Ken Borland

Turnovers spread through the Sharks’ performance like the bubonic plague last weekend, and if there was one area where the Lions excelled in their opening Rainbow Cup fixture, it was the breakdowns. So not turning over possession is going to be the key focus of the KwaZulu-Natal side as they host the Gautengers at Kings Park on Saturday.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt produced the astounding figure of 29 turnovers that his team conceded against the Stormers in Cape Town, and given that they enjoy playing a fluent game based on momentum, that extent of profligacy is clearly untenable for them.

And the Lions made life very difficult for the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld, throwing everything at the rucks and cleaning up in that department.

“The biggest factor is going to be the number of turnovers conceded so we’ve looked to tighten up there. We’ve worked hard at our breakdown, because what we did last weekend is not going to be good enough against the Lions, who have two guys going very hard on the ball. The Lions contended at Loftus until the 70^th minute and they are tough to play against.

“They come hard at the breakdown so it’s difficult to get continuity. Keeping possession is going to be really important so we don’t allow them any free shots at us. We have to look after the ball at the breakdown because we don’t want a stop-start game. It’s going to be hard because MJ Pelser was massive there against the Bulls and we know the Lions score the majority of their tries from turnovers,” Everitt said this week.

While the Lions loose trio of Pelser, Vincent Tshituka and Franck Horne combined well to obstruct much of what the Bulls were trying to do, the Sharks arguably play with more flair and, if they sort out their breakdown work, they cold be harder to stop. They scored a couple of fantastic tries against the Stormers, with hat-trick scoring lock Reniel Hugo showing the sort of mobility and handling skills that Everitt is looking for from the forwards.

“We want to speed the game up, so Reniel scoring one of his tries from a quick tap was good game-awareness. But the Lions also have young backs full of energy and Wandisile Simelane is a great player who was a thorn in our side in the preparation series match. So we need to be on top of our game and keep our foot on the pedal,” Everitt said.

Investigators studying the Gulam Bodi cricket matchfixing case are in possession of a recording allegedly detailing a meeting between former Highveld Lions captain Thami Tsolekile and Indian gamblers, three informed sources have confirmed to Saturday Citizen.

The recording, in which Tsolekile allegedly discusses other players who are in on the scam, was apparently sent to one of the players who was approached by Bodi, possibly as a warning for them to keep quiet.

It was, instead, handed in to the anti-corruption and security unit at Cricket SA (CSA).

Bodi’s lawyers are also believed to have a copy of the recording and are looking at using it as leverage to prevent their client from being criminally prosecuted or to even get his sentence reduced. Bodi was banned from the game for 20 years in January.

Investigators are reportedly also homing in on a meeting Tsolekile had with the alleged bookies at a Rivonia strip club, with telephone records apparently showing he was there until 4am one morning in September.

The recording was apparently made of a subsequent meeting.

The match-fixing investigation has seen Tsolekile, who captained the Highveld Lions in the RamSlam T20 Challenge at the end of 2015 – but has not played for them since – go underground.

Saturday Citizen was unable to contact him for comment, but he has previously denied any involvement in corruption.

The former test wicketkeeper/batsman has not been seen at the Wanderers all year and team-mate Lonwabo Tsotsobe, who has previously admitted to being under investigation but denied having taken money to underperform, has also not been seen there since the end of the T20 competition, in which the Lions won just four of their 10 matches to finish second-last.

The 35-year-old Tsolekile has played three Tests for South Africa, the last one against England in 2004.

CSA said they were unable to comment on the matter as there was an ongoing investigation. Bodi was banned from the sport for 20 years, five of which are suspended, after earlier this year admitting to charges of contriving or attempting to fix matches in South Africa’s 2015 Ram SLAM T20 tournament.

He was charged with several counts of contriving or attempting to fix matches on December 31 2015 following an investigation conducted by CSA’s anti-corruption and security unit.

Bodi played two one-day internationals and one Twenty20 match for the national side in 2007.

http://www.citizen.co.za/1104555/thami-caught-out/