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Ontong & Duminy give SA a total to bowl to 0

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Ken

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Contrasting innings by Justin Ontong and JP Duminy gave South Africa 147 for six and a total they could bowl to in the first T20 international against New Zealand at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington on Friday.
Clever bowling, backed by magnificent fielding, had given New Zealand another stranglehold over the South African batsmen after they had been sent in to bat and it needed an extraordinary over of hitting by Ontong to give the tourists a respectable total.
South Africa had been reduced to 52 for four after nine overs and Duminy and Ontong had struggled to find anything else but singles as they added 23 runs in the next five overs.
Ontong, who had seemingly edged a sweep off part-time spinner Rob Nicol to wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum in the previous over, then laid into off-spinner Kane Williamson, ending his second over with four successive sixes, three of them to deep midwicket and the fourth over long-on.
The bristling Tim Southee returned to claim Ontong’s wicket for 32 off 17 balls, taking a magnificent low return catch, and Doug Bracewell, who recently skittled Australia in a shock test win for New Zealand, then bowled a superb penultimate over that cost just three runs, two of them being leg-byes.
Fifteen runs would come from the final over, however, as Johan Botha hit Kyle Mills for a four and a six.
Openers Hashim Amla (19) and Richard Levi (13) had started brightly for South Africa, adding 24 off 20 balls, but the brilliance of Martin Guptill in the field had much to do with the visitors’ top-order woes.
Guptill dashed in from mid-off and slid into the stumps to run out Amla and then snapped up a wonderful low catch at short extra-cover to remove AB de Villiers for eight after the South African captain had slapped a delivery from left-arm spinner Roneel Hira with tremendous power and timing.
A top-class delivery from off-spinner Nathan McCullum had removed Colin Ingram for a two-ball duck, brother Brendon completing a juggled stumping after a foray down the pitch by the left-hander.
Duminy gave himself time to settle and refused to let the pressure get to him as he accumulated an important 41 off 37 balls, although he was fortunate to survive an lbw appeal off Williamson on 21.
Southee (4-0-28-3) and Nathan McCullum (4-0-16-1 with the new ball) did much to unsettle the South African batsmen.

Tags:
Category Cricket, Sport

Van Zyl upbeat after long journey 0

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Ken

World Championships 400m hurdles bronze medallist LJ van Zyl’s journey to the London Olympics has not been without it’s disappointments and injury heartaches, but the South African is confident 2012 will be his best year yet.
    Van Zyl posted the four fastest times of 2011 but could only win bronze behind Britain’s Dai Greene and Puerto Rican Javier Culson in the Daegu World Championships, while in 2009 he also had the fastest time of the year but was eliminated in the semi-finals.
    But the 26-year-old has also been hampered by injuries, struggling through most of 2007 after winning the Commonwealth Games gold medal in 2006, and he was battling a hamstring strain in Daegu last year.
    “This has been my best year in terms of base work, I started in November and I’m already doing better this year at the same exercises compared to when I broke the South African record last February [47.66],” Van Zyl told Reuters in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
    “The key thing is that I’m injury-free and I’m timing my peaks better. I’ve learnt how to pace myself and get to my peak for the major events.”
    In a country where athletics is hugely popular but has famously under-performed at the Olympics – South Africa has won just one gold medal (Josiah Thugwane in the 1996 marathon) since 1992 – there is plenty of pressure on Van Zyl to turn his undoubted ability into gold when it really matters.
    “There’s a lot of expectation, but I see it as motivation, not pressure,” the softly-spoken Van Zyl said.
    His impending marriage – on September 29, seven weeks after the Olympic 400m hurdles final – to Irvette van Blerk – a top-class South African road runner – is another reason why Van Zyl believes 2012 will be a great year.
    “Irvette is also hoping to qualify for the Olympics and will be running the London Marathon at the end of April. It’s nice that we share the same vision, she’s also preparing for the Olympics and she knows what it takes, she understands the sacrifices,” Van Zyl said.
    The part-time cattle farmer joked that a payout of R200 000 [19 600 euro] he received for breaking the South African record last year had been spent on buying a herd of cows for the customary lobola [dowry] payment grooms make to their bride’s family.
    Van Zyl, who has a personal best time of 47.66 seconds, said competition would be stiff in the Olympic 400m hurdles.
    “The Americans are always good, they’ll have two or three guys in the final, while there’s also Greene and Culson. Basically, everyone in the final has a good chance of doing well.
    “But there’ll definitely be more pressure on Greene in front of his home crowd. Anyway, I’ll just be focusing on my own race and my 10 hurdles,” Van Zyl said.
    The keen off-road biker has also decided to scale back on his races in the build-up to the Olympics.
    “My season is so long and I’ve had too many races before which has led to tired legs. So I’ll be concentrating on training until April and will then compete in the Yellow Pages Series [the domestic South African circuit]. We have three other fine hurdlers in South Africa, so the competition will be good.
    “Training at 1400m above sea-level in Pretoria will also definitely be an advantage when it comes to running in London, and the weather’s much better too!” Van Zyl said.

