Ken Borland

An excellent third-wicket partnership between Zubayr Hamza and Kyle Verreynne held a tidy, probing Netherlands attack at bay in helpful bowling conditions, before the dam wall broke in the last four overs as Andile Phehlukwayo raced South Africa to 277/8 in the first ODI at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Friday.

Phehlukwayo lashed 48 off just 22 balls, including six mighty sixes, as he and Keshav Maharaj (18*) pounded 68 runs off the last 40 balls of the innings, including 61 off the final four overs. It provided the late boost needed to convert an average score into a good one.

Winning a useful toss under cloudy skies following heavy overnight rain, the Netherlands gained early reward for bowling first when left-armer Fred Klaassen removed both Proteas openers inside the first seven overs. Reeza Hendricks (6) played way too early and popped a catch to cover, while Janneman Malan (16) edged a loose, flatfooted drive at a wider delivery to second slip.

At 24/2, Zubayr Hamza had just the man for a crisis join him in fellow Western Province star Kyle Verreynne. The pair added 119 off 137 balls for the third wicket to give the innings a solid platform.

Hamza looked particularly good and played some wonderful strokes, while Verreynne was typically busy and positive and ensured that the Dutch bowlers never totally gained the upper hand, playing strongly off the back foot.

Hamza fell for 56 off 79 deliveries when he skied a pull off a Brandon Glover slower ball, but Verreynne went on to a career-best score and was in touching distance of a century when he was unfortunate to fall to a slower-ball gone wrong from Vivian Kingma. The back-of-the-hand delivery came out as a dipping full toss, which the wicketkeeper/batsman swung away one-handed, but straight to deep square-leg.

Verreynne had worked hard through the tough times for his 95 off 112 balls, and was all set to really launch before his dismissal.

The rest of the batting was made of flimsier material though as South Africa slid from 143/2 to 209/7; up to that point, Verreynne and Hamza had scored 57% of the Proteas runs.

Fortunately, Phehlukwayo showed his finishing ability as he belted the ball over the boundary to great effect, with skipper Maharaj providing important support as the Proteas made a strong end to their innings.

New-ball bowlers Klaassen (8-2-45-2) and Kingma (9-0-49-2) were good for the Netherlands, while Roelof van der Merwe returned to his former home ground with 1/27 in six overs of tidy left-arm spin.

DURBAN, KwaZulu-Natal – In this economically-depressed time when sponsors are not exactly queuing up to get involved in sport, Vodacom’s partnership with golf has provided a great example of how a holistic approach can benefit not just the competitors but also whole communities.

Vodacom’s Origins of Golf Series is the longest-running pro-am series of events in the Sunshine Tour’s stable and the 17^th edition comes to Mount Edgecombe Country Club Estate this week for the third leg. Covid and civil unrest has made for a tough time in KwaZulu-Natal of late, but the sense of joy at being able to play golf and network with fellow human beings from all walks of life was palpable during the 36-hole Pro-Am that ended on Wednesday.

For Vodacom KZN Managing Executive Chris Lazarus just arriving at the golf course made him extremely happy.

“When I drove in, just to see all the flags and banners was great and something we haven’t seen around here for such a long time. It gives you the sense that the world is returning to some sort of normality. We believe in investing in what people what and not necessarily what Vodacom wants. It’s been really good for people to be able to let their hair down a bit..

“The name ‘Origins’ is indicative of where things start and we want to be feeding into career-building. As a company, Vodacom want to be hosting events from the grassroots up. We want to help all our customers, to get that feeling of community going. So we are focused on development, helping the youngsters out there all the way up to our present pros,” Lazarus said.

While the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series has helped launch many stellar professional careers – the likes of Thomas Aiken, Hennie Otto, Jean Hugo, George Coetzee, Darren Fichardt and Jaco Ahlers are all past winners – there are many people associated with the golf industry who are facing enormous difficulty at the moment.

“We want to go from just sponsoring a game to being good for society, similar to Vodacom’s involvement in other sports like rugby and soccer. We are not just ticking the box of hosting an event for a few days, we are also uplifting caddies, women’s golf and underprivileged kids, and we want to make a contribution that changes lives and society.

“Traversing all walks of life is very important for Vodacom and so we worry about our caddies, gender inclusivity and our under-developed communities. Of course there is a legacy involved in a tournament that started in 2004 and many of the golfers have built careers for themselves with our help,” Lazarus said.

Vodacom will be donating money to the rebuilding programme in KZN and, along with Spar, held a trolley dash on Wednesday afternoon for the benefit of Anthony Michael’s caddie, who won the lucky draw.

Thomas Abt, the Commissioner of the Sunshine Tour, said the Vodacom partnership was a great example of a relationship that really works.

