Ken Borland

South Africa’s Allan Donald and Herschelle Gibbs are both well-acquainted with the sorrow of World Cup failure, but the pair of cricketing legends believe that the current crop of Proteas who are in the West Indies will end the country’s startling lack of success in showpiece events when they compete in the T20 World Cup final at Bridgetown, Barbados, on Saturday.

The Proteas bowled Afghanistan out for a record low of just 56 on their way to a commanding nine-wicket victory in their semi-final on Wednesday night in Tarouba, Trinidad, and will meet the winners of Thursday’s semi-final between India and England in the final.

Despite being consistently one of the strongest teams in international cricket since returning from isolation in 1991, South Africa’s men’s team have never before reached a major International Cricket Council final. They had lost out in seven previous semi-finals before their triumph against Afghanistan.

Renowned fast bowler Donald and dashing opening batsman Gibbs both played in the 1999 World Cup semi-final against Australia at Edgbaston, which is probably South Africa’s most famous ‘defeat’ of all. The match ended in a tie after Donald was run out, having set off late and dropping his bat, meaning Australia went through based on their higher log-position.

The eventual champions had finished above South Africa thanks to beating them four days earlier by five wickets with two balls to spare in a Super Sixes match at Leeds. Chasing 272, Australia were in trouble on 48 for three when captain Steve Waugh came to the crease. He had just reached his half-century when Gibbs dropped an easy catch from him at midwicket, spilling the ball as he tried to throw it up in a premature celebration. Waugh would go on to score a magnificent 120 not out. Gibbs had earlier been the mainstay of the South African innings with his 101.

“I honestly believe this is South Africa’s time,” Donald told SportsBoom.com, “they are battle-hardened and mentally-conditioned now to winning the very big moments. They have found a way to win every time, someone has made a breakthrough or someone has come up with crucial runs eight matches in a row.

“Coach Rob Walter has brought top character through and made everyone responsible. I really think it is their time. They are playing with fantastic calmness and are really tight-knit as a squad,” Donald, who also fell short in the 1992, 96 and 2003 World Cups, said.

Gibbs told SportsBoom.com that he also believed the time was now to end South Africa’s World Cup jinx.

“T20 cricket is all about momentum and momentum is with the Proteas. They have done it the hard way and now that they’ve got to the final, I believe the cricketing gods will smile on us.

“Our bowling line-up is as good as any and with the pitches doing so much, the bowlers are always in play. Captain Aiden Markram’s decision-making has been really good, he’s made the changes, the big calls, at the right times. He shows a lot of composure in reading the situation. The final will be the ultimate game and playing the situation is the vital thing,” Gibbs, who was also part of the failed 2003 and 2007 campaigns, as well as the 2007, 2009 and 2010 T20 World Cup tournaments, said.

Gibbs, who was one of the most dashing batsmen of his era and would have earned himself millions of rand in franchise cricket had he been born 10 years later, also said that the tricky pitches in the current T20 World Cup had shown modern batters were not willing to grind through tough conditions.

“The pitches have done a lot, it’s been a bit excessive at times, but then average batsmen can look world-class on flat decks – they just hit through the line. The IPL scores were a bit ridiculous this year and the game needed to be brought down to earth a little.

“The tough conditions bring out the temperament of the batsmen and technique is needed. When bowlers have been able to land the ball in the right areas at the right pace, the batters have not been able to handle it because of their flawed techniques. They’re just used to taking the easy route, they don’t grind, they don’t fancy it. You need gritty innings in those conditions.

“At the IPL final for Deccan Chargers at the Wanderers in 2009, I scored 53 not out in the 20 overs because I knew I just had to be there. Anil Kumble bowled the first over for Bangalore and Adam Gilchrist charged down the pitch third ball and was bowled.

“But I said to myself that I must just have a look, the onus was on me, you have to take that responsibility on your shoulders. You have to allow yourself to get to grips with the surface and the tough runs are the most satisfying,” Gibbs said of the Deccan Chargers’ six-run win in South Africa.

