Ken Borland

SUN CITY – Martin Rohwer is eager to start the new season well and get up the order of merit as soon as he can, and the four-time Sunshine Tour winner surged to the top of the leaderboard after the first round of the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun City on Wednesday.

Rohwer, who began his round with an eagle on the par-five 10^th, fired a five-under-par 67 at the Gary Player Country Club on Wednesday to claim a one-stroke lead after the first day of the third event so far this season.

The Kloof Country Club member hit a 270m drive on the 505m 10^th and then hit a hybrid just short of the green, from where he sank his chip for the eagle-three. He birdied the next par-five, the 14^th, and then gathered three successive birdies on the 18^th, 1^st and 2^nd holes. His final birdie came on the par-four sixth, while he only dropped two shots, making fives on the par-four 13^th and eighth holes.

“Obviously it was a great start, chipping straight up the hill into the hole for an eagle on my first, and I played some solid golf after that too,” Rohwer said. “It was a very cold morning, but then it warmed up and there was really not much wind, it was a lovely benign day.

“I drove the ball really well today, which is obviously a big advantage at Gary Player Country Club because then your second shots are not too difficult. This course does suit my game, I won the Vodacom Origins of Golf Final here in 2022 and last year I had a chance to win this event before finishing third. It’s a fader’s course and I fade the ball off the tee.

“I’m just trying to get up The Courier Guy Order of Merit early doors this season and then I will work on my swing during the break later this month,” Rohwer said.

Rohwer was one stroke ahead of Lyle Rowe and Werner Deyzel, who shot four-under-par 68s.

In stark contrast to Rohwer, Deyzel started his round with a bogey on the par-four first hole and then a double-bogey at the par-five second. But instead of responding with bile, the 24-year-old Deyzel summoned brilliance and played his next 16 holes in a remarkable seven-under-par. He also eagled the 10^th and made five birdies.

Zimbabwe’s Stuart Krog, who first came to prominence in 2014 with his tenacious performances in the World Junior Golf Series, shining alongside the most promising Brazilian, South African, Irish, Scandinavian and American talent, was on three-under-par 69 alongside Estiaan Conradie and Sweden’s Fredrik From.

Lesser franchises sometimes find themselves caught between the imperatives of winning trophies or producing players for the national team, but for the DP World Lions men’s team, the 2023/24 season was a superb example of doing both.

Our #PrideOfJozi claimed both the four-day series and CSA T20 Challenge titles in a marvellous first season under the coaching of Russell Domingo, and they will provide four members of the Proteas T20 World Cup squad and another four for the South African team that will play the West Indies in a warm-up series.

“It’s part of the job to be a winning franchise and to also produce players for the country,” former Proteas coach Domingo said. “So I’m glad we have some players in the national squad, and I’m particularly pleased for Bjorn Fortuin and Ryan Rickelton, who have been recalled.

“We are blessed at the DP World Lions to have myself who has coached internationally, and Hashim Amla and Allan Donald, who are greats of the game. So we have seen the standard at the top and so we get the players to play a brand of cricket that we know will succeed at international level, and not just what works at domestic level and will be enough to win trophies.

“So we are constantly asking ourselves ‘are the players’ disciplines good enough for international cricket?’ A few of them have needed to upskill in terms of training, preparation and technique,” Domingo said.

With all the talent at his disposal, Domingo admitted that selection was often not an easy task and he gave special praise to the fringe players who never had a firm place in the side but were always willing to enthusiastically contribute to the spirit of the Pride.

“What pleased me most about the season was the way the guys stuck at it. There were some really difficult selections because we have so many good players. There are guys who really did not play a lot of cricket, but still brought plenty of energy and commitment. There was a great vibe in the camp and the players deserve a lot of credit for that.

“Guys like Zubayr Hamza in the T20, Connor Esterhuizen and Junaid Dawood will be disappointed they did not get more game-time. Mitchell van Buuren had some brutal selection calls, not only was he a consistent run-scorer but the ultimate team player and it was really heartbreaking to leave him out of two finals. Selection was not easy but the players all embraced and understood our calls and gave 100%,” Domingo said.

Like a reliable, tough bakkie that just keeps on going whatever the conditions, Bjorn Fortuin just kept on churning out performances for the DP World Lions, being the leading wicket-taker for the team in the first-class and 50-over competitions, and second only to new sensation Nqaba Peter in the T20.

