Ken Borland

South Africa’s broth just failed to ever come to the boil in the third T20 against India as a mixture of poor fielding and slow batting at the start of their chase saw them let slip a chance to wrap up the series as they lost by 48 runs in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday evening.

Having again won the toss and sent India in to bat, the Proteas made a lacklustre start to their effort in the field as Ruturaj Gaikwad (57 off 35) and Ishan Kishan (54) raced the hosts to 120 for one in 12 overs.

Although the South African bowlers fought back well with the ball, three straightforward catches were dropped in the field and, one of those beneficiaries, Hardik Pandya, scored 31 not out off 21 balls to lift India to 179 for five.

Batting became progressively more difficult as the ball became softer, and it was clear the Proteas would need a quick start in pursuit of 180, a productive powerplay being crucial if they were to score the bulk of their runs in the first half of their innings, as India did.

But Temba Bavuma (8 off 10) and Reeza Hendricks (23 off 20) struggled to get going in the face of Bhuvneshwar Kumar (one for 21) hooping the ball around and South Africa were 40 for three after seven overs.

There were some squawks of defiance from Dwaine Pretorius (20 off 16), Heinrich Klaasen (29 off 24) and Wayne Parnell (22* off 18) but South Africa were never really in with a shout as spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (three for 20) and seamer Harshal Patel (four for 25 in 3.1 overs) revelled in slowing conditions that allowed India to feel much more at home.

The Proteas were all out in the final over for 131, producing none of their fireworks of the first two matches.

South Africa’s bowling comeback had been led by Pretorius (two for 29), Kagiso Rabada (one for 31) and Parnell, who conceded 32 runs in his four overs.

Rain washed out the second day’s play of last year’s Boxing Day Test against India at Centurion and, while the tourists enjoyed a lunchtime feast including broccoli soup, Chicken Chettinad and lamb chops, Proteas captain Dean Elgar was giving his team some of his famous tough love after a poor first day.

Having allowed India to rattle up 273-3 on the first day on a pitch that assisted the pacemen, Elgar told his team to “toughen up mentally, take responsibility and wear your big-boy pants”.

South Africa did fight back, but that first day had ultimately done too much damage. Their determination did, however, make them the most tenacious of opponents in the rest of the series and they pulled off a thoroughly unexpected series triumph.

It’s the sort of inspirational captaincy Elgar has now become famous for and he believes England’s newly-appointed skipper Ben Stokes will lead in similar vein when they host the Proteas in a Test series in August.

“I wouldn’t call it ‘stubborn’ captaincy but I’d say we are both f****** tough cricketers,” Elgar told The Citizen on Wednesday.

“It’s going to be a battle of feisty characters and Stokes is a world-class cricketer, and we know what he’s capable of because he’s done pretty well against us, albeit just as player.

“But as captain you need to get the best out of your players and it’s going to be interesting to see how he goes with the added responsibility.

“We play with our hearts on our sleeves because we always want to push for the win, but Test cricket comes down to who controls their emotions best. If you let them get the better of you, then the results generally don’t go your way,” Elgar said.

Elgar and Stokes are both left-handed batsmen, but their contrasting styles are very much the yin and yang of Test cricket.

Stokes is immensely strong and provides much attacking thrust to England’s middle-order, while Elgar, as an opening batsman, does not play with the same freedom but the time he spends at the crease can be equally draining for the opposition.

Both Stokes and Elgar have played 12 Tests since the start of 2021, with England’s new captain scoring just 633 runs at an average of 26.37.

Elgar, on the other hand, has been leading from the front since his appointment, with 881 runs at an average of 41.95.

“I don’t dwell too much on individual battles, my focus is on us as a team,” Elgar said. “And I haven’t had a lot of personal interaction with Ben, even though we have played against each other numerous times since an SA A series against the England Lions in 2015.”

Sharks coach Sean Everitt will be hoping the critics keep mum about two things after their thumping 51-3 win over the Dragons in their United Rugby Championship match in Durban at the weekend: their poor finishing and the form of flyhalf Curwin Bosch.

A much more clinical display by the Sharks saw them score four tries and be awarded two penalty tries, while Bosch gave an assured all-round performance and his fine kicking saw him succeed with four conversions and three penalties.