The 50-year-old Gibbs said he expected the batsmen to have another mountain to climb at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, but the IPL experience of the likes of Heinrich Klaasen, Quinton de Kock, Tristan Stubbs, Markram and David Miller should stand them in good stead.

“In the CPL, that pitch has turned and there have been a lot of close games. Our spinners can come to the party with the ball, but for the batsmen, building partnerships against spin is going to be the key. It’s something they still haven’t mastered and they will need to do it.

“Heinrich Klaasen says the pressure of the IPL will stand them in good stead and they need to show that the pressure does not get to them because BMT has been our achilles heel in the past. But this team has found ways to win,” Gibbs said.

Donald, as coach, and Gibbs will return next week to Edgbaston, the scene of their agonising near-miss in 1999, representing South Africa in the World Championship of Legends, a new six-team T20 tournament that has signed a five-year contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board.

EDENVALE, Gauteng – Norway’s Maiken Bing Paulsen produced a second consecutive top-class round of golf, including a pair of chip-ins for eagle, on Thursday as she gave herself a handy two-shot lead going into the final round of the Jabra Ladies Classic at Glendower Golf Club.

Paulsen shot a four-under-par 68 in the second round on Thursday to climb to 10-under-par for the tournament, doing extremely well to back up her 66 on the first day on a day when the scoring was higher and no-one managed to shoot lower than her.

South Africa’s Cara Gorlei also fired a 68 on Thursday and lies second on eight-under-par, while Elena Hualde (Spain) and the Swedish duo of Lisa Pettersson and Moa Folke were also four-under for the second round and shared third place with England’s Gabriella Cowley (71) on six-under-par.

The 27-year-old Paulsen was level-par through the first seven holes, but then chipped in for eagle on the par-five eighth. She dropped her second shot on the par-four 11^th, but Paulsen caught fire in the middle of the back nine as she birdied the 13^th, chipped in again for eagle on the 15^th and birdied the 16^th.

Unfortunately she bogeyed the par-three 17^th, but Paulsen was still understandably delighted with her round.

“It was a good day even though my putting didn’t get the ball in the hole as much as the first day. But I had three chip-ins, for both of my eagles and to birdie the fourth, and I was really steady off the tee,” she said.

A small struggle with her iron play was the only worry for Paulsen, but she handled it with aplomb thanks to her excellent short game.

“My irons were a bit of a struggle, so hopefully I figure that out for the final round. I only gave myself a few good opportunities on the front nine and I almost lost my ball when I bogeyed the seventh. So it was an interesting front nine, but I just tried to keep going and stay positive.

“There were some interesting pins and because the course is still wet it was playing quite long. But there was a little less wind today, which was nice. I didn’t find a big difference in difficulty today, but then I was hitting the ball so well on to the fairways, I am quite long off the tee, so that advantage meant maybe I didn’t notice.

“I’ve been trying to work on my swing and I’ve changed a lot, so that’s why my irons are still a bit flaky. Mistakes will happen in this transition period, but in the final round I’m just going to keep doing what I do. It’s the boring answer, but I just want to give myself chances, be in the fairways, try and make sure my irons are decent and hopefully the putts go in and it’s a happy day,” Paulsen said.

It was also a happy day for Gorlei, who scorched through the back nine in four-under 32.

Russia’s Nina Pegova, who shared the first-round lead with Paulsen, started her second round on the back nine and reached the turn in one-under, but then had a nightmare start to the front nine as she bogeyed the second and double-bogeyed the fourth hole. She finished with a 73 to drop back to five-under-par, sharing seventh place with South Africa’s Stacy Bregman, who was also part of the impressive 68-Club.

KEMPTON PARK, Ekurhuleni – Kiera Floyd and Casandra Alexander will go into the final round of the Absa Ladies Invitational sharing the lead after the pair of South Africans handled an exacting combination of a gusting wind and testing pin positions with aplomb at Serengeti Estates on Friday.

First-round leader Floyd shot a one-under-par 71 in the second round on Friday to go to six-under-par overall. The 19-year-old, playing on her home course, began her round on the back nine and started brilliantly with birdies on the par-five 11^th and par-three 12^th holes, where she chipped in. She added another birdie on the par-four second hole and led by four strokes at that stage.

