That showed their mental toughness. The main reason they lost by 137 runs to defending champions England was their shoddy catching, with centurion Danni Wyatt dropped five times on her own!

But that sort of fielding sloppiness can be fixed. It is actually a malaise that needs to be rectified across the board in South African cricket.

One also needs to give Moreeng enormous credit for the work he has done in moulding such a powerful team.

He became national women’s coach at the end of 2012, when they had recently finished fourth in the Women’s World Cup Qualifier, behind Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the West Indies, all teams they are now beating with regularity.

They only finished sixth in the 2012/13 World Cup, but the growth of players like Ayabonga Khaka, Luus, Lizelle Lee, Lara Goodall and, most especially, the magnificent Wolvaardt, has lifted them clearly into the top three in the world.

With the national team in such a good space, it is now time for CSA and their sponsors to give more attention to the domestic women’s game.

While CSA, thanks to the support of Momentum, now provide the 14 top national players with full-time contracts, wouldn’t it be great to see our leading provincial sides hiring players on a fully professional basis as well.

Of course they will need financial support from sponsors to do that, and sponsors need exposure, which in this day and age generally means television coverage.

Broadcasters want to know there will be thousands of eyeballs glued to whatever they put on the screen.

But there is no doubt the interest in women’s cricket is growing exponentially at the moment. The time is right for major steps in the development of the game.

The Proteas once again did the country proud with another gutsy win as they sealed an incredible 3-0 ODI series win over India, following the remarkable triumph in the Tests, by winning the third and final match by four runs at Newlands on Sunday.

Despite Quinton de Kock’s thrilling century, South Africa were left defending a moderate total of 287 and there were times when India looked well on track for victory. But the Proteas attack, without Tabraiz Shamsi, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, kept fighting back and ultimately clinched the game in the final over. Defending just six runs, Dwaine Pretorius conceded a single and then dismissed last man Yuzvendra Chahal (2), skying a cutter into the covers.

Although Lungi Ngidi removed Indian captain Lokesh Rahul for 9 in the fifth over, Shikhar Dhawan, with a free-scoring, uncomplicated 61 off 73 balls, and Virat Kohli, with a typically feisty 65 off 84 deliveries, provided a great platform for the chase with their second-wicket partnership of 98 off 112 balls.

Andile Phehlukwayo’s golden arm turned the game, however, when he removed both Dhawan and Rishabh Pant, who charged down the pitch to his first ball and sliced it to deep cover, in the same over.

Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj bowled a superb spell of 10 overs for 39 runs in the middle overs and, in his last over, he gained reward with the massive wicket of Kohli, who was undone by sharp turn and bounce.

Shreyas Iyer (26) and Suryakumar Yadav (39 off 32) threatened, but the admirable Proteas attack kept chipping away. Iyer was very well caught by Phehlukwayo at deep backward square-leg as Sisanda Magala dug the ball hard into the pitch, and Yadav was fooled by a cutter from Dwaine Pretorius.

But Deepak Chahar blasted 54 off just 34 deliveries and South Africa really had to show their mettle at the death.

Some calamitous late overs left India needing just 21 off the last four overs. The explosive Chahar eventually fell when an Ngidi (10-0-58-3) slower ball saw him skying a catch into the covers, Pretorius taking the tester very well. Phehlukwayo (7-0-40-3) removed Jasprit Bumrah (12) in the next over and the experienced Pretorius then ensured South Africa kept their cool in the final over.

De Kock, returning to international action after missing the Test series, was scratchy in the first ODI and batted fluently in the second game, but he was sublime on Sunday. Continuing his wonderful record both at Newlands and against India, he stroked 124 off 130 balls and there were plenty of gorgeous shots to drool over. Today was the day the true genius of the left-hander came out and he was supreme in both the straight-bat and the cross-batted strokes.

India had won the toss and a bit of early moisture provided them with some swing and South Africa slipped to 70/3 in the 13^th over. But De Kock found the perfect partner in the unflustered and in-form Rassie van der Dussen (52).

The pair added 144 at just about a run-a-ball as Van der Dussen notched another determined half-century, marked by excellent shot-selection and composure under pressure.

