Ken Borland

While the capricious Cape winds toyed with most of the field, only nine golfers shooting under the par mark of 74, Kylie Henry flourished, posting a five-under-par 69 to lead after the first round of the Standard Bank Ladies Open at Royal Cape Golf Club on Wednesday.

Coming from Scotland, Henry ought to be comfortable in the wind, and it showed in a top-class round that featured an eagle on her second hole, the par-five 11^th, followed by four birdies and just a single bogey.

The winner of the opening event in this year’s Sunshine Ladies Tour, the Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am at Fancourt, also in the Western Cape, went out from the 10^th and reached the clubhouse in four-under, before coming home in one-under as the wind became stronger on her back nine.

“It was pretty windy today, but it does that here and I’ve had quite a lot of experience in the wind, most of the time I manage to judge it well. I do enjoy these good, strong courses. Royal Cape is a great layout and in really good condition, and Fancourt was amazing, a brilliant test.

“Some holes were really quite tough today, with crosswinds or the wind into you, but I played really good golf. I gave myself lots of birdie chances because my iron play was really solid, and then my putting was the best part of my game. It’s quite a tight course, so I drove the ball well too.

“Both nines are similar, but the wind just got stronger when I was on the front nine, so the back nine was slightly easier for me and I hit a lot of good shots,” Henry said.

South Africans Shawnelle de Lange (71) and Lora Assad (72) are Henry’s closest challengers, while compatriot Kiera Floyd is one of the six golfers who posted one-under-par 73.

Like a flower opening up its corolla to show the beauty within, this Sunshine Ladies Tour season has really seen Floyd unveil her huge talent. The 19-year-old finished tied-fourth in last week’s Fidelity ADT Ladies Challenge at Blue Valley, she was in contention after the first round of the SuperSport Ladies Challenge at Sun City, and she was tied-second going into the final round at Fancourt.

De Lange dropped only one shot, on the par-four 10^th, but finished superbly with three birdies in the last four holes.

Assad began her round on the 10^th and immediately dropped a shot, but she fought back brilliantly with birdies on the 13^th, 14^th, 16^th and 18^th holes. The 31-year-old suffered a couple of bogeys on the front nine, but finished well with a birdie to post two-under.

Floyd began a rollercoaster round on the 10^th with a bogey, but reached the turn in two-under, before making one birdies and two bogeys coming home.

Frenchwomen Emie Peronnin and Ariane Klotz, Norway’s Maiken Bing Paulsen, Florentyna Parker of England and India’s Tvesa Malik, winner of the SuperSport Ladies Challenge, are the other golfers on one-under-par.

Eyebrows would have been raised when KZN captain Prenelan Subrayen said “we know our score is on par, very competitive”, after the Dolphins posted just 148/5 against Western Province in their crucial CSA T20 Challenge match at St George’s Park on Wednesday.

He was dead right though as WP were bundled out for just 83 as KZN stormed to victory by 65 runs and a place in Friday’s semi-finals.

Bryce Parsons, mixing left-arm orthodox with wrist-spin, took 3/22, but Subrayen (4-0-17-2), Andile Phehlukwayo (3-0-16-2) and Ottneil Baartman (2-0-16-2) were also all amongst the wickets.

Sent in to bat, KZN had to recover from  a disastrous start as they slumped to 13/3 against the spin of George Linde (4-0-24-2) and Aviwe Mgijima (4-0-25-2). WP’s other spinner, Junaid Dawood, took 1/15 in his four overs.

But KZN recovered superbly thanks to Khaya Zondo’s defiant 59 not out off 51 balls, Ruan de Swardt (22) and Parsons (28 off 22) batting well around him.

Phehlukwayo then provided the boost at the end as he blasted 25 not out off 10 deliveries.

The Eastern Province Warriors have become a team to love but they fell short of winning their last game, going down by 10 runs to the North-West Dragons.

North-West batted first and Heino Kuhn enjoyed himself in a punishing 78 off 57 balls, and with lovely cameos from Delano Potgieter (29 off 22) and Senuran Muthusamy (24* off 11), they posted 169/5.

For EP, Lesiba Ngoepe scored a sparkling 43 off 28 deliveries and captain Sinethemba Qeshile (24 off 13) and experienced Rudi Second (29 off 14) launched a daring late onslaught which ended when both were dismissed by Duan Jansen in the penultimate over.

Lwandiswa Zuma took 3/25 for NW, while Muthusamy’s wonderful tournament continued with 1/15 in his four overs.

Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza blasted unbeaten half-centuries to send the Proteas back to South Africa with their tails between their legs as Zimbabwe won the Pran RFL T20 Triangular Series final by nine wickets at Harare Sports Club on Sunday.

18th over – Zimbabwe win with 17 balls to spare as Wayne Parnell dishes up a horrible full toss and Taylor pulls it to the boundary for four.

17th over – Masakadza completes a great tournament by notching his fourth half-century, off 48 balls, pulling a feeble long-hop from Lonwabo Tsotsobe to the midwicket boundary. Masakadza celebrates by bashing the next two balls over mid-on and then mid-off for further boundaries.

15th over – Brendan Taylor completes a blazing 32-ball half-century in extraordinary fashion with six runs. He mistimes a pull off Tsotsobe into the leg side and the batsmen want to steal a second run. Tsotsobe is unable to gather the shy at the stumps, deflecting it past Robin Peterson, who is backing up rather tardily and Taylor gets a bonus four overthrows!

