Ken Borland

When you post 367 in your first innings and then reduce the opposition to 101 for five and your spinners have been as dominant as South Africa’s were, there is bound to be some disappointment when your lead is whittled down to just 75 by the end of the day, but that’s what happened to the Proteas on the third day of the first Test against Bangladesh at Kingsmead on Saturday.

Thanks to the epic defiance of opening batsman Mahmudul Hasan Joy, who was last man out for 137 made in 442 minutes off 326 balls, Bangladesh made it all the way to 298 all out.

It meant South Africa still emerged with a handy lead of 69, which openers Sarel Erwee and Dean Elgar extended to 75 as they reached six without loss in the four overs of their second innings that were possible before bad light and rain stopped play at 4.10pm.

But it could have been so much more with better bowling and catching. Most crucially, Liton Das was dropped on 16, a straightforward chance to Dean Elgar at first slip off Lizaad Williams, and he went on to score 41 and share an 82-run partnership with Joy that lifted Bangladesh from 101 for five to 183 for six.

There were three other half-chances that went down too through the innings, and South Africa, who were able to take the second new ball in the second over after lunch with Bangladesh on 186 for six, will be disappointed by how Williams and Duanne Olivier lost the lengths that they had been bowling earlier.

Williams had bowled Liton in the 79^th over with a beautiful delivery with the old ball that nipped back sharply, but Joy and Yasir Ali were flourishing against the new ball, having added 33 when Yasir fell for 22 to a car-crash of a run out.

But Bangladesh’s next partnership between Joy and Mehidy Hasan Miraz was smoothly underway as they added 51 for the eighth wicket before Wiaan Mulder had Mehidy caught at slip for 29.

Joy then accelerated, quickly cutting the deficit from exactly 100 to 69 as he struck 27 runs off his next 17 deliveries with five fours and a six.

But the promising Williams ended his fun by having him caught at slip, to finish with three for 54 in 18.5 overs in his debut Test.

Simon Harmer failed to add to his wicket-tally of the previous day, finishing with four for 103 in 40 overs as the Bangladesh batsmen showed much more intent against him and Keshav Maharaj on Saturday.

South African captain Keenan Horne is looking forward to his team putting aside the mixed fortunes they have had against top opposition and performing with more consistency against them in the FIH Hockey Pro League that gets underway in Potchefstroom from Tuesday.

The home side are missing a couple of key players as they take on the Netherlands, India, France and Germany in the South African leg of the league this month. The Dutch, the Indians and the Germans are all powerhouses of the game, although they have come to Potchefstroom with some new players as they begin preparations for the World Cup in a year’s time.

South Africa were 3-0 up against the Netherlands in last year’s Olympic Games, before losing 5-3, but they did pull off a famous 4-3 win over Germany, who were winners by the same scoreline in their previous meeting, which followed 6-2 and 6-1 wins in the two Tests before that.

India have beaten South Africa 5-1 and 5-0 in their last two engagements.

“Even if our primary aim is to grow the team, as a competitive player you always want to win,” Horne said on Monday. “We don’t always get the chance to play against teams in the top-eight and it’s usually in tough tournament conditions.

“So it is always great to get one of their scalps and we know we are able to do it. But we really need to build our consistency, what we really want is to be able to compete in every single game,” Horne said.

While South Africa will have home-ground advantage – Potchefstroom bringing heat and high-altitude into the equation – Horne said their opponents have shown the ability to adapt to different conditions.

“We’re coming up against really top teams who tour all around the world. So they play in all sorts of conditions and they are used to adjusting.

“But the altitude and heat will not be as difficult for us, so if it is an advantage we will take whatever we can get,” Horne said.

South Africa have certainly shown the ability to score goals – notching 11 in their three matches against Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands at the Olympics – but coach Garreth Ewing said they have to shore up their defence in the Pro League. Especially since they have a tough opening fixture against the Dutch at 8pm on Tuesday.

“The Netherlands are very skilful and gifted all around the field and it’s going to be a challenge for our defence. That’s our first focus, trying to get that right,” Ewing said.

Normally before the great North/South derby between the teams based at Loftus Versfeld and Cape Town, Bulls coach Jake White has enjoyed making a few mischievous digs at the opposition, like the harlequin in early pantomime, but on Friday he was refusing to take the bait and very much focused on his own team ahead of their United Rugby Championship match against the Stormers in Pretoria on Saturday.