But both in batsman fell in successive overs and the Proteas needed a solid partnership of 40 between David Miller (39) and Pretorius (20) to get them a total which they were able to defend thanks to a never-say-die attitude they showed in the field.

Quinton de Kock may have left his team in the lurch by pulling out of their last game a couple of hours before the start, but the Proteas are all looking forward to having his services once again and will welcome him back with open arms, Rassie van der Dussen said on Thursday.

De Kock on Thursday issued a statement apologising for, and explaining, his reasons for refusing to take a knee in support of BLM ahead of South Africa’s T20 World Cup match against the West Indies earlier this week, and has now agreed to follow the CSA Board’s directive.

Fellow batsman Van der Dussen said all is forgiven and the team are really looking forward to having him back in the line-up for their game against Sri Lanka in Sharjah on Saturday.

“Quinny has been extremely remorseful and everyone understands and supports what he did, even though the timing was not great,” Van der Dussen said.

“It speaks volumes for the open environment the team and management has. He did not have to explain himself to us really, but we have come a long way in creating a safe space within the squad.

“He’s one of the best players in the world and of course we will welcome him back with open arms. We understood why he did what he did, and that’s the end of the story for us.

“I’m sure he will be selected on Saturday and it will be like nothing has happened as far as the team is concerned. Hopefully he himself will be in the right frame of mind to deliver a matchwinning performance like he has done so many times before. But it’s going to be great to have our brother and friend back on the field,” Van der Dussen, one of the strongest supporters of taking a knee amongst the White contingent in the team, said.

The statement De Kock issued earlier on Thursday said his actions were guided by the lack of engagement on the issue between the CSA Board and the squad, with the “take a knee” edict seemingly coming out of the blue for the players.

CSA Board chairman Lawson Naidoo and two other directors subsequently held a virtual meeting with the Proteas squad and management on Wednesday night, in which the reasons for their directive were clarified and the players’ concerns addressed.

A CSA statement on Thursday said De Kock and the rest of the team had now agreed to align themselves with the stance against racism as a moral issue and not a political statement.

Covid-19 is raging around Gauteng, but Siya Kolisi says the Springboks feel safe in their encampment at a Johannesburg hotel/biobubble and they are eager to once again put smiles on the faces of their supporters who are going through so much in their day-to-day lives.

Friday’s Test against Georgia in Pretoria is the Springboks’ first since Kolisi led them to a memorable World Cup triumph in the final against England in Yokohama on November 2, 2019. Since then the coronavirus has infiltrated every aspect of South African life and Kolisi knows his team can give people some respite from the slow vaccination programme, service delivery failures, water and electricity crises, Zuma’s attack on the constitution and the dire economy etcetera etcetera.

“We are being kept informed of what is happening around us and we know the number of Covid infections is climbing, but basically we are just staying at our hotel and just concentrating on our rugby. We are keeping safe and we want to make sure we make the most of the opportunity we have to play. When we play, it feels good for our fans and hopefully we can add to that.

“We want to put smiles on the faces of people, we are privileged and fortunate to be doing what we love to do, so we are going to give it everything and play as hard and for as long as we can. Sometimes we give the people smiles and hope, they are going through a really difficult time and if one or two of them can be lifted then that’s good because we don’t only play for ourselves,” captain Kolisi said on Thursday.

One should not expect the Springbok game to be adorned with fancy jewellery against Georgia, who are a workmanlike side that loves to make rugby a war of attrition. The home side will not want to buckle and they have to do the hard yards first before trying any of the pretty stuff against the world’s 12^th-ranked team.

“We all have to make sure we do our part – ‘know your job, do your job’ – and hopefully we can make a statement. Like a circus act, everyone can hopefully show why they have been picked in the team and we won’t beat Georgia without the unseen Warrior work like cleaning rucks. We need to do the stuff that nobody except the coaches and the team sees.

“For the Springboks to actually get out on to the field is huge for us because we’ve been talking about it since last year, when we thought we would get the opportunity to play. Every team has had to adapt to Covid, but we’re only coming together now, there’s great excitement and it’s awesome that so many players from the World Cup are still with us,” Kolisi said.