Ken Borland

Our DP World Lions produced inspired cricket in the second half of their CSA 4-Day Series opener as they swept away the Momentum Multiply Titans by 153 runs at the DP World Wanderers Stadium.

In an enthralling match in which the momentum swung to and fro, #ThePrideOfJozi were in serious trouble on the third day when they slumped to four for four in the second innings, leading by just 18 runs.

Zubayr Hamza was the only batsman to survive the blitz in the top-order, and he backed up his 84 in the first innings with a determined 68 that at least restored the DP World Lions innings to an even keel.

It took a superb delivery from former DP World Lions spinner Tsepo Ndwandwa that turned past his defensive shot and hit the top of off-stump, to dismiss him.

Connor Esterhuizen hung around for 45 minutes as he added 37 with Hamza, but when Delano Potgieter was forced to retire hurt after being struck on the back of the head by a bouncer, the DP World Lions were 56 for five.

But then in came Bjorn Fortuin, always so good in a crisis. The 30-year-old all-rounder showed great fight as he played clever cricket to rapidly push back the Titans surge.

His tenacious innings included 16 fours and two sixes and he was vicious on anything short as well as being willing and able to hit down the ground or through and over the covers.

Fortuin finished with 116 off just 95 balls, a sensational innings that turned the match around in favour of our Pride.

There was also stout resistance from fast bowlers Codi Yusuf (24) and Tshepo Moreki (22*), while Potgieter returned to the fray and scored 40.

The DP World Lions were able to declare on the fourth morning, on 295 for nine, setting the Titans a target of 310 for victory.

Potgieter and Yusuf then opened the door for victory as they removed both Titans openers for ducks.

Yusuf then had the dangerous Dewald Brevis caught behind for just six, and #ThePrideOfJozi bowlers were sweeping through the Titans like a wildfire.

Fortuin then entered the attack and turned up the heat so the visitors were like meat on a hot braai. The left-arm spinner removed set batsmen Jhedli van Briesies (37) and Keegan Petersen (27), the Proteas Test player being caught behind off a beautiful delivery.

Yusuf returned to claim two more wickets and finished with excellent figures of four for 36 in 13 overs as the Titans were bowled out for just 156.

Fortuin claimed the last wicket to fall as he took three for 50 in 15.5 overs.

The DP World Lions were in charge of affairs midway through the second day as they reduced the Titans to 132 for six in reply to the Pride’s first innings of 316.

Bowling in the right area saw Lutho Sipamla and Moreki undo a solid start by the visitors as they took two wickets apiece.

But the final session of the second day belonged to Andile Phehlukwayo and Corbin Bosch as they both scored unbeaten half-centuries to take the Titans to 239 for six at stumps.

They extended that score to 302 on the third morning, with Phehlukwayo scoring 88 and Bosch 59.

Sipamla took two more wickets to finish with four for 83 in 21 overs, while Moreki took three for 36 in 17 probing overs.

The DP World Lions had won the toss and decided to bat first on the overcast first day, with captain Dominic Hendricks (67) and Hamza (84) defying the elements and the Titans bowlers as they added 118 for the second wicket.

But from 155 for one, the DP World Lions slipped to 194 for five, before Esterhuizen (45) and Yusuf (44) were able to negate the bowlers and lift the home team to a decent 316 all out.

Our DP World Lions Ladies attack consists of four spin bowlers who have all produced outstanding displays for the team, and on Sunday it was Sarah Nettleton’s chance to shine as she produced the best ever figures for the Central Gauteng side in T20 cricket.

Nettleton claimed incredible figures of five for 11 in her four overs as #ThePrideOfJozi skittled the Momentum Multiply Titans for just 101 at SuperSport Park, on their way to a bonus point win by nine wickets with 71 balls to spare in their HollywoodBets Pro20 Series derby.

