Ken Borland

The clock is rapidly ticking down to the start of the SuperRugby season for the Bulls, but coach Frans Ludeke is very comfortable with where his team are placed following two impressive warm-up victories over the Cheetahs and Saracens.

His charges impressed with the intensity and pace of their play in scoring three second-half tries in the 30-13 win over the Cheetahs in Polokwane and then running in six tries in the 39-26 victory over Saracens in London.

“We were able to work on certain areas in those games and they gave us exactly what we wanted to help us get our whole game into gear, plus the results went our way. I was impressed with how we protected our ball at the breakdown and our decision-making both on attack and defence,” Ludeke told The Citizen.

His post-mortem did, however, include an admission that the scrums still require work ahead of their SuperRugby opener against the Stormers at Loftus Versfeld next Saturday.

“The Saracens game was a great test, exactly what we wanted. They were good at the breakdown, scrums and mauls and we took a lot out of that game. I’m not worried about the scrummaging, there’s just a few small adjustments needed and we have the ability to do well there. But it’s going to be a huge contest in that area against the Stormers and the scrums will be a focus point next week,” Ludeke said.

His efforts in that regard are complicated by the absence of prop Marcel van der Merwe for three-to-four weeks due to a medial knee ligament injury, but lock Flip van der Merwe, out for two months with a torn pectoral muscle, is the only other first-choice player currently unavailable.

SuperRugby is going the way of American Football in terms of franchises having huge playing squads and Ludeke is delighted by the depth created by the way several youngsters performed in the two warm-up games.

Hanro Liebenberg looks to be the heir apparent to all the wonderful other loose forwards who have made their names at the Bulls, while fellow youngsters like Jacques du Plessis, Marvin Orie, Jamba Ulengo, Travis Ismaiel and Jesse Kriel all have airs of confidence about themselves too.

“It’s exciting to see that talent and credit to the recruitment team for getting those players to Loftus. The way those players reacted against very proper opposition, with several international players, creates good depth for us,” Ludeke said.

The Stormers, ever the bridesmaids and never the bride when it comes to SuperRugby, will come to Pretoria after a tumultuous build-up that has seen their squad hit by several injuries, the suspension of lock Gerbrandt Grobler for steroid use and the announcement that coach Allister Coetzee will be leaving Cape Town.

But the Bulls are taking nothing for granted.

“Next week is when the actual competition starts and we have to take the same energy and momentum into the game against the Stormers. We have to play with accuracy against them. Our first three games are at home, which is ideal, but it’s crucial that we make a good start,” Ludeke said.

Rilee Rossouw was studying at the feet of the master to great effect as he and Hashim Amla gave South Africa a record-breaking start in the second Momentum One-Day International against the West Indies at the Wanderers on Sunday.

South Africa had been sent in to bat in cloudy, cool conditions and they overcame the early new-ball tests as Amla and Rossouw launched them to 142 without loss after 25 overs.

The stand has put the Proteas’ newest ODI opening pair into the record books as the best first-wicket partnership for South Africa against the West Indies, beating the 131 Graeme Smith and Boeta Dippenaar put on in Kingston in 2004/05.

Amla was in prime form from the start, breezing to a 58-ball half-century as he drove and hooked his way to five boundaries, punishing the slightest errors in length by the West Indian bowlers.

Rossouw, who made his fifth duck in 10 innings in the first ODI in Durban, struggled at the start but hung in there and some inspired strokeplay later on in his innings saw him go to a career-best 62 not out.

While Amla always looked in control going to 72 not out off 76 balls, Rossouw had several miscues and was fortunate to survive on 31 when umpire Adrian Holdstock gave him out lbw trying to paddle-sweep left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn.

Rossouw immediately reviewed the decision and, although Snickometer showed no obvious contact with the bat, third umpire Sundaram Ravi overturned the decision leaving Big Benn as gloomy as the weather in London.

 http://citizen.co.za/309031/record-breaking-start-proteas/

Jonathan Trott may have failed on his return to South African soil, but openers Sam Robson and Adam Lyth both scored centuries as the England Lions made an emphatic start to their tour against a Gauteng Invitation XI at the University of Johannesburg’s Soweto Campus Oval on Monday.

Trott may be the centre of attention as he tries to resurrect his international career after a self-imposed exile due to a stress-related condition that left him too mentally vulnerable to play cricket, but the South African-born batsman lasted just 20 minutes and 13 balls at the crease, leaving the spotlight to Robson and Lyth as they powered England A to 361 for four at stumps.

Lyth and Robson added 176 for the first wicket before Robson retired on 109, having stroked 12 fours and a six in a fluent 152-ball innings befitting England’s current Test incumbent opener.

