PORT EDWARD (KwaZulu-Natal) – Jonathan Broomhead was able to daub his scorecard with red numbers for birdie as he charged up the leaderboard in the final round to secure himself a place in the playoff, which he subsequently won to claim the Vodacom Origins of Golf Wild Coast title at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club on Sunday.
Broomhead shot a tremendous seven-under-par 63 on Sunday, which included nine birdies, as he posted the clubhouse lead at 11-under-par. Two hours later, it was only Luke Brown, who fired a brilliant 66, who managed to match that score.
Brown and Broomhead then both parred the 348m, par-four 18th twice before Broomhead nailed a 20-foot putt for birdie on the third playoff hole, to secure his second Sunshine Tour title.
The Durban Country Club golfer began the final round seven strokes behind leader Pieter Moolman, and did not start well, making a bogey on the par-four first hole. But thereafter he played with tremendous freedom going out in 32 strokes. Another dropped shot, at the par-three 11th, sandwiched birdies at the start of the back nine, and Broomhead finished in fabulous fashion with birdies at the last three holes to get to top spot.
“I definitely didn’t think about winning at the beginning of the day, but conditions were all in our favour and I just tried to make as many birdies as I could. I teed off two hours before the leaders and there was no pressure on me. I played really well and just attacked everything,” Broomhead, whose previous victory came in the prestigious Tour Championship at the end of last season, said.
“I definitely thought the leaders would make a few birdies on the back nine because the wind was down, and I thought my score was okay, but not where it ended up. I wasn’t under pressure to make pars, I was always in play and just played very solidly, plus I made some good putts.
“Winning once is nice, but you can start doubting if you can do it again. I’ve played nicely since Tour Champs and had quite a few chances to win. So I thought another chance would come and today was my day. I just always felt in control and my swing was really good,” Broomhead said.
Brown played with unfailing determination and focus as he also reached 11-under-par, but he just failed to pip Broomhead because he could only par the last three holes, including the 18th, which he then parred three times in the playoff.
Keenan Davidse also piled on the pressure as he shot a marvellous 65 to finish on 10-under-par, just one stroke off the playoff.
Otto van Buynder (65), Simon du Plooy (65) and Ruan de Smidt (68) shared fourth place on nine-under-par.
Overnight leader Moolman slipped to a 74 on Sunday, finishing tied-12th on seven-under-par.
Lhuan-dre Pretorius powered his way to the fastest century ever for the Titans, leading them to a world record run-rate in a List A match.
The runs flowed like the deluge of the previous evening on a record-breaking day for the Northerns Titans at SuperSport Park on Sunday, as they kept themselves in contention for a place in the playoffs of the CSA One-Day Cup by hammering the Eastern Province Warriors by 111 runs on the DLS system.
The heavy rains that fell over the Pretoria region on Saturday night meant the start of play was delayed by an hour due to the wet outfield, the contest being reduced to 43 overs a side.
With the sky thick with cloud and the threat of rain still around, the Warriors could be forgiven for winning the toss and feeling they should bowl first. But the Titans were not in a forgiving mood and they lashed 440 for five in those 43 overs, the second-highest total in the history of the competition. The franchise has scored the four highest totals in the tournament, the record being the 453 for five they smashed against the North-West Dragons in 2021/22, also at SuperSport Park.
But those other three 400+ scores were all made in 50 overs; 440 in 43 overs is a run-rate of 10.23 runs-per-over and that is undoubtedly the highest ever in any sort of limited-overs game in this country that has gone beyond 30 overs. It is quite probably a world record for any match that has gone for more than 35 overs.
Top-scorer Rivaldo Moonsamy has not enjoyed the best of campaigns up till now, scoring just 54 runs in the four innings he has batted, but he returned to form in the most brilliant fashion, belting 126 off just 83 balls, with 15 fours and six sixes.
But, astonishingly, he was not the star of the show. That honour fell to his opening partner Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who raced to his century in just 61 balls, the fastest ever for the Titans. The previous record was the 64-ball ton Farhaan Behardien made against the KZN Dolphins at Centurion in 2014/15.
Behardien was a late developer who played 97 times for South Africa in the limited-overs formats. Pretorius, just 18 years old, is a prodigy who has dazzled in both the SA20 and now the CSA One-Day Cup. The Proteas must surely come calling soon with an eye on the 2027 World Cup.