New DP World Lions recruit Tazmin Brits tore into the Titans bowling to plunder a dazzling 55 not out off just 22 balls, with five fours and four sixes, as she raced the Pride to victory in the ninth over.

But it was the 21-year-old Nettleton who stole the spotlight, as she broke the record for best T20 figures for the Lions, improving on the five for 12 Yumna Plowker took against Free State in 2012/13.

Off-spinner Nettleton’s changes of pace and subtle variations in length, combined with her accuracy, proved way too much for the Titans batters, as the home side crashed from 30 without loss to 79 for seven, with fellow spinners Kgomotso Rapoo (4-0-22-1) and Raisibe Ntozakhe (2-0-13-1) each contributing a wicket as well.

The new-ball bowlers, Refilwe Moncho (3.3-0-15-2) and Relebohile Mkhize (4-0-18-1) then returned to wrap up the innings.

Nonkhululeko Thabethe (22 off 18) and Kirstie Thomson (22* off 10) then helped Brits put the Titans bowlers to the sword.

The DP World Lions’ other spinner, Jenna Evans, took a couple of wickets the previous day in the HollywoodBets Pro50 Series match, helping to bowl out the Titans for 231 in the 48^th over after the hosts had elected to bat first.

The leg-spin of Rapoo was even more effective, as the captain took three for 40 in 10 excellent overs, and a fifth spinner, Madison Landsman, took two for 33 in seven overs. Mkhize took two for 35 in 8.5 overs of tidy left-arm seam.

Our DP World Lions made a great start to their run-chase, openers Thabethe (35) and Brits, who scored a run-a-ball 40, putting on 83 in the first 17 overs.

The wicket of Brits, caught at long-off off the bowling of her Proteas team-mate Sune Luus, was obviously a key blow, the DP World Lions then slipping to 88 for three, but the experienced duo of Thomson (15) and Sunette Viljoen-Louw added 43 for the fourth wicket to put the Pride back on track.

But Thomson was then stumped charging a spinner, Rapoo was run out and the Lions lost three wickets for 10 runs as Evans was bowled by a delivery that ripped back into her and kept low.

The DP World Lions obviously still had hope while Viljoen-Louw was still there and she stuck it out until the 43^rd over, scoring a determined 46. But the veteran batter fell to a miraculous one-handed catch leaping on the cow-corner boundary, and the DP World Lions then slid to 175 all out and defeat by 56 runs as they suffered their first loss of the 50-over competition.

Pakistan produced a perfect nine-over blitz with the new ball late on Saturday afternoon to bowl themselves back into the contest at the end of the third day of the first Test against South Africa at SuperSport Park in Centurion.

Having seemingly dominated the contest on the first two days, the Proteas dismissed Pakistan for 237 in their second innings, which with their 90-run first-innings lead meant they needed just 148 for victory and a guaranteed place in the World Test Championship final.

But in a torrid 50 minutes before bad light came to their rescue, South Africa crashed to 27 for three, Pakistan roaring back into the contest thanks to opening bowlers Mohammad Abbas and Khurram Shehzad.

Aiden Markram, so impressive in the first innings when he scored 89, is still there on 22 not out and looking good. His captain, Temba Bavuma, faced just one delivery before stumps. Their’s will be a vital partnership on the fourth morning.

Tony de Zorzi (2), Ryan Rickelton (0) and Tristan Stubbs (1) were all trapped lbw as the Proteas slumped to 19 for three. The modes of dismissal perfectly illustrated how well Abbas and Khurram bowled: they pitched the ball up and targeted the stumps, while showing their skills by getting considerable movement off the seam.

Left-handers De Zorzi and Rickelton were both targeted from around the wicket. De Zorzi tried desperately to get outside off-stump against Abbas, but the 34-year-old master manipulator of the ball jagged a delivery so far back into the batsman, and the delivery kept a touch low, that the opener was doomed.