“The Vodacom Origins of Golf is the longest-running pro-am series on tour and the series has worked for so long because it is the right blend of networking and brand awareness that Vodacom are looking for. Vodacom are a very dynamic company and so is the Sunshine Tour. That’s why the synergy has worked so well for such a long period. Long may it continue,” Abt said.

Springbok scrumhalf Cobus Reinach says his move to playing in the French Top 14 has made him more alive to opportunities that present themselves on the field, which means his partnership with incisive flyhalf Handre Pollard against Georgia on Friday could be an exciting one.

Reinach left the Sharks in 2017 and played three seasons with Northampton before joining Montpellier last year. Pollard’s serious knee injury means they have not played together much as a halfback combination, but they have been training together.

“Playing overseas opens your eyes a bit, it takes you completely out of your comfort zone, which makes you grow as a player. The Top 14 is a bit different to the English Premiership, which is more structured, you’re playing to shapes and maps.

“But in the Top 14 you need to be more instinctive and therefore you are more alert, so you are able to deal with what happens in front of you. Cheslin Kolbe is such a good example of that with Toulouse. He can do anything, he’s able to create magic out of nothing,” Reinach said on Tuesday.

Since the now 31-year-old Reinach graduated from Grey College, he has been dealt an interesting deck of cards in his rugby career. After one year in Free State’s youth structures, he joined the Sharks Academy in 2009 and made his debut in the Vodacom Cup in 2011. He was in the Currie Cup squad before the end of that year, helping the Sharks win that trophy in 2013. From 2014 to 2017 he was pretty much the Sharks’ first-choice scrumhalf.

Injuries to Fourie du Preez and Ruan Pienaar saw Reinach make his Springbok debut in September 2014. He was involved in the build-up to the 2015 World Cup but then was a surprise omission from the final squad, the uncapped Rudy Paige being preferred.

From then until the 2019 World Cup, Reinach was in the international wilderness. But then he enjoyed the elation of not only winning the biggest cup of them all in Japan, but he also broke a World Cup record with a hat-trick in 11 minutes against Canada.

And now he is in line to play against the British and Irish Lions.

“It’s an unbelievable story that I can tell my kids for the rest of my life, but it’s not time now to think about that, there’s rugby to be played and I’m just trying to improve as a player. It’s great that so many of us from the World Cup squad are still together so it’s not hard to make sure we’re all on the same page. Now we just have to go out and show what we’ve learnt,” Reinach said.

“Our understanding is coming along nicely,” outside centre Marco Jansen van Vuren says of his midfield partnership with Cornal Hendricks, which has been one of the most unlikely success stories for the Bulls as they dominate local rugby.

It no doubt gives coach Jake White immense delight that he has moved a wing and a scrumhalf into midfield and made them a centre pairing that has proven to be one of the strengths of the Bulls on their way to winning the Currie Cup and now standing poised to reach the Rainbow Cup final.

The 24-year-old Jansen van Vuren had previously shuttled between the Lions, Valke and Bulls, battling to get decent game time as a scrumhalf. Coaches acknowledged that he was a talented footballer, but they just couldn’t find a regular slot for him. His Bulls appearances were initially on the wing, until White had the bright idea to shift him closer to the action when Springbok Sevens star Stedman Gans was injured.

Jansen van Vuren and Hendricks have certainly hit it off.

“Cornal has been really good at No.12 and as a centre pairing you have to understand each other. It was a challenge for me at first and then when Stedman was injured just before the Currie Cup semi-final I had to adapt as quickly as possible. The most important thing is understanding, knowing when and where to support each other. But it’s lekker to be next to Cornal, he’s a Springbok, one of the leaders.

“And he’s a good person – he even listens to me when I tell him he’s not doing the right thing! But it’s been quite a challenge for me to play in that channel, although now, playing a few games in a row for the first time, I feel like I’m finding my feet and getting that confidence there. I’m playing 80 minutes a game too so I’m settling in,” Jansen van Vuren said.

On Saturday in the decisive Rainbow Cup match against the Sharks in Durban, he will come up against Lukhanyo Am, one of the coolest cats wearing the No.13 jersey anywhere in the world.

“Lukhanyo is a great player, he won the World Cup, he’s one of the best in the world. It’s a lovely challenge, I’ve played against him a couple of times and he’s always up for it. But with the defensive system we have, we all trust each other and that makes it easier, especially when the wings and Cornal are doing very well.

“As a scrumhalf you are mostly just behind the defensive line and covering, you don’t spend much time in the frontline. But as an outside centre you have to make more decisions, is the ball going front door or back door? You need to make good decisions. But now I think it would be a big challenge for me to shift back to scrumhalf!” the 1.88m, 90kg Jansen van Vuren said.