Ken Borland

Rilee Rossouw showed his boundary-hitting prowess in a superb unbeaten century and the bowlers then took regular wickets as South Africa bounced back from successive defeats by beating India by 49 runs in the third T20 in Indore on Tuesday.

Rossouw also fought back, from successive ducks, as he battered 100 not out off just 48 balls, with seven fours and eight sixes, as he and Quinton de Kock (68 off 43) added 90 for the second wicket in eight overs. De Kock was back at his fearsome best as he struck six fours and four sixes, and both left-handers targeted the leg-side and played an array of remarkable strokes.

They set a wonderful foundation, and although Tristan Stubbs (23 off 18) did not really get going, he added another 87 in seven overs with Rossouw. And then David Miller came in and blasted 19 not out off just five balls in the final over to boost South Africa to 227/3.

It was another struggle, however, for Temba Bavuma, who scored just 3 off eight balls before skewing his first really attacking stroke to a wide midwicket, and the clamour for Reeza Hendricks to replace him at the top of the order will only get louder as the Proteas T20 side’s next assignment is the World Cup in Australia.

On a tiny field with a good batting pitch, with even mishits flying for six, 228 was by no means out of reach of the explosive Indian batting line-up.

But South Africa made a great start with the ball as Kagiso Rabada bowled captain Rohit Sharma off the inside edge for a second-ball duck.

Left-arm paceman Wayne Parnell then trapped Shreyas Iyer (1) lbw in the second over with a wonderful delivery that straightened back into the right-hander.

Rishabh Pant (27 off 12) and Dinesh Karthik (46 off 21) began to go through the gears though and Pant greeted Lungi Ngidi’s introduction into the attack with two sixes and two fours. Ngidi had been over-pitching, so he switched to around the wicket to the left-hander, bowled shorter and was cut for six, but the next ball saw Pant for some reason hold back on his cut shot, allowing Stubbs to anticipate brilliantly at point, running and diving to take a crucial catch.

Karthik hit Keshav Maharaj (4-0-34-2) for successive sixes, but the class bowler that he is, the left-arm spinner bounced back by bowling him.

Stubbs took another great catch, sprinting in from deep point and diving forward, to catch the in-form Suryakumar Yadav for just eight off Dwaine Pretorius, who finished with 3/26 in 3.3 overs as India were bowled out for 178 in the 19^th over.

Rabada was outstanding with 1/24 in his four overs.

Apart from blood, guts and glory, and enormous set-piece prowess, the Springboks could not bring enough to the table with ball in hand, leading to a gripping 19-17 defeat at the hands of the All Blacks in an epic 100^th Test between the two great rivals at Townsville on Saturday.

The Springboks were superb in playing their trademark pressure game. The scrum was dominant and their lineout was majestic, reducing the All Blacks jumpers to just standing and watching. When New Zealand had the ball, they were harried and bashed by a feisty defence, with the Springboks also causing the Rugby Championship winners big problems at the breakdown as well.

But pressure is meant to create opportunities to score and, apart from four penalties by Handre Pollard and a gifted try to Sbu Nkosi after a dropped kick, South Africa did no show enough intent with ball-in-hand. In fact, on a couple of occasions they had front-foot ball, in control of the game, on the New Zealand 22, and they chose to turn possession into a 50/50 contest by launching bizarre up-and-unders.

The strategy of kicking everything away cost them in the end as, after Pollard had given them a 17-16 lead going into the last 10 minutes, a frazzled All Blacks side began to get desperate and coughed up more ball. Which the Springboks kicked straight back to them.

Eventually it was a brilliant angled, long-range penalty by fullback Jordie Barrett that snatched the spoils for New Zealand with just two minutes remaining.

The All Blacks started the match in chilling fashion as, with not much on for them in their own half, hooker Codie Taylor stepped superbly and burst clear and one pass later wing Will Jordan was racing over for the try.

But as much as they tried to up the tempo, speed the game up and stretch the defence, the Springboks managed to drag them back into slow-mo rugby through sheer bloodymindedness. Siya Kolisi was immense as a harrying presence and Kwagga Smith was tremendous at the breakdown.

The kicking game tested the wits of the All Blacks three and, apart from Barrett, they did not look secure. But the Springboks were not smart enough to then capitalise on the turnover balls presented.

Their supporters were left praising an incredibly brave, stout effort, but also mourning what should have been if they had just backed themselves with the ball-in-hand a little more.

Scorers

New Zealand – Try: Will Jordan. Conversion: Jordie Barrett. Penalties: Barrett (4).

South Africa – Try: Sbu Nkosi. Penalties: Handre Pollard (4).

Springbok backline coach Mzwandile Stick said if you ever wanted to ‘cut-and-paste’ game-management into a side then Morne Steyn is as good a template as you can find, and the veteran flyhalf is hoping to bring some much-needed tactical prowess with the boot to the team for their crucial second Test against Ireland at Ellis Park on Saturday.

Steyn has completed his season with Stade Francais and was back in South Africa preparing to go on holiday when he answered the S.O.S. from the Springbok camp, with Pat Lambie and Handre Pollard both injured. The 31-year-old is likely to be named on the bench as back-up for Elton Jantjies and has every chance of adding to his 60 caps if the home side finds itself in trouble.

“Last Saturday our kicking wasn’t at the usual top standard, and what we’re trying to bring is more kicking into our game and that’s one of my strengths, so hopefully I can bring that to the team. All the teams we play against in Europe are quality, they all have good kicking games, but they’re all trying to run the ball a bit more as well. You can see the standard has improved a lot and England and Ireland were able to show it last weekend. At Stade Francais I’ve been able to gain more experience of playing in that weather, as well as relaxing and enjoying my rugby more,” Steyn said.

The former Bulls star’s international hopes seemed to have suffered a terminal blow last year when he played only 24 minutes of Test rugby, coming off the bench against the USA in the World Cup. But it’s not the first time Steyn has been discarded and returned as his mastery of the basic skills of international flyhalf play don’t go out of fashion.

“I watched a lot of SuperRugby and guys like Elton Jantjies, Pat Lambie and Garth April were all doing so well, and I knew I was a bit older than those guys … plus it’s a new era, which is good for South African rugby. So I guess I wasn’t really expecting to be called up … a guy like Handre Pollard, who is injured now, is in the picture as well so you never know what will happen.

“But rugby certainly is a strange game! Just when you think you’re out of it, you’re back in the thick of it. But I’m here now and determined to make a positive contribution. I spoke to my wife about it as well. We just said we’re going to see how it goes. It’s great to be back and I’m enjoying playing with all the new guys in the Springbok squad, only three or four guys have more than 50 caps. I had four weeks holiday planned, but it’s great to be back on the field!

“Family time is great, but I will give it my all for the Springboks. In every training session, every game I play from here I’m going to give it 100%. Maybe I can keep going for another two or three years,” Steyn said.