Lyth retired 12 overs later on 106, having started watchfully and then sped up as he faced 171 balls and hit 16 fours and a six.

When an actual wicket did finally occur, it was Trott’s, the 49-Test veteran sparring outside the off stump and being caught behind for six off Keith Dudgeon, a 19-year-old seamer with just one first-class wicket.

James Vince also fell cheaply for seven, caught at cover off Nono Pongolo – a dismissal which advertised the slow nature of the pitch as the ball ‘stopped’ on the batsman – before Alex Lees played some sparkling cricket in going to 82 not out off 136 deliveries.

Jonny Bairstow was also showing signs of living up to his billing as he crunched 32 not out before stumps, capitalising on a second new ball that was woefully used by Gauteng.

Dudgeon (17-6-41-1) and Pongolo (17-4-59-1) both bowled tidily enough on a flat pitch, but fellow seamers Matthew Arnold (16-1-102-0) and Lazarus Mokoena (15-3-73-0) were both expensive.

Left-arm spinner Dale Deeb (22-4-66-0) will be disappointed his accurate bowling did not bring reward, but first-day pitches like the one at the scenic Soweto Campus Oval are not going to provide much turn.

This is a vital tour for the likes of Robson, Lyth and Lees, who are all aiming to be included in England’s touring party to the West Indies in April and, with former head coach Andy Flower watching from the sideline, they all would have kept themselves firmly in the selectors’ thoughts.

“It’s another good opportunity to play high-standard cricket for the Lions and obviously, on a personal level, it’s nice to get runs and put on a good show. I managed to get a partnership going with Adam and we’ve started the tour well before the ‘tests’. It’s going to be a good, hard tour leading up to the West Indies tour, which a number of us are hoping to get on to,” Robson said.

“They bowled pretty well with the new ball and then went quite negative, with a seven-two field and bowling wide, so I had to rein myself in, leave well, not give my wicket away and then cash in later when the bowlers were tired,” Lyth added.

 http://citizen.co.za/302178/england-lions-make-emphatic-start-tour-gauteng-invitation-xi/

Having just claimed their first title of the season in the RamSlam T20 Challenge, the smart money will be on the Nashua Cape Cobras to also mount a strong defence of their crown in the Sunfoil Series and the Western Cape side start their campaign today against the bizhub Highveld Lions at Newlands.

The Lions are already handily placed in the competition, just four points behind the leaders, the Chevrolet Knights, but coach Geoff Toyana has been a shopper for batsmen this week with Alviro Petersen, Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma all with the national side for the first Test against the West Indies at Centurion.

They will, however, welcome back Neil McKenzie and the experienced Jean Symes is also able to fill in, while the Lions will have a strong attack with Hardus Viljoen, Chris Morris and Lonwabo Tsotsobe joined by Kagsio Rabada, who was released by the national team while Bavuma inexplicably was not. Spinner Eddie Leie has also been in great form with the ball, so it all points to an intriguing contest against the powerhouse Cobras side, who have recalled Richard Levi to replace Stiaan van Zyl.

The Knights are hosting the Unlimited Titans in Bloemfontein and they too will want to take their T20 form, where they reached the final, into the four-day competition.

The Titans, by way of contrast, are looking to rebound from a disappointing T20 campaign, in which they finished last, and their well-balanced attack gives them hope.

David Wiese markets himself as a genuine all-rounder and his skills with the new ball, backed by the often scary pace of Marchant de Lange, the steadiness of Ethy Mbhalati and the exciting talent of Junior Dala, plus two spin options in Shaun von Berg and Roelof van der Merwe, means coach Rob Walter is comfortable that he has all the bases covered.

“There’s no substitute for pace and Junior, David, who also brings the quality of his skills, and Marchant all have that. Shaun von Berg also bowled beautifully in a couple of the T20 games,” Walter told The Citizen.

The Knights family was emotionally bruised by their disappointing defeat in the T20 final and coach Sarel Cilliers will also have to dig into his stores of replacement players as Rilee Rossouw, Dillon du Preez and Tumelo Bodibe are all unavailable due to injury.

The Sunfoil Dolphins will be out to arrest a mini-crisis after their poor run in the T20 Challenge as they host the Chevrolet Warriors in Pietermaritzburg.

It’s the Dolphins’ first game in the competition this season and they will want to make their mark. Coach Lance Klusener will be hoping David Miller hits top form again after scoring 364 runs in five innings last season, while Imran Tahir will be eager to rebound quickly from his dropping from the Test side.

The match is the first for the Warriors with new coach Malibongwe Maketa in charge, Piet Botha having resigned after a troubled season thus far.