Ken Borland

The South African women’s hockey team rebounded from a terrible start to their crunch World Cup match against Japan on Tuesday night, salvaging a remarkable 3-3 draw from 3-0 down with 20 minutes remaining to avoid elimination from quarterfinal contention in Terrassa, Spain.

Having conceded two goals in the first eight minutes, South Africa then went 3-0 down three minutes into the second half. Hesitant on the ball and porous in defence, the African champions’ hopes were faltering.

But they then fought back superbly with Onthatile Zulu giving the Japanese defence a torrid time with her attacking runs down the flank. South Africa were on the board in the 37^th minute through Kristen Paton’s reflex shot after a rebound from Kayla de Waal’s strike.

The team sitting in 16^th spot on the world rankings continued to pile pressure on the 10^th-ranked Japanese in the final quarter, with another fine run by Zulu earning a 54^th-minute penalty corner. Jean-Leigh du Toit’s slap was brilliantly guided in by Tarryn Lombard to cut the deficit to 1-2.

With two minutes remaining, Zulu won another short corner and Lombard steered the ball home again to complete a remarkable comeback.

“We started very slowly and conceding two goals in the first quarter really set us back,” stalwart goalkeeper Phumelela Mbande said afterwards. “We did well to come back, we knew we were never out of it, but it took pure grit and determination.

“We knew what it meant if we lost, now we are still in it, which we wanted so badly. We will fight even harder against Australia,” Mbande said.

South Africa and Japan both have one point in the standings, but the Cherry Blossoms are currently in third place in Pool D, the last qualifying spot, because they have a goal-difference of minus-two compared to South Africa’s minus-three.

South Africa have conceded seven goals and scored four, and if they can somehow prevent making it an octoplet of shots into the back of their net against Australia in the late game on Wednesday night, then they could pip Japan on goal-difference because they play Belgium, who beat Giles Bonnet’s side 4-1 last weekend.

The four remaining suspects in the 2015/16 RamSlam T20 Challenge matchfixing case will be sitting uneasily after Pumelela Matshikwe was given a six-year sentence, suspended for five years, for corruption in Pretoria last Friday.

Matshikwe is the second player to be convicted for his role in the matchfixing scandal, and he pleaded guilty to unlawfully entering into a corrupt relationship with Gulam Bodi and two separate bookmakers for fixing matches in the 2015/16 season of the T20 competition.

Bodi was sentenced to five years imprisonment in 2019 on eight charges of corruption for his role as the middleman in the scheme. It was the first time the Corrupt Practices Act had been used in a sporting context.

Fellow Highveld Lions cricketer Jean Symes has also been charged and his case is pending, while Thami Tsolekile, Ethy Mbhalati, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Alviro Petersen, who have all been banned from cricket, have not yet been charged.

But it is known that the Hawks Anti-Corruption Task Team under the guidance of the National Prosecuting Authority’s senior state advocate Willem van Zyl, is continuing investigations into that quartet of former players.

While Matshikwe, who entered into a plea agreement with the state, and Symes have kept silent over the case, Tsolekile, Mbhalati, Tsotsobe and self-styled whistleblower Petersen have accused Cricket South Africa’s Anti-Corruption Unit of racism and coercion against them. They began their campaign to have the investigation reopened on a well-known radio talk show based in the city and even repeated their accusations in the Social Justice and Nation-Building Hearings.

The SJN ombudsman, Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza, did not uphold their allegations.

Apart from causing immense pain to the South African cricket family, the four remaining suspects have increased their risk of criminal prosecution, with insiders saying the Hawks are determined to prosecute all the suspects one-by-one.

Proteas captain Temba Bavuma criticised the number of soft dismissals his batting line-up suffered and their lack of intent in their humiliating nine-wicket defeat, with nearly half their overs remaining, in the third ODI against Bangladesh, who won their first series in any format in South Africa.

Having won the toss, elected to bat first and reached 46 without loss inside seven overs at Centurion, the Proteas folded meekly to be bowled out for just 154 in 37 overs.

“There were a lot of soft dismissals and too many in the top-order,” Bavuma said. “Intent is the big word, we need to play with intensity and clarity, we need to back our plans 100%.

“But that wasn’t there in the third ODI and we did not execute at 100% either. From a confidence point of view, there was a lot of belief coming out of the India series win.

“But we did not respect our processes at Centurion, maybe we just expected things to go our way. We know Bangladesh have the tag of not being one of the bigger teams, but they showed skill and execution at a high level.

“They really put us under pressure with the ball and bat in how they executed their game-plan and the basics in these conditions. The way they played and the skill they displayed was at a high level,” Bavuma said.

Having whitewashed India 3-0 in January with the same team but bolstered by the inclusion of ace fast bowler Kagiso Rabada, now being beaten by Bangladesh (even though they have improved impressively) on the Highveld rates as one of the most embarrassing defeats the Proteas have ever suffered.

A nonplussed Bavuma regarded his team’s inconsistency as being his biggest concern.

“Not so long ago we were victorious against India and now we were completely outplayed in all three departments by Bangladesh.

“The inconsistency in the way we perform as a unit is the worry,” Bavuma admitted.

Young pup Marco Jansen earned praise from Justin Sammons for standing up to Jasprit Bumrah on Wednesday and now the Proteas batting consultant is hopeful his remaining batsmen will show similar character in scoring the remaining 122 runs South Africa need for a remarkable win over India in the second Test at the Wanderers.

The Proteas ended the third day on 118/2, chasing 240 for victory, and went toe-to-toe with a feisty Indian team that is desperate to win their first series in South Africa.

The battle was at its most tense when left-arm quick Jansen was bowling a stream of short-pitched deliveries at fast bowler Bumrah, his Mumbai Indians team-mate, who was generally swinging and missing. But after being struck on the body, Bumrah advanced angrily down the pitch and gestured at Jansen to say what he had to say right to his face.

The 21-year-old took up the invitation and umpire Marais Erasmus quickly inserted himself between the two combatants.

“It was pleasing to see the young guy stand up for himself and his team-mates,” Sammons said. “He showed that he is in it for the team, that’s Marco, a real team man.

“It goes without saying that it’s not going to be an easy task against a pretty relentless attack, but we still believe we can win this Test. We need to stick to our plans, keep doing what we know brings us the best chance of success.

“Being decisive is a key aspect, but it’s not about playing every shot. You need that element of discipline, balanced with a positive mindset and being able to dominate balls in our areas.

“The basics must come first: Knowing where the off-stump is, leaving well, and in defence playing nice and late with good bat angles. Anything tentative will land the batsman in trouble,” Sammons said.

It’s the sort of batting exemplified by captain Dean Elgar, the opening batsman surviving for three hours up to stumps, scoring a doughty 46 not out that was garnished with just two boundaries. Aiden Markram (31) and Keegan Petersen (28) both played more strokes, but both were out lbw and will play no further part in the chase.

“It’s massively important to have someone like Dean there, to have someone bat through and allow partnerships to form around him,” Sammons said. “His leadership will go a long way to getting us over the line.

“Dean is definitely a tough cookie, a competitor. The competitiveness is what he loves about Test cricket, it brings out the best in him.”

Elgar will certainly be up for the fight on Thursday morning, he will be ready to bleed for the cause. The big question is whether the rest of the batsmen will be too.