Ryan Rickelton consistently displayed his capabilities with the bat across all three formats, and his combination with stalwarts Reeza Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen at the top of the order was a major factor in the T20 triumph.

Wiaan Mulder was the ultimate all-rounder, bringing high skill levels and ability in all conditions, while Hamza’s offerings with the bat were always useful and very pleasing to the eye.

But while these players were the core of the fabulous #PrideOfJozi, the players pushing up from below are equally important.

The depth of our DP World Lions squad is also impressive, with the likes of Codi Yusuf, leg-spinner Peter, Van Buuren, Esterhuizen, four-day series final hero Delano Potgieter and Mohammed Manack all being carefully watched and groomed.

Yusuf, in particular, is an under-rated cricketer, taking 21 wickets in the four-day competition and 16 in the T20. He is also useful with the bat and his scores of 34 and 46 in the four-day final were absolutely crucial as he shared lower-order partnerships of 55 and 118 with Potgieter.

“Codi always had to fight for his place, but he played a massive role for us this season,” Domingo said. “He took wickets regularly in the four-day competition and then his runs in the final were vital. He’s also an excellent fielder.

“I think Codi has a great deal of potential, especially as he gets stronger and understands the game more. He’s got skill and he’s a great kid too.

“Nqaba began his first season as someone who was unheard of, now he is well-known, so he is clearly a name to go forward with, especially in terms of the SA20 and maybe the next World Cup. The special thing about him is that he bowls quickly and he has great control.

“There are a whole bunch of youngsters coming through who have a lot of potential,” Domingo said.

They may not quite have ridden a wave to success in terms of winning trophies, but our DP World Lions women’s team were deservedly buoyant at the end of a 2023/24 season that saw them finish runners-up in both the one-day and T20 competitions.

Coach Shaun Pretorius expressed his delight at the progress the team has made and said the highlight for him was the improvement shown in the 50-over game, where they mounted a stirring charge up the standings in the second half of the season. Considering they were in fifth place at the end of November, and some people may have been calling for the lifeboats, to be in contention for the title in the last round of fixtures was a remarkable effort.

“If you measure where we were last season, in the 50-over competition we were down at the bottom, then it was a massive accomplishment to finish second. The One-Day Cup was definitely the highlight for me, to come back to second and really fight for that trophy showed the immense progress we’ve made and the respect we showed the format,” Pretorius said.

“Our ground fielding improved exceptionally well, we caused a lot more run outs this season, and we also chased down more than 250 twice. We beat Western Province at Newlands, where they are normally unbeaten, and we showed great fight in the ‘final’ against the Dolphins, but unfortunately could just not get over the line.”

Pretorius says next season there will need to be a similar shoulders-to-the-wheel attitude for T20 cricket; even though the DP World Lions finished second, they were nine points behind winners Western Province, a gap they are all keen to eliminate.

“In terms of T20, there are a few more tweaks needed in our game-plan. But the buy-in was evident this season in terms of the brand we are going for. The ladies were not scared to take chances, they played with higher energy and were more positive. You could see the fight in the team, especially among the younger players,” Pretorius said.

The coach had special praise for captain Kgomotso Rapoo and the burden she bore in not only leading the team, but also the bowling attack, as well as contributing valuable runs. The young skipper, who turns 22 on May 16, was the DP World Lions’ leading wicket-taker in the one-day competition, taking 13 wickets, with the next best being Relebohile Mkhize’s seven. Spinner Rapoo also took seven T20 wickets, second-best to Mkhize’s eight, in the T20 competition, conceding just 6.00 runs an over.

Rapoo also averaged 25.25 with the bat in 50-over cricket, at a strike-rate of 87.06.

“Kgomotso was phenomenal and it’s great to see the player she is growing into,” Pretorius said. “The type of leadership she brought and her bowling really inspired the team. She just never gave up, she never believes the team is beaten and she showed that with her better than a run-a-ball half-century in the last one-day match against the Dolphins that nearly won the game after we were well out of it.”

The 2023/24 season was also a great success for veteran batter Kirstie Thomson, who showed she remains as fruitful as ever with the bat as she averaged 51.66 in the One-Day Cup and was the leading run-scorer in the T20s with 253 at an average of 42 and a strike-rate of 117.