But bogeys on the last two par-threes, the fifth and the ninth, dropped her back into a share of the lead as Alexander finished strong by birdieing the seventh and eighth holes.

Floyd, who double-bogeyed the fifth in the first round, once again found the bunker right in a spot without any sand and chipped over the green before getting up-and-down for a four. On her last hole, she three-putted from across the green.

The 24-year-old Alexander also started her second round on the 10^th and struggled to a one-over 37 at the turn. But she mounted a superb comeback on the front nine, picking up birdies on the first and second holes. She bogeyed the par-four sixth, but an excellent pair of birdies at seven and eight set her up for a final-round shootout with Floyd.

They are three shots ahead of another South African, the vastly-experienced Lee-Anne Pace, who collected three birdies in four holes around the turn and posted a one-under 71 on Friday.

Spain’s Harang Lee shot a 69 on Friday and leapt into fourth place on two-under-par and Namibia’s Bonita Bredenhann and South African Stacy Bregman are on one-under.

Floyd is chasing her maiden professional title and is hoping all the hard work she has put into her game and her mental approach pays off under the pressure of the final round and the expectation of home fans.

“I’ve put a lot of hard work into everything – my mental game, my range-work, my putting, my driving – and hopefully it pays off and I can hold all that together and come out on top,” Floyd said. The last time I was leading going into the final round was as an amateur and I’m looking forward to it, hopefully I can close it off.

“Conditions were a lot tougher today, the pins were tucked and the wind was up as well, and the greens were slower but very difficult to read. It helps that I know this course so well and which way the wind blows. It was swirling a lot today and we had crosswinds, downwinds and winds into you,” Floyd said.

“I had a slow start and struggled for birdies on the back nine, I had a lot of lip-outs and a couple of short-sides cost me drops,” Alexander said. “It was much harder today because there were some tricky pins and the wind and the pin-placements together made for quite a deadly combination.

“But it’s always a challenge I enjoy and something has definitely clicked this week after I got a new coach at the beginning of the year. When you do that, you go through changes and you have to be patient, even though you just want to score low straight away.

“But my game is getting better, it’s tighter and cleaner and my skew shots are not as skew. We’ll see what happens tomorrow,” Alexander, a four-time winner on the Sunshine Ladies Tour, said.

A pair of effortless centuries by Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith lifted Australia to a huge 394 for three at tea on the second day of the third Test against South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday.

While left-handed opener Khawaja was still there at the break on a tremendously classy 172 not out, the Proteas were at least relieved to get rid of the prolific Smith for 104 just as he was really beginning to accelerate.

Khawaja scored his third successive century at the SCG, joining English legend Wally Hammond and Australian hero Doug Walters as the only other batsmen to do that. He and Smith added 209 for the third wicket after the home side began the day on 147 for two. The partnership not only thoroughly blunted the South African attack on a placid pitch but also continued the duo’s history of great stands together.

Smith did eventually fall after collecting 11 fours and two sixes in 192 balls, giving Keshav Maharaj a return catch when the left-arm spinner produced a bit more flight.

The in-form Travis Head then came to the crease and reached 17 not out at tea.

Spinners Maharaj and Simon Harmer have borne the heaviest burden on a dry pitch, both bowling 25 overs. But Maharaj has been poor, conceding 108 runs, while Harmer has been putting more revs on the ball and asking more questions, but so far without reward. He has at least conceded less than three runs an over (73).

Fast bowler Anrich Nortje did not add to his two wickets on the first day, but he was again South Africa’s most impressive bowler. Unfortunately, his fellow pacemen could not follow his lead. Young left-armer Marco Jansen was not quite at his best, but continues to market himself as one of the brightest talents in international cricket, bowling a fine spell with the second new ball. Kagiso Rabada is out-of-sorts and has conceded 94 runs in his 24 overs.

Khawaja’s 335-ball innings, with 17 fours and a six, has been a super display of the craft of an opening batsman; he has shown great precision in both the selection and execution of his strokes and has put away the loose deliveries in elegant fashion.