“Being able to convert in the gold zone was what we worked on all week and we spoke about not giving the Dragons any soft moments,” Everitt said. “And we tightened up and gave them nothing.

“We were able to put our whole game together. We’ve been managing the game well and winning the territory battles, but now we were clinical in the important areas too.

“Curwin has made 17 out of 19 tackles but the poor guy never gets compliments, he just gets ridiculed. Last week he missed one kick from in front and that was the talking point.

“But he has managed the game very well and his field-kicking was outstanding. It was one of his better games, after lots of criticism, and I’m very happy for him,” Everitt said.

Like a teenager anxious to make sure they have a prom date, the Sharks are grimly hanging on to eighth place in the URC standings and next week’s derby against the high-flying Lions is a crucial match, especially since both the Stormers and Bulls have finned past them on the log.

“It’s about building momentum and a win next week would be big for us, massive,” Everitt admitted. “Winning by the scoreline we did brings confidence and we have a really good platform for the next few games.“

Morne Steyn’s red card in the 11^th minute of the game was always going to cause some bitter tears for the Bulls, but their own poor finishing ability cost them in the end as a storming comeback saw them fall just short, losing 29-22 to the Sharks in their United Rugby Championship match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The veteran Springbok flyhalf was sent off permanently for a late, high swinging arm on Lukhanyo Am, which definitely made contact with the centre’s neck area. But the Sharks did not dominate the flow of the game thereafter as much as they would have liked.

Flank Henco Venter bustled over for the opening try from the resulting penalty, and the Sharks went 14-0 up as hooker Bongi Mbonambi bolted over from a maul. It was an unfortunate blow for the Bulls as the Sharks were given a lineout just outside their 22 when fullback David Kriel’s massive relieving kick just landed on the line inside the Sharks’ 22.

But the Bulls settled into life with only 14 men and dominated territory for the rest of the half. Players worth their salt would have converted a couple of chances that came their way, but reward finally came in the 39^th minute when Venter was yellow-carded and then Cornal Hendricks went over in the corner.

But Am scored a sensational try from the restart to make sure the Sharks went into the break 19-5 up. Two Bulls players thought the restart was going directly into touch, but Am snuck in, jumping to catch the ball and then darting down the touchline, regathering his own deft grubber to score a crucial try.

The Bulls scored first in the second half though, superb build-up play, keeping ball-in-hand, taking them into Sharks territory. The maul was again defended well by the visitors, but the Bulls kept bashing away and flank Marcell Coetzee forced his way over for the try.

The Sharks responded though in the 58^th minute as they finally made use of the extra man with replacement scrumhalf Grant Williams producing a wonderful long, flat pass out wide to Makazole Mapimpi, who was able to stroll over for the try (26-12).

But just four minutes later, it was Williams who was crying big briney tears as he was red-carded for going in high on Bulls replacement flyhalf Chris Smith, smashing head-first into his cheekbone. Smith had to be stretchered off and it left the Bulls without a regular goalkicker, Kriel being forced to take over.

The Sharks’ defensive resolve did not dissolve though when they were down to 14 men, but the Bulls still scored two more tries but also wasted another couple of opportunities.

Several short passes close to the line went down and there was a three-man overlap wasted by Coetzee when he threw an awful, massive forward pass which myopic referee AJ Jacobs somehow missed, but the TMO did not.

Replacement prop Simphiwe Matanzima dived over to score with five minutes remaining, but Kriel missed the crucial conversion.

Three minutes later, replacement scrumhalf Embrose Papier made a searing break and wing Madosh Tambwe produced a stunning finish through two defenders. Kriel could not make the touchline conversion, so the Bulls, 22-26 down, had to try and score again with just two minutes left.

They won the restart and ran from deep, but the ever-alert Am produced the crucial turnover, replacement flyhalf Curwin Bosch kicking the resulting penalty.

Scorers

Sharks – Tries: Henco Venter, Bongi Mbonambi, Lukhanyo Am, Makazole Mapimpi. Conversions: Tito Bonilla (2), Curwin Bosch. Penalty: Bosch.

Bulls – Tries: Cornal Hendricks, Marcell Coetzee, Simphiwe Matanzima, Madosh Tambwe. Conversion: Chris Smith.