Ken Borland

Following Ben Stokes’ incredible heroics in winning England the 2019 World Cup, the all-rounder was almost officially designated as cricket’s golden goose, his golden eggs being the box-office draw he promised through his scintillating batting, ability to bowl match-turning spells and amazing catching.

Just three years later, that golden goose is almost on life support. Stokes hobbled his way out of ODI cricket this week, looking a shadow of the great player he is, well-beaten by the Proteas on his home ground at Chester-le-Street.

Fingers have been pointed at the England and Wales Cricket Board, and also the International Cricket Council, for the greed they have shown in their scheduling of matches. England have been expected to play 12 white-ball matches in 25 days this month, and their Test side has been playing at the same time as the T20 or ODI squad was preparing for matches against the Netherlands and India. If that’s not killing the goose that lays the golden eggs through diluting your product, then what is?

The ICC also now have a global white-ball event every year.

But it was most interesting to read the comments of another former England all-rounder (bowling), Derek Pringle, this week. The 63-year-old Pringle does not get quite the same amount of attention as the brilliant Athertons and Hussains of this world, perhaps because he is of an earlier generation, but his erudite views on the game are also full of cricketing nous.

Pringle pointed out in his column for the Metro that, in 1982/83, England played 10 ODIs in 25 days in the World Series tournament in Australia and none of those were in the yet-to-be-invented T20 format. Plus they travelled all over that vast land, the world’s sixth-largest country, straight after a five-match Ashes series.

But that doesn’t change the fact that today’s leading stars, playing for far greater riches than back in Pringle’s day, are battling to cope. The 31-year-old Stokes has not been helped by Covid bubbles, the death of his father and a perpetual knee niggle, as well as mental fatigue that saw him take a break from the game last year.

While I was privileged to be at the World Cup final at Lord’s on July 14, 2019 to watch Stokes fulfil his destiny as England’s most talismanic cricketer in an extraordinary triumph over New Zealand, that trumps the 438 game as the greatest ODI in my book, I was not overly surprised by his feats.

Back in February 2015 I had first laid eyes on him in the flesh, at the Mamelodi Oval of all places (and a lovely venue to boot). Playing for the England Lions against SA A, Stokes plundered an attack featuring Chris Morris, Marchant de Lange and David Wiese for 151 not out off just 86 balls, the left-hander smiting 15 mighty sixes. He then wrapped up the match with three wickets.

I had no doubt I had seen a future great.

The next January he scored his famous 258 off just 198 balls against South Africa in the Newlands New Years Test.

While there have been areas of his life off the field that have landed him in trouble (he is a red-head after all!), I have always liked Stokes as a person, too. On the field he is as competitive as they come, someone with an inspirational belief in his ability to pull off the impossible, but empathetic and supportive are the words most-often used to describe him in the changeroom.

Before the 2019 World Cup final, while travelling from Cardiff to Birmingham, we took a comfort break at one of the Services along the highway. England were on their way to Manchester to play Afghanistan and whose bladder should be co-ordinated with my own but Ben Stokes’s.

There he was in a cap and T-shirt, just wandering around without any pretences or ego.

I doubt he could have done that a month later after his sensational end to the tournament.

That is the Stokes we, as cricket lovers, want to see more of; get it sorted, please, administrators of the England and Wales Cricket Board and the ICC.

Look after your players, who are your product.

Shakib al-Hasan ensured that there was no shelter for a lacklustre South African bowling attack as his scintillating 77 carried Bangladesh to their highest ever total on South African soil and thereafter their first victory here as they beat the Proteas by 38 runs in the first ODI at Centurion on Friday night.

Shakib’s classy 64-ball innings led Bangladesh to 314/7 after they were sent in to bat, well above average (276) for a day/night game at SuperSport Park and the tourists’ second-highest score against South Africa anywhere, behind their winning 330/6 in the World Cup match at the Oval in 2019.

Shakib came to the wicket in the 22^nd over after openers Tamim Iqbal (41) and Liton Das (50) both faced 67 deliveries and gave Bangladesh a solid start by putting on 95 for the first wicket off 133 deliveries.

Shakib provided tremendous impetus as he dominated the middle overs with wonderfully clean striking and a plucky, pugnacious attitude that saw him back himself to take on the short-pitched deliveries and also to improvise cheekily as well.

He had the perfect ally in Yasir Ali, who, having scored just a single and a duck in his previous two ODI innings, made his maiden half-century, also landing some great blows in a nifty 50 off 43 balls. Shakib and Yasir added 115 for the fourth wicket off just 83 deliveries.

If the Proteas were to harbour any hopes of making what would have been the second-highest total ever batting second at Centurion, then they needed a similarly solid top-order display.