Tags:
Category Athletics, Sport

NZ conditions pose challenge – Kirsten 0

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Ken

Coach Gary Kirsten is sure his team has the skill and talent to win anywhere in the world but believes the team’s tour of New Zealand will provide the South Africans with a stiff challenge.

“I believe we have a quality team that has enough skill and talent to confront any conditions. It’s our responsibility to do well around the world in any conditions. It is important if we want to be a champion team to win series in all formats of the game, all over the world,” Kirsten said at O.R. Tambo International Airport on Friday, just prior to the team’s departure for New Zealand.

“But New Zealand aren’t easy to beat at home, they are streetsmart and they understand their conditions, and it’s going to be a very competitive series. We need to stack up performances, to play well consistently, that’s our focus.”

Kirsten is acutely aware that, in terms of his team’s worthiness to be rated the best in the world, they have to perform consistently overseas as well and, what doesn’t come out in the wash in New Zealand is bound to come out in the rinse in England.

“We’ve set long-term goals and being number one is part of that. And this tour is also important for our tour to England. It will be more of the same over there, so this tour is not a standalone. Consistency is not just suddenly going to come right – it’s a process that takes time,” Kirsten said.

The seven-week tour is also a momentous occasion for AB de Villiers because he is captaining South Africa for the first time on tour. The 27-year-old sees the tour as an ideal opportunity for some team-spirit to grow.

“I’m very excited because it’s my first tour as captain and it means we’ll get the chance to get some team-spirit going. It’s tough doing that at home because everything’s quite disjointed. On tour, there’s nothing else for you to do but be with your team-mates.

“It was a bit of a rollercoaster against Sri Lanka and I learnt a few lessons. I enjoy being positive, but it didn’t always come off. But I thought the guys responded well to my leadership and it was a step in the right direction for me,” De Villiers said.

Kirsten added that it will be important for the team to acclimatise to the different conditions in New Zealand.

“We’re purposefully going a bit earlier than usual because the guys need a lot of time in the nets. They need time to get used to the pace and bounce, and we’ll have five full days for practice. It is different over there, even the weather – the warmest it gets is about 21 degrees. We need six or seven days to acclimatise because there’s also the jetlag to get over,” Kirsten said.

For the South Africans, there is also the small matter of revenge after New Zealand knocked them out of the World Cup in their ill-tempered last meeting.

Tags:
Category Cricket, Sport

NZ tour a warm-up for England – Kirsten 0

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Ken

South Africa coach Gary Kirsten said that his team’s tour of New Zealand was an important warm-up for their England trip later this year and that it was the Proteas’ responsibility to perform well away from home.
    The South Africa team left Johannesburg for New Zealand on Friday, and will play three T20 internationals, three ODIs and three tests between February 17 and March 27.
    “I believe we have a quality team that has enough skill and talent to confront any conditions. It’s our responsibility to do well around the world in any conditions. It is important if we want to be a champion team to win series in all formats of the game, all over the world,” Kirsten told a news conference at Johannesburg International Airport on Friday.
    “We’ve set long-term goals and this series is part of that. It’s important for our tour to England because it’s going to be a very competitive series. New Zealand aren’t easy to beat at home and we need to stack up performances, to play well consistently, that’s our focus.
    “It will then be more of the same for the England tour. This New Zealand tour is not a standalone event. Developing consistency is not suddenly just going to come right, it’s a process that takes time,” Kirsten said.
    AB de Villiers will be leading the team in the limited-overs matches and he said his first tour as skipper would be an ideal opportunity to move forward in his captaincy, after steering South Africa to a hard-fought 3-2 series win over Sri Lanka at home last month.
    “I’m very excited because it’s my first tour as captain and it means we’ll get the chance to get some team-spirit going. It’s tough doing that at home because everything’s quite disjointed. On tour, there’s nothing else to do but be with your team-mates.
    “It was a bit of a rollercoaster against Sri Lanka and I learnt a few lessons. I enjoy being positive, but it didn’t always come off. But I thought the guys responded well to my leadership and it was a step in the right direction,” De Villiers said.
    Kirsten said it was important the team got into their stride as quickly as possible in New Zealand.
    “We’re purposefully going a bit earlier than usual because the guys need a lot of time in the nets. They need time to get used to the pace and bounce, and they’ll have five good days of practice. It is different over there, even the weather – the warmest it gets is about 21 degrees. We need six or seven days to acclimatise because there’s also the jetlag to get over,” Kirsten said.
    The World Cup-winning India coach said New Zealand’s greatest strength was their ability to think on their feet.
    “They are streetsmart and understand their conditions well,” Kirsten said.
    South Africa’s T20 squad includes three new faces in fast bowler Marchant de Lange, uncapped explosive opening batsman Richard Levi and experienced middle-order batsman Justin Ontong.
    De Lange took seven for 81 in the first innings of his test debut against Sri Lanka, while Ontong has played two tests, 26 ODIs and three T20 internationals for South Africa, the last of which was three years ago.
    Senior players such as Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn have been left out of the T20 squad but will fly out to join the rest of the team before the ODIs.

Tags:
Category Cricket, Sport

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