Pretorius finished with 107 off 69 deliveries, with 11 fours and seven sixes, five of them in the 17th over bowled by Senuran Muthusamy, the international left-arm spinner. The left-hander is by no means just a basher, however. The power is definitely next level, but so are the smarts. He is a clever batsman, always looking to score, and the majority of his sixes were hit with a straight bat and the minimum of fuss or risk.
The opening partnership of 227 off 147 balls by Pretorius and Moonsamy was the best ever at SuperSport Park, beating the unbeaten 218 that AB de Villiers and Gulam Bodi scored in a 10-wicket victory over the Dolphins in 2005/6.
Sunday’s partnership was ended in the 24th over, but the pain certainly did not end there for the Warriors, who did not get the assistance they expected with the ball, but were also poor in terms of their lines and lengths.
Dewald Brevis was also the centre of attention when he was still an U19 cricketer and, after a couple of leaner seasons, he is starting to look closer to the finished article. Incredibly, he struck the ball even cleaner than Pretorius and Moonsamy, and seemed on course to snatch Pretorius’s record for fastest Titans hundred from him just over an hour after he had set it as he raced to 75 off 43 balls.
Brevis stroked six sixes, a few of them quite extraordinary in execution, but then he was trapped in front by medium-pacer Andile Mogakane.
Captain Neil Brand (55* off 34 deliveries) and Sibonelo Makhanya, who came through a tough time with the bat this season with 46 not out off 22 balls, then completed a red-letter day with the bat for the Titans as they plundered 76 unbeaten runs off the last 39 deliveries.
There was much pain and suffering amongst the Warriors bowlers. Alfred Mothoa conceded 89 runs in eight overs, and Siya Plaatjie the same but in just six overs! Muthusamy rebounded well from conceding 30 runs to Pretorius in his second over, conceding only 50 in his other eight overs and getting the wickets of Moonsamy and Dayyaan Galiem (4).
The shellshocked Warriors were predictably always well behind in the chase, although JP King (31) and Matthew Breetzke (94 off 72) made a good fist of things in their second-wicket stand of 65 off 56 balls.
Breetzke impressed again with his poise and controlled aggression, backed by sweet timing as he collected 11 fours and two sixes.
When play was interrupted by the threat of lightning, the Warriors were 204 for five after 28 overs and more than 100 runs behind on DLS. When they returned 45 minutes later, they needed 159 runs in four overs.
Muthusamy (29 off 20) and C.J. King (30* off 12 balls with four sixes) had some fun, but Eastern Province ended on 251 for seven in 32 overs.
Left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe took two wickets and conceded just 38 runs his seven overs, and Junior Dala set the tone up front with figures of 4-2-10-0.
The Titans are now on 11 points, just one point behind the Warriors in the third and final playoff place; and Eastern Province may well be joining them on 11 as they are expected to be docked a point for very slow over-rates in this match.
Northerns complete their round-robin campaign with visits to Potchefstroom to play the sixth-placed North-West Dragons on Wednesday and Bloemfontein next Sunday to face the second-placed Free State Knights.
Kagiso Rabada & Marco Jansen embrace after their pugnacious partnership took South Africa to victory.
THE CHAOS
It all worked out fine in the end, but for 15 crazy minutes before lunch as South Africa lost four wickets for three runs, it seemed like the Proteas were headed for one of their most infamous narrow defeats just when a place in the World Test Championship final was in their grasp.
Having seemingly been in control of the first Test against Pakistan for most of the previous three days, South Africa had a moderate target of 148 to win. They had crashed to 19 for three on the third evening, but a wonderful partnership between Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma in the first hour of Sunday’s play had them well on course for victory.
Even when Markram was dismissed by a shooter from Mohammad Abbas for a determined 37, captain Bavuma was in such control that the situation, with 86 runs to get, seemed fine.
Bavuma and David Bedingham (14) added another 34 for the fifth wicket and South Africa approached lunch on 96 for four. But then the skipper needed treatment on his troublesome elbow, the pain perhaps encouraging him to try finish off the match quickly.
He tried going down the pitch to the nagging seam bowling of the admirable Abbas a couple of times, and then on his third foray, he tried to hit the tireless paceman back over his head but seemingly inside-edged the ball to wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan.