As White correctly pointed out, the Bulls, while so dominant in domestic rugby, have fared the worst of the South African franchises so far in the URC and are second from bottom. The Stormers are two points and two places above them in 13^th.

“This is a chance for us to get off the bottom of the table,” White said on Friday. “It’s our second North/South derby this week, but our first home game in the URC. I don’t think many teams have played five away games.

“We have some momentum from the two Currie Cup wins, but it’s not just about preparing for Saturday, we’re building for three years’ time. We are still a work in progress, we are still looking to fill certain positions.

“It’s about playing teams like Leinster and Munster; we’re not a long way off but we are off. We have to find some depth and the right player profiles.

“And we’re looking forward to playing a couple of home games now. It looks as if Europe is getting back to normality and the competition will become more balanced. Hopefully by mid-tournament we’ll be more in it in terms of the table,” White said.

Because White has been willing to field many of his URC players in the first two rounds of the Currie Cup, his whole squad for Saturday have had game-time and he is hoping they start well against a Stormers side that has been inactive since being hammered by the Lions 37-19 in Cape Town in early December.

It also means the likes of flyhalf Chris Smith, hooker Johan Grobbelaar, props Gerhard Steenekamp and Mornay Smith and 19-year-old debutant flank Reinhardt Ludwig all have experienced and in-form cover on the bench.

“We have a bit of experience that can come off the bench,” White acknowledged. “We’re trying to balance the whole team and the players coming off the bench will help someone like Reinhardt.

“Playing at 5pm in 30° and at altitude and all our players have played recently – hopefully that will give us a head-start. But the Stormers are just ahead of us on the table and they will back themselves.

“Obviously they’ll be disappointed with the Lions game. If you look at their backline, there are a lot of Sevens players, so they won’t be scared to play. They’ll want space and time though … ” White said.

Bulls team: David Kriel, Madosh Tambwe, Lionel Mapoe, Cornal Hendricks, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Chris Smith, Embrose Papier; Elrigh Louw, Reinhardt Ludwig, Arno Botha, Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Mornay Smith, Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp. Impact – Bismarck du Plessis, Lizo Gqoboka, Jacques van Rooyen, Janko Swanepoel, Marcell Coetzee, Zak Burger, Morné Steyn, Harold Vorster.

Ruan Pienaar is a highly experienced man when it comes to playing against European opposition and the scrumhalf said on Tuesday that the Sharks dare not give Cardiff Blues any weak points to exploit in their defence as they meet on the 4G pitch at the Arms Park on Saturday.

South African teams are starting to come to terms with playing on artificial turf in the UK, and the Cardiff Blues are known for their attacking style on their fast-paced home surface. Plus, having lost to the Bulls last weekend via a dramatic second-half comeback, they will be taking nothing for granted on Saturday.

“Cardiff will be disappointed to have two losses on the bounce,” Pienaar said, “and I think they felt in control in the first half of their match against the Bulls. They are a good team, so they will be desperate to bounce back.

“They have a lot of dangerous players and if we give them time on the ball and let them dictate the tempo, then it will be a really tough challenge against them.

“You’ve got to be clinical and really accurate on those pitches because the game is a lot faster and the tempo much higher. We’ve got to be on-point defensively or their dangerous back three will hurt us.

“Rhys Priestland pulls the strings really well for them at flyhalf and it’s tough on a 4G pitch to defend breaches if they get through your line,” Pienaar said.

The former Ulster stalwart said the Sharks’ performance on Saturday will need to have the same properties they showed in convincingly beating the Ospreys last weekend, also with a brilliant second-half display.

“Against the Ospreys we played in the right areas, our discipline was good and we took our chances. We responded very well to our first two losses and you have to adapt to how the referees blow over here.

“Playing first up against Munster was always going to be a tough introduction, a massive learning curve because they are a very good team and especially difficult at Thomond Park.

“Our discipline let us down against them and there were costly errors, but against Glasgow Warriors, if we had done one or two things differently, then it could have been a different story.

“It’s a completely different way of playing over here, but we have been fortunate to have really good weather, normally it is quite miserable already at this time of year. I played here for a long time, you know the opposition is going to be really well coached and our key decision-makers are crucial,” Pienaar said.