Ken Borland

Poor weather meant only one match was possible on the final day of Pool B action in the CSA Provincial T20 Cup in Bloemfontein on Thursday and it was the game that decided whether it would be the Northerns Titans or the KZN Inland Tuskers who joined the Free State Knights in going through to the quarterfinals.

The Titans were again indebted to Donovan Ferreira for turning an iffy total into something matchwinning as the 23-year-old lashed 43 not out off 24 balls to lift them to 157-7.

The 21-year-old Jandre Pretorius, standing in for injured captain Dean Elgar, opened the batting and scored 40 off 39 balls to allow a solid start.

KZN Inland were then restricted to 133 for seven, with Okuhle Cele (4-0-24-2) and Aaron Phangiso (4-0-19-1) again the stars with the ball after their heroics at the death kept the Titans in the competition on the second day as they defended 70 in seven overs against Mpumalanga.

Corbin Bosch (4-0-25-0) was also very tidy.

The Titans’ composure in the closing overs of both their games against KZN Inland and the Mpumalanga Rhinos made all the difference for them.

Mpumalanga had their game against the unbeaten Free State Knights on Thursday afternoon washed out without a ball being bowled, leaving the Knights and Titans to advance from Pool B.

Depending on who you believe, Proteas assistant coach Enoch Nkwe’s disillusionment and desire to resign from his post were products of being sidelined from important management decisions and ill-discipline within the squad, or his reluctance to keep travelling with the team and instead become more involved in the strategic side of the national team.
Cricket South Africa confirmed on Monday aternoon that Nkwe had “signalled an intention to resign” and the Board is currently consulting with the assistant coach on his future.
A journalist known for his campaign against current head coach Mark Boucher broke the news of Nkwe’s resignation and quoted “insiders” and “sources” as saying the reasons were that his work environment had become a “contaminated space”, with him feeling sidelined and not involved in the decision-making of the team. The report also said Nkwe is not happy with the discipline of certain senior players and some members of management.
But other sources have said Nkwe is hesitant to travel and wants to become more involved in the long-term strategic and technical future of the national team.
Whether it is due to divisions within Proteas management or Nkwe wanting a different role, it is a major blow to CSA’s hopes of grooming Nkwe to take over as head coach after Boucher.
Which is why the Board did not initially accept his resignation and have instead initiated emergency talks with the 38-year-old in order to keep him in the CSA cricket structures.
With the Proteas due to leave on Wednesday for a tour of Sri Lanka, their final dress rehearsal before the T20 World Cup, it is not the sort of disruption or potentially divisive situation that the team needs.
The Proteas will already be taking on Sri Lanka without their regular bowling coach in Charl Langeveldt, who is still quarantining after testing positive for Covid. Titans head coach Mandla Mashimbyi replaces him, and it is his second tour with the national team, having stood in for Nkwe on the West Indies trip in June/July.
Nkwe missed that tour for “family reasons”. Or were there other forces at play?

Covid hit the British and Irish Lions camp on Wednesday in what may well be the tipping point that sees the entire tour moved to Cape Town or called off completely.

The Lions management confirmed on Wednesday evening that a member of their management team as well as a player have tested positive and had gone into isolation, as had 12 close contacts – eight of whom are players. The entire touring party was then tested again on Wednesday and for several hours the match against the Sharks in Johannesburg on Wednesday night hung in the balance.

It was eventually played, but the fact that the virus has now penetrated the meticulously assembled Lions bubble is of grave concern and the entire series must now be in danger of being called off. The glimmer of hope that the organisers are no doubt hanging on to is that the tourists, with their weekend game against the Bulls in Pretoria already postponed, can now head to Cape Town where the number of Covid cases is much lower.

The Lions are scheduled to play the SA A team at the Cape Town Stadium next Wednesday and their only remaining fixtures in Gauteng would be the last two Tests. It now seems likely those will be moved to the Cape as well.

Quite who the hosts are going to be able to field in that SA A match and in the three Tests that start on July 24 is difficult to know. The Springboks camp has been hard-hit by Covid with 12 positive cases, including head coach Jacques Nienaber. There are currently seven players who are in isolation and, with the second Test against Georgia, scheduled for Friday night at Ellis Park, now cancelled, questions are being asked about what sort of preparation the Springboks will have before taking on the might of the Lions.

Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus may be forced into a situation where the SA A game, which was meant to be for the second-string South African side to take on the Lions, is now where the first-choice Springbok line-up has to play in order to get some game-time together before the Test series. Which would be most unfortunate for the fringe players in the national squad.

The Lions are also concerned about their preparation for the series bring disrupted and have reportedly been trying to find some opposition to replace the Bulls over the weekend. Georgia announced on Wednesday that they have half-a-dozen Covid cases in their camp as well, which is why they cannot stand in.

All rugby fans will be hoping that when the whole series moves to Cape Town, the situation will normalise and sport rather than a pandemic can take centre stage again.

Far from being an environment that alienates anyone, the Proteas camp now has a player-driven culture and everyone has bought into the new captaincy ideas of Dean Elgar, coach Mark Boucher said when asked whether the team looked so happy just because they won the Test series against the West Indies or whether there have been off-field changes that have made a difference.

Boucher said the triumph was the result of “a lot of hard work” off the field and some hard chats the team had sitting around the fire in Pretoria on their pre-tour camp.

“When we sat around the fire in Pretoria, the new captain [Elgar] asked some questions about where we are and where we want to go and there were some tough conversations about the necessity of performing for the Proteas badge again. It’s been quite a tough couple of months for certain guys. But the players are now driving the value system they put on the table in our Skukuza culture camp last year, which is why they’re so happy.

“The team have played really well. We have not won away from home for a long time and the belief taken away from that is important. We asked them to play for each other and we’ve seen that, it was really a team effort and we played the big moments very well.

“The best place to learn is in foreign conditions and we learned a lot of lessons in Pakistan. Different conditions are what develops players. The skills have been executed fairly well and I look forward to seeing how we go when we’re put under pressure because then we can judge whether we are really on track,” Boucher said.

The former captain, Quinton de Kock, was the player of the series for his 237 runs at an average of 118, and far from being angry at his demotion, the wicketkeeper/batsman responded with a flurry of runs and was a breath of fresh air in the changeroom as well.

“Quinny’s been through a tough time of late, not scoring the same amount of runs as he’s used to, but he made such an impact on the whole series. While the other batsmen did well to bat time and force the bowlers to come back for third and fourth spells, Quinny has that x-factor that means he can just take the game away from the opposition.

“I’m very happy that he’s in a very good space and he’s been fantastic off the field, funny and lighthearted. And the way he’s kept wicket has been so good too, he’s been very neat and taken some great catches,” Boucher said.