for quality writing

Ken Borland



Rabada explodes on to international stage & wins fulsome praise from Donald 2

Posted on July 14, 2015 by Ken

Kagiso Rabada has made the most sensational start to a Proteas ODI career since Allan Donald exploded on to the international stage when South Africa returned to world cricket in Kolkata in November 1991, and the former national bowling coach says he believes the 20-year-old prodigy is only going to get better and better.

Due to Apartheid, Donald was already 25 years old when he took five for 29 against India, but Rabada claimed the world record for best figures on ODI debut with his six for 16, including a top-order hat-trick, against Bangladesh in Dhaka.

Donald became one of the greatest bowlers the world has seen, but began his career as a young tearaway with pace to burn, but who was often erratic in terms of control. Rabada’s greatest attribute seems to be his control, at good pace, which is extraordinary for one so young.

“His overall skill just blows me away and even his control is exceptional, it’s a bit freakish. I still think he’s going to get quicker and it stands him in good stead that he’s grooving that control for when the extra pace comes later. He’s already ahead of where he should be, his rhythm is good, he’s tall, athletic and can bowl a heavy ball, and when you combine all of that together, as he grows into his body he’s definitely going to get faster,” Donald told The Citizen at the launch of the Titans’ and Nashua’s Art of Fast Bowling Programme at the weekend.

Rabada came into the national squad last summer when Donald was still the bowling coach, and the spearhead of South Africa’s return to international cricket says the St Stithians product is an absolute pleasure to work with.

“You can just sit back and watch him, his action, ability, athleticism, I don’t have a bad thing to say about him. He has a wonderful work ethic which makes a coach’s job so much easier, he wants to compete so badly and he asks a lot of great questions, which you don’t normally get from a 20-year-old. I just loved him, he’s well-grounded and full of humility as well.

“And he has a natural action, there’s absolutely no need to interfere with that. It’s clean, uncomplicated and all in sync. Are we looking at a legend? I’m pretty sure we are,” Donald said.

 

Bulls on top but trio chasing hard in SA Conference 0

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Ken

This year’s SuperRugby competition is just past the halfway stage and it’s clear that this season’s South African Conference winner could easily be one of four teams.

The current leaders are the Bulls, but just four points separate them from the fourth-placed Stormers and third-placed Sharks, while the Cheetahs are just a point behind.

The Bulls, Cheetahs and Stormers all won this weekend, while the Sharks lost 37-29 to the Chiefs in Hamilton, but collected a bonus point for scoring four tries.

This will be regarded as something of a success for the Sharks, especially since they were 24-0 down after just 17 minutes, and went into the match against the defending champions with several first-choice players out injured or on the bench.

And they could easily have picked up a second bonus point, were it not for a last-minute penalty conceded to Aaron Cruden.

The Bulls maintained a narrow lead at the top of the conference by beating the Waratahs 30-19 at Loftus Versfeld.

The match was a lot tougher than the scoreline suggests, but with the Bulls enjoying in the region of 60% of possession and territory they were clearly the better side, whatever sore loser Michael Cheika might have said after the game.

Waratahs coach Cheika had a full go at Argentinian referee Francisco Pastrana after the loss, which was a bit rich after his team had spent most of the match parked offsides, thereby making it much harder for the Bulls to penetrate their in-your-face defence.

But in such situations the Bulls have a tailor-made solution in flyhalf Morné Steyn and the Springbok calmly collected 25 points through six penalties, a conversion and a try. He looked like he was having a stroll in the park at times, and it was fantastic to see the hero of the 2009 season back at his best.

The Waratahs’ refusal to toe the line when it came to staying on-sides or rolling away in the tackle saw Steyn slot four first-half penalties to put the Bulls 12-5 ahead at the break.

The visitors’ only points in the first half came shortly before half-time when fullback Israel Folau tore through the Bulls’ defences for a brilliant try.

The Bulls generally did a good job in defence, but another lapse four minutes into the second half saw flank Michael Hooper bursting through and replacement prop Paddy Ryan finishing off the try to bring the Waratahs back on level terms at 12-12.

A Steyn penalty, after Ryan had kicked the ball away when miles offside, returned the lead to the Bulls 14 minutes later, but it was clear the persistent offending of the Waratahs was really starting to irk the home side. Captain Pierre Spies had a word with Pastrana, who agreed that Ryan’s offence had been cynical but did not deserve a yellow card because “he’s a front-ranker, you know”, said with a shrug of the shoulders.