Umpire Alex Wharf gave him out almost as briskly as Bavuma walked, but then the television replays, and specifically ultra-edge, showed that there was no bat involved, but in fact the ball had hit Bavuma’s back pocket. It’s the second time in Boxing Day Tests at SuperSport Park that Bavuma has walked when he should have reviewed, having missed out on a potential century against Sri Lanka at Centurion in 2020.
Bavuma’s 40 was a great knock though, however unfortunately it ended. Not only did he lead from the front in testing circumstances for his team, but he showed just how technically strong he is, and his judgement was superb. Abbas took six for 54 in 19.3 overs and inflicted as probing an examination of technique as one can find.
All hell broke loose after Bavuma’s dismissal.
Kyle Verreynne’s own technical frailties saw him chop on off Naseem Shah in the next over, and Abbas then had Bedingham and Corbin Bosch caught behind off successive deliveries in his next over, both batsmen out to mediocre strokes well outside the off-stump.
The situation had gone from Game On to Pakistan being rampant and strong favourites to win with the Proteas reeling on 99 for eight, still 49 runs away from victory.
THE HEROES
After stumps on the third day and before play started on the fourth morning, Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada had both spoken about how disciplined but positive batting would see South Africa home. They were both confident the Proteas would reach their target.
In the thrilling finale’, it was Rabada and Jansen who had to secure victory. They first of all steadied the ship, taking South Africa to 116 for eight at lunch. They then knocked off the remaining 32 runs required with an ease which made one wonder what all the fuss was about.
Rabada has always had some fine strokes in his arsenal, but normally doesn’t stick around long enough to have a massive influence on the game with the bat. But inspired by coach Shukri Conrad’s lunchtime chat about fully backing whatever decision they made in terms of how to play, Rabada played an innings that will be remembered for many, many years. The left-hander stroked 31 not out off just 26 balls, attacking as if the deteriorating pitch was a flat road, and collecting five fours.
In the penultimate over, he launched Aamer Jamal back over his head for four and then eased him through the covers with all the grace and skill of Brian Lara. That left four runs to win, and Jansen sliced Abbas away through backward point to seal the nailbiting victory.
Jansen finished on 16 not out, his calm, more measured approach dovetailing brilliantly with Rabada. It was also his highest score in his seven Test innings this year, but a return to batting form was always on the cards for an all-rounder whose mental strength is one of his greatest assets.
WHAT THEY SAID
Captain Temba Bavuma said he could not summon all the words to accurately describe his emotions. He was visibly emotional in the post-match interviews for television, and was still moved when he addressed the general media.
“It’s a bit surreal and I’m not sure I’m able to put all my emotions into words. You should see the changeroom now, with all the families in there, it shows why we do what we do. We do it for the coaches and our families.
“To see KG bat like that … he was probably not at his best with the ball, but he saw an opportunity to do something with the bat for the team. I just feel joy for him because we know his talent with the bat. You never know which KG is going to come out and bat: The more correct one or the one that batted today. But we give him freedom and I couldn’t care how he got the runs.
“I just heard now that I didn’t hit the ball I got out to. I was absorbed in the moment and thinking about the shot I played. But it’s not the first time so people shouldn’t be surprised. I’ve been battling with my elbow and maybe the painkillers wore off? But I won’t use that as an excuse.
“I was still in the toilet sulking when KG joined Marco and I only came out when there were 15 runs to get. KG sat next to me at the lunch break, but I didn’t know what to say to him. But the confidence and belief was there in the team. I then heard Kyle Verreynne’s positive shouting and decided to show my head … I was taken aback by the emotion I felt at the end.”
Coach Shukri Conrad said he was blown away by the character of his team.
“Myself, Marco and KG share a vice [smoking] and when we were in our little corner in the back during the lunch break, I just told them that whatever decision they take about how they are going to go about their business, if we get close then I don’t want them to start fiddling about. They must keep doing what they set out to do, go balls to the wall.
“There were so many emotions. When we arrived this morning I thought we needed a big partnership between our two senior batsmen [Markram & Bavuma]. At morning drinks I thought we were doing okay, but then Aiden got out and we lost all those wickets on 99.
“So I thought we were pretty much gone, but then Marco and KG were able to build a partnership. At lunch we needed 32 runs and I thought ‘okay, that’s just eight fours’. The mind plays all these tricks on you in those situations.
“But they showed unbelievable composure, Marco brought the intensity and KG gave us visions of Brian Charles [Lara]. You can’t script that finish. Today was massive because I want a side that does not know when they are beaten.