13th over – Masakadza neatly glances Wayne Parnell for four past fine leg.

12th over – Zimbabwe’s hundred is up off just 69 balls, but in fortuitous fashion as Masakadza edges the unlucky Chris Morris through the vacant slip for four.

11th over – Peterson delivers a long-hop which Masakadza massacres into the stands beyond midwicket.

9th over – Taylor brings up the fifty partnership with Masakadza off just 32 balls as he sweeps Peterson fine, with lovely timing, for four more runs.

7th over – Brilliant batting by Taylor as he ramps a Parnell bouncer over the slips for four!

6th over – Carnage as Peterson comes on to bowl and concedes 21 runs in his first over! Taylor greets him with a sweetly-struck sweep for six. The Zimbabwe captain then drives the left-arm spinner powerfully through extra cover for four, before Peterson’s third delivery is dropped a fraction short and Taylor cuts firmly for four more. Masakadza then adds to the pain by launching the last ball of the over for a massive six over long-on.

4th over – Vusi Sibanda is lucky as he top-edges a hook off Morris over the wicketkeeper for four, but is unlucky off the next ball as Farhaan Behardien, substituting for Albie Morkel, takes a brilliant catch at cover-point, snatching a full-blooded slash out of the air. WICKET – Sibanda is out for 23 off 16 balls, with three fours and a six. Zimbabwe captain Taylor comes to the crease and gets a friendly full toss from Morris first ball, stroking it through the covers for four.

3rd over – Tsotsobe starts his second over with a shortish, leg-side delivery and Sibanda flicks it over square-leg for six. Masakadza adds a second boundary in the over as he drives Tsotsobe crisply through mid-off.

2nd over – Another boundary to Vusi Sibanda in the second over as he top-edges a slash off Morris over the slips for four.

1st over – An eventful start to the Zimbabwe innings. Tsotsobe’s first ball straightens into the pads of Masakadza, who is trying to work the ball to leg, but a confident lbw appeal is turned down. The left-arm seamer’s next ball is a horrible wide down leg, followed by a no-ball. Sibanda bashes the free hit through the covers for four.

South Africa innings

South Africa finished around par thanks to Faf du Plessis’ half-century as they scored 146 for six against Zimbabwe in the Pran RFL T20 Triangular Series final at Harare Sports Club on Sunday.

20th over – Wayne Parnell collects two boundaries in Richard Muzhange’s final over as he flicks a low full toss past the unfortunate Stuart Matsikenyeri at backward square-leg and then times a clever little chip shot to perfection to collect a one-bounce four over midwicket. Albie Morkel ends the innings in style as he shuffles down the pitch on off-stump, making the last ball a half-volley which he launches majestically over long-on for six.

19th over – WICKET – Du Plessis’ determined innings comes to an end as he opens his shoulders and aims a massive drive down the ground off Kyle Jarvis. Unfortunately it is higher than it is long and Du Plessis is caught by Hamilton Masakadza at long-on for 66 off 57 balls.

18th over – Wonderful batting by Du Plessis as he steps outside off stump again, goes down on one knee and scoops a full toss from Muzhange over his shoulder and the wicketkeeper for six!

17th over – Du Plessis scoops a low full toss from Jarvis just over a leaping short fine-leg for four runs.

16th over – South Africa’s hundred is up off 91 balls as Du Plessis steps across his stumps and flicks a full ball on leg stump from Muzhange fine for four.

15th over – Morkel ends a very tidy over with a short-arm pull off the hip for four as Christopher Mpofu drops short and on the pads.

13th over – Leg-spinner Graeme Cremer switches ends but Morkel collects boundaries off the first two balls of the over. The first delivery is short and Morkel leans back and pummels it through midwicket; the second is pitched outside leg stump and the left-hander paddles it fine for four more.

12th over – WICKET – An inspired bowling change as part-time off-spinner Malcolm Waller snares the scalp of Dane Vilas, who tries to cut on the move and ends up getting a thin edge, to be caught behind by Brendan Taylor for two.

11th over – WICKET – Justin Ontong (5) clips a low return catch to Prosper Utseya, the ball going through the off-spinner’s hands, but he completes the catch by trapping the ball between his legs!

8th over – WICKET – Leg-spinner Cremer comes on and takes a wicket with his second ball as Colin Ingram top-edges an off-balance cut to short third-man. Ingram is out for 19 off 20 balls.

6th over – Swashbuckling batting by Du Plessis as he dances down the pitch to new bowler Muzhange and slams him through the covers for four. Two balls later, Du Plessis is down the pitch again, meeting the medium-pacer on the full and square-driving him for four more. The over gets worse for Muzhange as Du Plessis is down the wicket again to the next ball, but this time it’s short and an attempted swing to the leg side is skied into the covers, but Stuart Matsikenyeri puts down the catch, reprieving Du Plessis on 12.

5th over – The introduction of spin in the form of Utseya finally brings the first boundary after four-and-a-half overs as Ingram skips down the pitch and launches the off-spinner high and handsome over long-on and on to the clubhouse roof. The second boundary follows two balls later as Ingram edges a slash for four runs to third man.

2nd over – WICKET – Oh no, this is a disastrous start now for South Africa as Hashim Amla (3) swings a short ball from Mpofu to Malcolm Waller running round the square-leg boundary.

1st over – WICKET – What a start for Zimbabwe as Richard Levi is out to the first ball of the match! Levi’s flatfooted prod is beaten by a fine inswinger from Jarvis and is trapped in front of middle stump, lbw for a duck!