The Bulls brushed off Pastrana’s leniency and a compelling mix of forward drives and sending the ball out wide saw them up the intensity on the hour mark. The Bulls were hard on attack, but former Lions star Jano Vermaak then deflected a long pass from Steyn that was intended for the man outside him, and once Folau had pounced on the loose ball, there was little doubt a try would be the outcome at the other end, flyhalf Bernhard Foley getting it.

But with Steyn in regal form and keeping the Bulls going forward, the home side scored 15 points in the last 13 minutes to clinch victory. Replacement scrumhalf Francois Hougaard, who was given a reception worthy of the mayor of Pretoria when he finally returned to action as a 53rd-minute substitute, dived over the side of a ruck to score after Steyn had been stopped just short of the line, before the flyhalf added a penalty and a try of his own.

Cheika may be upset with the referee, but he should perhaps turn his attention to the eight lineouts the Waratahs lost – Juandré Kruger and Flip van der Merwe were superb for the Bulls – and the poor goalkicking of Brendan McKibbin, who succeeded with just one of his four kicks at goal.

The Cheetahs beat the Southern Kings 26-12 but again, the match was tougher than the scoreline suggests.

The Kings had plenty of possession and enjoyed long stints in Cheetahs territory, but they did not have the skill or finishing ability of the hosts on attack.

The Cheetahs were excellent on defence and adept at creating space, and also dominated the breakdowns. Loose forwards Philip van der Walt and Lappies Labuschagne were formidable on defence and also superb on attack, and there is plenty of pace among the backs in the form of Raymond Rhule, Piet van Zyl and Willie le Roux, and turning opportunities into points was the home side’s most notable strength.

It’s always easy to criticise from the comfort of the armchair, but with that in mind, the Cheetahs really should have scored a fourth try in the last 35 minutes for a bonus point that would have put them on top of the conference.

The Stormers saw off the Hurricanes 18-16 in Palmerston North in a game also marred by lenient refereeing.

Steve Walsh should be hauled before the chairman of the referees’ panel to explain why Ben Franks escaped a yellow card, first for punching and then for twice collapsing the Stormers’ rolling maul on his own tryline in the space of two minutes, the Hurricanes having already lost one player for the same offence.

Duane Vermeulen was surely the man of the match as he put in an immense performance at eighthman, making 17 tackles and running 46 bullocking metres with ball-in-hand, the most for the Stormers.

The match-winning try came in the 63rd minute as Gio Aplon ran a fabulous line to back up Vermeulen’s charge off the back of a scrum.

Credit too must go to De Kock Steenkamp for some crucial lineout steals and captain Jean de Villiers for ensuring the Stormers were tactically astute in the way they handled the strong wind blowing down the ground. Hats off too to Bryan Habana for charging down a conversion attempt, those two points being the difference between the two sides in the end.

Sharks coach John Plumtree would have been dismayed by his team’s shoddy start and slack defending in their match against the Chiefs, but the character shown in the fightback and some of the fine attacking play would have pleased him no end.

With the Sharks 24-0 down inside the first quarter, there was fat chance of them getting anything from the game, but the seeds of their revival were sown in the set-pieces, which they dominated in impressive fashion.

Unfortunately, Keegan Daniel seemed to have forgotten this when, 15 minutes before the end of the game, he took a quick tap when the Sharks were awarded a penalty under the Chiefs’ poles, when he really should have called for a scrum, lineout or even kicked the penalty to close the deficit to just five points.

The Chiefs defence scrambled well and loose forward Tanerau Latimer got away with murder when he scooped the ball out of a ruck while on his knee. When the Sharks finally did get back on to attack and Pat Lambie kicked a penalty to make the score 29-34, there were only two minutes remaining.

Daniel then erred again when he went off his feet at a ruck and conceded the late penalty that cost the Sharks a potentially crucial point.

The Sharks also laboured under the burden of having two anonymous wings in Odwa Ndungane and Piet Lindeque, even though their attacking play was much better, forced by the massive early deficit.

Their set-pieces were also excellent, while Lubabalo Mthembu made a highly encouraging first start at eighthman.

http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-04-29-superrugby-wrap-bulls-hang-on-to-top-spot-as-cheetahs-miss-a-trick/#.VYFfXPmqqko

Bumpy road for franchises as 1-Day Cup enters critical stage 0

Posted on May 26, 2015 by Ken

It’s going to be a bumpy road to the Momentum One-Day Cup playoff for the Dolphins, Lions and Titans, who are all in action on Friday night as the competition enters a critical stage with World Cup and SA A call-ups playing havoc with team selection for the franchises.