“The biggest thing is they are a unit, they play for each other and leave their egos at the door. They will try find a way whatever the obstacle, rather than delve too deep into what they did wrong. And there’s a little bit of luck involved too.”
Kagiso Rabada has always been a top-class striker of the ball, but he readily admitted this was his finest hour with the bat in Test cricket.
“It’s without a doubt my best Test innings and one I will remember for the rest of my life. It’s all just a blur. All I was looking at was how many runs were needed, who was bowling and what were they trying to do?
“I said to Marco that I was going to look to be positive and he just said ‘wicked’ straight away. He had his own game-plan, playing one ball at a time on its merits. I was bit more unorthodox. But I wanted to keep to my processes and stay positive. There are always two voices in your head, one saying you can’t do it and the other one overpowering that.
“What happened today is something we want to keep in our DNA, we scrapped our way through, we just found a way to win. A lot of times I feel, when looking at the Proteas’ history in these vital matches, that we have tried to be perfect. But you don’t have to be, it’s all about finding a way to win.”
A frustrating draw against the GBets Rocks last weekend will ensure that the DP World Lions men’s team will bring a ferocious intensity into their local derby against the Momentum Multiply Titans at Centurion from Wednesday as they chase a place in the CSA 4-Day Series final.
Our Lions were in rampant form against the Rocks at the DP World Wanderers Stadium, a fine all-round bowling effort seeing the Bolanders bowled out for just 226 on the first day. The Pride then gathered a formidable 252-run first-innings lead as captain Dominic Hendricks led from the front with an innings of great determination and quality bringing him 135 runs. Wiaan Mulder then blazed 141 off 128 balls and there were also classy half-centuries from Ryan Rickelton and Temba Bavuma.
The Lions then reduced the Rocks to 36 for three in their second innings, raising hopes of a victory that would have taken them to the top of the log. But tremendous rearguard centuries by Pieter Malan and Jean du Plessis, and an 84 not out on debut by Nathan Engelbrecht, denied the Lions as the pitch seemed to just get better and better for batting.
Nevertheless, our Pride are still very much in contention for a place in the final, third in the standings on 95.50 points. They are just 8.02 points behind the log-leading Dolphins, so if they beat the Titans (102pts) this week then they are bound to finish in the top two.
“It’s just one of those things,” Hendricks said. “The pitch didn’t really deteriorate, there was just a little bit of variable bounce. So it was a phenomenal effort to take 19 wickets on a batting-friendly surface. It showed good skills and a desire not to turn down a challenge, so I was very chuffed for the bowlers and their monumental effort.
“It’s knockout cricket against the Titans, like a semi-final with the winners having the opportunity to play in the final. It’s the Jukskei derby and we will be up for it, matches against them are always a challenge, a good test of skills and the big thing is to be highly competitive for as long as possible.
“But it’s not rocket science, we will need to play good, old-fashioned cricket against them, good simple cricket. We will try to force mistakes and then capitalise on them. Even if we win on the fourth day, we will be happy, and we won’t worry about what the other teams are doing,” Hendricks said.
The left-handed opener admitted to some personal frustration this season before notching his first century of the campaign against the Rocks, more than doubling his tally of runs.
“It’s been a while since I scored a first-class century, I’ve had quite a few opportunities over the last couple of seasons which I didn’t convert, so it’s been very frustrating.
“So there was certainly some inward determination and grit to make sure that ‘today was the day’. There was not a helluva lot of assistance for the bowlers, unlike some of the tricky wickets at the beginning of the season, so I just wanted to knuckle down, get stuck in and bat for as long as I can,” Hendricks said.
Pace bowler Lutho Sipamla seems to have proven his fitness by bowling several spells during breaks in play against the Rocks. The condition of the Centurion pitch will determine whether he is brought back into the XI, however.
“The SuperSport Park pitch has generally done a bit more than the Wanderers this season, and it’s quicker with more bounce. So it will be a nice challenge,” Hendricks said.
Proverbs 3:27 – “Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act.”
Christian compassion is a reflection of the love of Jesus Christ. He responded wherever he saw a need. He did not put people off or tell them to come back later. He did not take long to consider their requests or first discuss them with his disciples.
Why hesitate when there is a need? Your fear of becoming too involved in other people’s affairs could just be selfishness. You shouldn’t be afraid of involvement; have faith that God will provide!
Matthew 20:28 – “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