Pretorius was also happy for Nonkululeko Thabethe, who enjoyed a vastly improved season as she topped the 50-over run-scorer’s list with 299, including three half-centuries, and also made 114 T20 runs at a strike-rate of 99.13.

For those looking to the future, there were also good contributions from Madison Landsman, Jenna Evans, Karabo Meso and Relebohile Mkhize, with Pretorius predicting a bright future for the #PrideOfJozi’s young brigade.

Any team that can call on all that talent, as well as the input of Proteas stars Ayabonga Khaka, Tumi Sekhukhune and Sinalo Jafta, and the experience of Sunette Viljoen-Louw, is bound to shine.

Pretorius said any doubts that the DP World Lions would not be at the forefront of the women’s game when it turned professional have been dispelled by the excellent season past.

“You can really see that the women’s game has been uplifted and it has been a huge accomplishment made possible by all the support we have received from the management and staff of the DP World Lions,” Pretorius said.

The cricket season just past has seen Wiaan Mulder freed from his cell of self-imposed pressure and doubt, and the Central Gauteng Lions all-rounder’s reward has been a return to the Proteas T20 squad, albeit for the warm-up series against the West Indies in Jamaica at the end of this month and not the World Cup.

The Lions were the outstanding domestic team of the summer, winning both the four-day competition and the CSA T20 Challenge that ended last weekend in a final at the Wanderers, with the Gautengers easing past the KZN Dolphins by seven wickets with 14 balls to spare.

Mulder was at the forefront of that successful chase, blazing his way to a ferocious 55 not out off just 26 balls, with four sixes. It capped a superb tournament for the 26-year-old, who scored 248 runs at an average of 35.42 and a strike-rate of 139.32. Mulder also took 11 wickets and conceded just 7.10 runs-per-over, making him the only player to appear in the top-20 of both the batting and bowling averages.

It followed his destructive performances in the SA20 league, where he scored 297 runs at an average of 37.13 and a strike-rate of 157.14 for Durban Super Giants.

In the Lions’ triumphant four-day campaign, Mulder was their leading run-scorer with 549 at 54.90, which included a couple of centuries. He also claimed 16 wickets at an average of 26.50.

Little wonder then that the Proteas have come calling again. He played in the ODI series against India last December, but Mulder is set to play his first T20 international since September 2021 in Sri Lanka.

But in a candid interview before his selection was announced this week, Mulder admitted that he had not made the most of his previous Proteas call-ups.

“The biggest thing for me at international level is mental. I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself, which is made worse when you think every game could be my last,” Mulder said after the Lions’ T20 triumph.

“I do my best when I am just given the freedom to go out and play; unfortunately I’m an over-thinker and then I try too hard and get a bit down on myself. I’ve done relatively well with the ball for the Proteas, but I haven’t really shown what I can do with the bat. But maybe my time will come in the next couple of years,” Mulder said.

The all-rounder’s mantle is a tough one to bear in South African cricket because we have been blessed with arguably the greatest of them all – Jacques Kallis – as well as a succession of legends who could both win matches with the bat and double as a proper fast bowler: Mike Procter, Clive Rice, Kallis, Lance Klusener and Shaun Pollock have spoilt us.

Mulder does not bowl express pace, but he is a very handy practitioner who can fulfil a variety of roles. The St Stithians product says the presence of another great – Allan Donald – on the Lions coaching staff has helped him enormously in terms of growing his skills and even becoming a little quicker.

“Allan Donald has been massive for us and for me personally. I’ve been working with him to get more energy behind the ball, being able to bowl back-of-the-hand deliveries. It’s difficult bowling in the powerplay at the Wanderers, the ball really flies here, so I’ve had to up-skill a lot.

“I feel like I’m bowling well and it’s nice to be consistently bowling. Not bowling five matches in a row in the SA20 gets a little frustrating,” Mulder said.

The up-skilling Mulder has done on his batting will also hopefully pay off at international level.

“Russell Domingo [head coach] said there were certain things that have to get better in our game and there was an expectation to up-skill. There was a lot of hard work in the transition period after he became coach.

“And you could see when Reeza Hendricks and I were batting together in the final, we made sure the required rate never ran away from us even though we weren’t hitting boundaries. We were getting the ones and twos and making sure there were no dot-balls,” Mulder said.