But instead they slumped to 36/3 as Taskin Ahmed (10-1-36-3) and left-armer Shoriful Islam (8-0-47-2) bowled with tremendous fire and energy up front.

It was in stark contrast to the Proteas bowlers who only took their first wicket in the 22^nd over, and then leaked 91 runs in the last 10 overs. One imagines the wicket-taking skills of wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi may well be employed in the second ODI, while unavoidable questions will continue to be asked about the exclusion of Sisanda Magala, arguably South Africa’s most skilful death bowler, on fitness grounds.

The determined duo of skipper Temba Bavuma (31) and Rassie van der Dussen attempted to rebuild the innings with their fourth-wicket stand of 85, but Bavuma was bounced out by the fiery Shoriful.

Van der Dussen battled on with characteristic tenacity, adding another 70 with David Miller, but he was caught at deep backward square-leg off Taskin for 86 off 98 balls.

There is no more passionate finisher of innings than Miller, but he was left with way too much to do on his own, his sumptuous 79 off 57 balls deserving more support from his team-mates.

Keshav Maharaj (23) and Lungi Ngidi (15*) hit three sixes between them as they had some fun at the death with a 34-run last-wicket stand that took South Africa to 276 all out.

Off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz benefited from the wild slog at the end to claim 4/61, but the damage had been done by his splendid pace bowlers.

The Vodacom Bulls overwhelmed the Sunwolves 50-3 in their SuperRugby match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, running in seven tries without reply, but it was more because of their aggressive defence than any scintillating attacking play that the bonus-point win was recorded.

The Sunwolves had enough of the ball, especially in the second half, to have troubled the Bulls, but the home side, probably playing their last match at Loftus Versfeld this season, were fired up in defence and dominated the gain-line, as well as scrambling well and generally looking eager to make an impression.

The attacking work of the Bulls was by no means bad, but at times there was a lack of fluency and a few mistakes as well.

But it was obviously a pleasing evening for the Bulls as they kept the pressure on the Sharks for the last South African qualifying place, gaining a two-point lead over the KwaZulu-Natalians ahead of their crunch game against the Cheetahs in Durban.

It took the Bulls 12 minutes to break down the defence of the Sunwolves, who were fortunate not to be reduced to 14 men early on when outside centre Derek Carpenter received the benefit of the doubt for a trip and was not yellow-carded.

The Bulls’ efforts to bash away at close quarters were nullified by the Sunwolves spoiling their breakdown ball and tackling bravely, and the opening try eventually came when the Bulls were able to exploit the wide open spaces from deeper out. The Sunwolves cleared their lines with a kick, but Jesse Kriel, whose play at fullback was a breath of fresh air compared to his fettered efforts in midfield, took a quick lineout and wing Jamba Ulengo produced a great run from 58 metres out, beating several defenders and then popping the ball up in the tackle to flank Lappies Labuschagne, who was up in support and able to go over for the try.

Unlike the Bulls, the Sunwolves were able to get points from their first visit to the 22, as flyhalf Yu Tamura kicked a penalty after scrumhalf Piet van Zyl spent too long on the wrong side of a ruck.

Bulls flyhalf Francois Brummer, whose kicking game was sharp, added an 18^th-minute penalty to his earlier conversion and would eventually finish with a five-from-six record with three more conversions.

The Bulls crossed the tryline again in the 21^st minute as Van Zyl detected the space and launched a great counter-attack. Labuschagne was once again up in support and he sent centre Dries Swanepoel over for the try.

Labuschagne was all over the field, linking, tackling and winning turnovers, which suggests his move to Japan after Super Rugby is going to be a major blow for the Bulls. In the 27^th minute, he was stopped just short of the line, but fellow flank Jannes Kirsten was on hand to pick up the ball and drive over the line (24-3).

It was one-way traffic in the first half and the Bulls grabbed a fourth try before the break as the Sunwolves tried to run their way out of the 22 – spurning the big boot of fullback Riaan Viljoen – and the ball went to ground in the backline. Brummer pounced, kicked through and had an easy path to dotting down, his conversion making the halftime score 31-3.

The scent of a real thrashing was in the air early in the second half as Van Zyl went on another jet-propelled dash through the defence, captain Adriaan Strauss finishing the move with a bullocking run.

The Sunwolves were 36-3 down, but they did not run out of gas, to their credit. Surviving on scraps up till then, they certainly stretched the Bulls defence in the second half and coach Nollis Marais will be fuming over the penalty count.

But the Bulls are the team with the best tackling success rate in the competition and they kept the Sunwolves out, before adding the finishing touches to their win with two late tries, both by wing Travis Ismaiel.

The Bulls are a skilful side when they get it right and there were some lovely hands involved in the first try, especially a brilliant, long, flat pass out wide from centre Burger Odendaal to Ismaiel.