Rickelton tried an open stance against Khurram’s mode of attack and, stepping into the ball, tried to punch it straight down the ground. But again the movement off the deck was so much as Khurram seamed the ball past his inside edge and struck him on the pads. Umpire Nitin Menon is not known for giving easy lbws, but this was so plumb it was surprising he turned down the appeal. The jubilant Pakistanis reviewed and were rewarded.

Then, just seven deliveries before play was stopped, Stubbs was trapped lbw by Abbas, who angled the ball into the right-hander and then straightened it past the outside edge and struck him on the back pad.

Marco Jansen had earlier shone with the ball as his six for 52 in 14 overs bowled Pakistan out in 59.4 overs. But he still cut a dissatisfied figure after the effort and he admitted that, despite his third five-wicket haul and his second in three Tests, it had been a struggle.

“I’ve struggled the whole game, to be honest. I haven’t been as consistent as I should have been in terms of line and length. But the wickets are what’s important at the end of the day. You just have to try stay in the battle, not give up and not have any negative body language.

“Not everything is going to click every day, and then it’s all about how you can influence the game positively for your team. It’s tricky when that happens because you train every day to hit that off-stump line, but it’s not about how you feel, it’s about how you impact the game positively. You have to find a way to perform.

“In the first hour today, the pitch felt a lot flatter and the ball didn’t move much. Now it nipped quite a bit when we were batting, plus one or two shot up or kept low. We bowled a touch too full or too short, but 148 really should not be too much on this pitch.”

Pakistan’s success late in the day showed up how poorly South Africa had bowled in extended patches earlier in the day, and especially with the new ball when Pakistan began their second innings after tea on the second day.

Resuming on 88 for three on Saturday morning, thanks to Jansen making two strikes in an excellent spell late on Friday, Pakistan cruised into the lead by lashing 64 runs in the first 14 overs of the third day, when play began at 1.40pm due to morning rain.

Babar Azam went to fifty for the first time in 20 innings dating back to December 2022, and with Saud Shakeel also looking set for a big innings, they had South Africa firmly on the back foot. But an ill-judged, loose cut shot by Babar (50), hitting a short and wide delivery from Jansen straight to deep point, was a vital moment in the Test.

It ended a 79-run partnership for the fourth wicket and shifted the momentum.

From 153 for three after the first hour of play, Pakistan had slumped to 212 for eight by the end of the first session.

That they made it to 237 and a lead that has at least kept them in the game, was thanks to Saud. Batting with excellent judgement, ensuring that his positive intent never strayed into the recklessness that typified the dismissals of Babar, Mohammad Rizwan (3), Salman Agha (1), Aamer Jamal (18) and Naseem Shah (0), the 29-year-old scored 84 off 113 balls.

With his two wickets, Kagiso Rabada joined Dale Steyn as the leading wicket-taker in Tests at SuperSport Park with 59 scalps each. Rabada has taken his in just nine Tests, at an average of 17.96. Steyn needed 10 Tests for his 59 victims, with an average of 17.94.

It is just one of numerous statistics that show that Rabada should be treated with as least as much reverence as Dale Steyn, even though he was not at his best in the second innings.

With 121 more runs needed and seven wickets in hand, the Proteas will be mindful of withstanding a huge effort with a still-new ball from Pakistan on the fourth morning. With a deep batting line-up – Corbin Bosch scored 81 not out from number nine in the first innings – they will still be favourites to win if Markram and Bavuma can bat through the first hour.

Johannes Veerman produced inspired golf on the final day of the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City on Sunday, but even then his eventual victory had a touch of the miraculous about it, with the 32-year-old himself expressing his amazement.

Veerman shot a 69, one of just four sub-70 rounds on the final day, to finish on five-under-par 283. He was in the tie for seventh, five shots off the lead, at the end of the third round. But no-one else on that score or above him on the leaderboard was able to shoot less than 71 and Veerman came from nowhere to claim the prestigious title.