The Nashua Cape Cobras must rate themselves as being virtually assured of automatic entry to the final as they enjoy a nine-point lead at the top of the log with three matches to play.

Last season’s joint champions have won five of their seven matches, including an excellent five-wicket win over the bizhub Highveld Lions last week at the Wanderers, when they were missing a large proportion of their first-choice side.

But the fortunes of the three teams below them in the standings – the Dolphins (16pts), Lions (15pts) and Titans (13pts) – have fluctuated wildly and one of the franchises needs to get a solid run going in order to cement themselves into second place.

Lions coach Geoff Toyana will be hoping that it will be his team, that has been boosted by the return of several key players, that will take control of their destiny with victory over the Chevrolet Knights at the Wanderers on Friday, while Titans coach Rob Walter will be aiming for similar success as they take on the Cobras in Cape Town in a match-up that is a repeat of last season’s washed out final.

The fact that SA A play their next limited-overs match against the England Lions in Potchefstroom on Saturday means that Toyana is able to use star bowlers like Eddie Leie and Kagiso Rabada, while Hardus Viljoen is also fit again to further boost their attack and experienced campaigners Alviro Petersen and Thami Tsolekile also come back into the line-up.

Toyana said on Thursday that his team’s chances of possibly moving into second place will all come down to their ability to focus on their own skills and getting the execution of those right.

The Knights come to Johannesburg with their hopes of making the playoff all but gone after just one win in seven games, and they will be without key batsman Reeza Hendricks.

Toyana is not going to write them off, however.

“The Knights are a very dangerous team and very competitive in 50-over cricket. They can still get to 20 points so it’s a crunch game for us. If we don’t win then we’re not going to go far in this competition, so it’s important we do well and keep our destiny in our own hands,” Toyana toldThe Citizen on Thursday.

The Unlimited Titans travel to Newlands fresh from a morale-boosting win over the Knights in Kimberley, but are going to have to find replacements for key players like Marchant de Lange, Theunis de Bruyn and David Wiese, who are all with the SA A side.

Albie Morkel is set to make a return to domestic action and the Titans are going to have to decide, depending on pitch conditions, whether to play a second frontline spinner in Tabraiz Shamsi or another seamer in Ethy Mbhalati, while Graeme van Buuren (slow left-arm) and Grant Thomson (medium-pace) are both batting all-rounders competing for a single place.

The Titans will be hoping for more of the same from openers Jacques Rudolph and Henry Davids, who put on 77 for the first wicket in 14.3 overs against the Knights.

The Cobras have more players unavailable than most, but they have been able to make do thanks to the excellent depth they enjoy down in the Western Cape.

Openers Richard Levi and Andrew Puttick have been making bucket-loads of runs, while this season has also seen Sybrand Engelbrecht make strong progress.

Justin Kemp, the old warhorse, can still cart the best of bowlers around the park, while Robin Peterson is another experienced, dangerous campaigner for the Titans to be wary of.

The Sunfoil Dolphins travel to Port Elizabeth to face a Chevrolet Warriors side that has been boosted by the return of Rusty Theron from a knee injury and the availability of Simon Harmer.

Both sides have been in danger of having their 50-over skills decomposing due to lack of use as neither of them have played in the Momentum One-Day Cup since the end of October, but while the Dolphins still have the title to aim for, the Warriors can realistically only build for next season having won just one of their five games thus far.

Against the strengthened Warriors attack, the Dolphins will be relying heavily on three hugely experienced batsmen – Morne van Wyk, Daryn Smit, who had his 31st birthday on Wednesday, and Vaughn van Jaarsveld, who turns 30 on Monday.

http://citizen.co.za/317374/bumpy-road-momentum-one-day-cup-playoff/

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Thought of the Day

    Galatians 5:25 – “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep walking in step with the Spirit.”

    There is only one Christ and all things that are preached in his name must conform to his character. We can only know Christ’s character through an intimate and personal relationship with him.

    How would Christ respond in situations in which you find yourself? Would he be underhanded? Would he be unforgiving and cause broken relationships?

    “The value of your faith and the depth of your spiritual experience can only be measured by their practical application in your daily life. You can spend hours at mass crusades; have the ability to pray in public; quote endlessly from the Word; but if you have not had a personal encounter with the living Christ your outward acts count for nothing.” – Solly Ozrovech, A Shelter From The Storm

     

     



↑ Top