The Sunwolves then went back on attack but, to their immense disappointment, a grubber through was tidied up by replacement fullback SP Marais, who then broke through and released Ismaiel on a 55-metre open run-in to the line.

The outstanding work-rate of Labuschagne meant he fully deserved the man of the match award, but the other star players were the eighthman Renaldo Bothma, who was at the forefront of smashing the Sunwolves back, and Van Zyl, who sparked much of the attacking play.

Pierre Schoeman’s first start in the number one jersey was also impressive, showing he can ably stand in during the absence of Trevor Nyakane and Lizo Gqoboka through injury, while the midfield pairing of Swanepoel and Odendaal also rose to the occasion.

Scorers

Vodacom Bulls – Tries: Lappies Labuschagne, Dries Swanepoel, Jannes Kirsten, Francois Brummer, Adriaan Strauss, Travis Ismaiel (2). Conversions: Brummer (4), Tian Schoeman (2). Penalty: Brummer.

Sunwolves – Penalty: Yu Tamura.

http://www.citizen.co.za/1197645/bulls-overwhelm-sunwolves/

The Cell C Sharks did most of the job in a scintillating first half as they romped to a 53-0 win over the Southern Kings in their Vodacom SuperRugby match at Growthpoint Kings Park on Saturday.

Although the Sharks produced some dazzling rugby and were ruthless in punishing Kings mistakes, the sheer lack of nous and effort on defence by the visitors did irk for those who want to see a good contest.

The Kings were much-improved in the second half, but by then, with the Sharks already 43-0 up at halftime, they were left with far too much of a mountain to climb.

The Sharks sealed the bonus point with a devastating burst of three tries in five minutes midway through the first half, and the five points they collected from the game ensures that they stay in touch with the Lions, the pacesetters from Joburg having gained a bonus point win over the Jaguares earlier in the afternoon.

The Sharks’ strategy of avoiding the physical Kings at close quarters and instead attacking them out wide paid dividends because the defence was too narrow and slow to shift across.

And the opening try came in the eighth minute as the Sharks shipped the ball wide and found outside centre Paul Jordaan in space, and then flyhalf Pat Lambie produced a great supporting run on his inside to receive the scoring pass.

Lambie and replacement flank Tera Mtembu then produced good runs to set up a 14^th-minute penalty for Lambie (8-0).

Five minutes later, Kings wing Lukhanyo Am roared through the defences and was stopped just short of the line. To the utter frustration of the Kings, possession was then recycled but knocked on, with the rampant Lambie picking up the loose ball and racing away, passing to Jordaan for the pace man to finish off (15-0).

The Kings were not only battling to handle the width and pace of the Sharks game, but they were also being ousted off the ball at scrum time. One such strong scrum by the Sharks in the 22^nd minute saw the home side fashion a try any skilful Australian backline would have been proud of – Willie le Roux found Jordaan out wide with a lovely pass, the outside centre then passing back inside for the fullback to storm over for the try.

From the kickoff, a very good interchange between wing JP Pietersen and flank Keegan Daniel saw the Sharks attack down the right before Jordaan was sent racing down the outside for his second try.

Some fine play by the Sharks had been rewarded on the scoreboard as they raced into a 29-0 lead in the first half-hour, but the lovely rugby was not quite over yet as the home side sealed a sumptuous first half with two more tries.

A good run by wing Lwazi Mvovo was followed by Le Roux’s acute vision putting centre Andre Esterhuizen in the gap, and although he probably should have passed, he powered over for the try himself, taking a defender over the line with him.

Lovely hands by the forwards then worked Pietersen over in the corner for the sixth try two minutes before the break, Lambie converting from the touchline to make the score 43-0.

There was no coming back from that awful first half for the Kings, but they did at least restore some pride in the second half.

The Sharks did score in the first 10 minutes after the break, Lambie getting on the end of a chip from Pietersen and running 50 metres to score, but a more sturdy defensive effort from the Kings meant the Sharks only scored again with just three minutes left in the match.

Replacement Odwa Ndungane fielded a kick and launched a superb counter-attack from the back, the kick ahead by Mvovo forcing the penalty inside the Kings’ 22. From the tap and then the ruck, replacement prop Thomas du Toit picked up and rumbled over the line for the eighth and final try.

Lambie, Jordaan and Daniel were the stars of the show for the Sharks, but the scrum laid the perfect platform and the good, clean ball from the forwards was put to fine use by the home side.

Scorers

Cell C Sharks: Tries – Pat Lambie (2), Paul Jordaan (2), Willie le Roux, Andre Esterhuizen, JP Pietersen, Thomas du Toit. Conversions – Lambie (5). Penalty – Lambie.