“What just happened?!” Veerman said in his press conference after lifting the famous crystal trophy on the 18^th green, presented by tournament patron Gary Player. “My mindset after posting five-under was that at best I would have to go out again for a playoff, but I was thunderstruck when I heard I didn’t have to.

“I really look up to players like Max Homa and Mackenzie Hughes, and Gary Player of course, to be in the same field as them is a dream come true because I respect them so much. But to actually win, you have to pinch me, how did I do that? It’s crazy!,” Veerman said.

For the player born in Orange County, California, the win is his first outside of Europe, having won the Czech Masters in 2021. Veerman has always prioritised playing on the DP World Tour, and his journey towards fulfilling all his golfing dreams has been a fascinating one.

The son of a Dutch father who worked for a multinational oil and gas company, Veerman lived his early life in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, China, England and the United States. His mother is Indonesian.

He went to university at Tulsa and at Texas A&M, but he is one of the few American golfers who clearly have a global view of the game. Homa, who was the defending champion, is another.

But it was while the family were living in Berkshire, England that Veerman’s life changed. He was nine years old when father Jan took him to watch the PGA Championship at Wentworth. Johannes was enchanted and immediately decided to take up golf.

His talent for the game was obvious and he returned to the U.S. to play college golf. Except being a professional golfer was still not his first love. Following a mishap when a firework accident nearly blew off his thumb, Veerman was so impressed by the work of the surgeons who repaired the damage that he decided he wanted to be a doctor.

That only changed when his fellow pre-med students at Texas A&M said playing golf would surely be a better option.

And that ‘career change’ certainly seems to have paid off as Veerman now has his second professional victory, and a famous title that carried a winner’s cheque of more than a million dollars.

“To win Africa’s Major – I can now put that on my Instagram and call it the fifth Major! – means a lot because my family has sacrificed so much for me. My wife sold her business and now we travel with a one and a two-year-old, so it’s a lot of work being on the road all year. So this is really satisfying.

“I’ve played the majority of my golf in Europe and Asia but my first priority has been the European Tour. So I remember Ernie Els and Retief Goosen winning here, I was a very big fan of them and always wondered what it would be like playing on this iconic course.

“I was kinda lurking all week, so to walk away with the trophy feels amazing. I could not believe how big the grandstands were on 18 when I played a practice round and the crowds have been amazing. I think it helps that I have a name like ‘Johannes Veerman’, so it feels a bit like home advantage!

“This week has also been great fun with all the functions and meeting really fun people. We had a fireworks show, dinner in the bush and just so much fun because the support of the crowds is amazing and just the whole environment is great.

“Sun City compares with anywhere in the world and the Gary Player Country Club is absolutely a premier golf course. All the greens look like clovers so there are little nooks. Nowhere else in the world do you get that plus the wind and heat we’ve had every day. They call this place the ‘Caddy Graveyard’ because the wind just switches all the time.

“The closing stretch especially is so difficult, and I knew that if I could par my way in then I might have a chance. It’s an incredible test of golf and you have to stay so patient. It tests every club in your game, but not just your equipment, also your attitude and your grit.

Although the married father of two clearly wants to experience the wonderful whole wide world of golf, he admits that eventually a return home to play on the U.S. PGA Tour is clearly a goal.

“I could play on the DP World Tour forever and I love playing in Europe, and of course now in South Africa. I’m obviously coming back to Sun Coty, forever at this point, and winning this tournament is the biggest bang at the start of the season that I could have hoped for.

“But I would also love to play on the PGA Tour and this is such a big step in that direction. All my family are over in the U.S. and with decisions about daycare and schools coming up in a few years, obviously I would be nearer to my kids if I play in America,” Veerman said.

Having won the toughest Nedbank Golf Challenge since 1990 when David Frost claimed his second title with a four-under-par tally of 284, the outlook is good for Veerman, who has now gone to the top of the Race to Dubai rankings, to finish in the top-10 of the order of merit and gain a PGA Tour card.