Ken Borland

The log-leading Cape Cobras bounced back from a heavy defeat last weekend as they dominated the opening day of their Sunfoil Series match against the Dolphins at Newlands on Thursday.

Having sent the Dolphins in to bat, the Cobras dismissed them for just 174 and had closed to within 44 runs with six wickets in hand as they reached stumps on 130 for four.

The Cobras had been embarrassed last week at Newlands as they slumped to an eight-wicket defeat at the hands of the Highveld Lions, but a full house of four bowling bonus points has seen them build on their 11.68-point lead at the top of the table.

Left-arm paceman Beuran Hendricks led a top-class bowling effort by the Cobras as he took five for 47, a career-best effort in the four-day competition.

A defiant 92 by opener Divan van Wyk was all that stood between the Dolphins and a total disaster at a cloudy Newlands.

Fast bowler Kyle Abbott, rapidly becoming a candidate for higher honours, kept the Dolphins in the contest as he claimed the important wickets of Alastair Gray (36) and Justin Ontong (28), finishing the day tied with Cobras seamer Johann Louw as the competition’s leading wicket-taker with 30 scalps.

Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj had a well-set Stiaan van Zyl (29) caught at short-midwicket the ball before Ontong’s dismissal for a double strike by the Dolphins, but Qaasim Adams (14*) and Dane Vilas (4*) batted out the rest of the day for the Cobras.

The second-placed Warriors had allowed the Knights off the hook in their match in Bloemfontein, after reducing the hosts to 135 for seven.

The most impressive of centuries by Rilee Rossouw, who reached three figures off just 107 deliveries despite the chaos around him, and the clean-hitting of the in-form tailender Dillon du Preez, who followed up his century last weekend against the Titans with an unbeaten 88 including 13 fours and two sixes, lifted the Knights to 268 all out.

Paceman Gurshwin Rabie was the pick of the Warriors attack, ripping through the middle-order and finishing with four for 63 in 19 overs.

Off-spinner Simon Harmer removed the lower-order to take three for 67.

Du Preez was then given the new ball as reward for his heroic efforts down the order and he trapped Michael Price (0) in front of the stumps with his second delivery.

Captain Davey Jacobs was caught behind off left-arm seamer Romano Terblanche for 18 as the Warriors slipped to 36 for two, but the experienced duo of Arno Jacobs (33*) and Ashwell Prince (24*) had lifted the Eastern Cape side into a better position on 79 for two by stumps.

In Johannesburg, the Titans seemed to have looked upwards at the overcast sky rather than downwards at the pitch when they won the toss and sent the Lions in to bat, the home side cruising to 124 for one at lunch as Dominic Hendricks (74) and Temba Bavuma (62) added 112 for the second wicket.

But the Titans bowlers tightened up considerably when they came out for the afternoon session and claimed five wickets for 82 runs.

When Cliffe Deacon joined fellow veteran Zander de Bruyn at the crease, the Lions had slumped to 223 for six, but the left-hander scored a valuable 20 to help switch the momentum.

When De Bruyn was eventually trapped leg-before by spinner Shaun von Berg for a fighting 65, the Lions had climbed to 303 all out, Imran Tahir (14*) sharing in a rollicking last-wicket stand of 41 in 6.2 overs.

David Wiese was the most successful of the Titans bowlers with three for 47 in 15 overs, while the probing seam bowling of Ethy Mbhalati and Rowan Richards earned them two wickets apiece, although the left-arm quick left the field with injury during the important seventh-wicket stand between De Bruyn and Deacon.

The Titans openers then survived the hostile new-ball spell of Chris Morris as they reached 23 without loss. Jacques Rudolph, the returning international, was dropped by Bavuma in the gully on four in the penultimate over of the day, bowled by the rather more wayward Hardus Viljoen.

http://www.sapa.org.za/secure/view.cfm?id=3632859&srce=search&

Henry Davids had a busy start to the season. In September he was appointed as the Nashua Titans’ new captain for the four-day Sunfoil Series and October saw him making an international name for himself as he finished as one of the top 5 run-scorers in the Champions League T20 extravaganza.

And the 32-year-old wouldn’t have it any other way. For Davids, playing cricket is chiefly for the sheer enjoyment of the game and, even if he gets knocked over early, he believes in playing with a smile on his face.

“My aim is to go out and enjoy myself and to win games for the Titans. I’m big on enjoying the game, that should stay the same whether you score nought or a hundred. Obviously you’re disappointed if you get out for a duck, but you must try not to show it,” Davids says.

Davids was born in Stellenbosch and made his first-class debut for Boland against the New Zealanders in Paarl in 2000/01 and played for the Cobras for six seasons before his career prospects became inert in the Cape and he moved up north to join the Titans in 2010. And he says he’s having the time of his life in Centurion.

“I was the leading run-scorer in the SuperSport Series in 2007/8 [817 @ 48.05] and I had a good season thereafter as well, before breaking my finger and tearing ligaments and then being dropped. I was very confused as to why I had been dropped, but I wasn’t really enjoying my cricket in Cape Town and there were a lot of things going on around the team.

“I was looking for a different challenge and the best cricketing decision was to come to the Titans, a very healthy and successful franchise. I got along with the guys very well and I’m enjoying my cricket the most now,” Davids says.

There has always been an air of adventure in Davids’ batting but, as a senior player now with nearly a hundred first-class games under his belt, he is intent on playing the percentages better.

“I concentrate a lot on the basics now. Anyone can play a cover-drive, but the most difficult thing is getting in and building an innings. To do that, you need to do the little things right,” he says.

Davids has recently also been contributing with some under-rated off-breaks, having been a quick bowler at school before suffering a stress fracture in his back. By then he had already established himself as a bright young batting star, having played in the CocaCola Khaya Majola Week for three years.

And the father of two girls admits that his talent has sometimes only flickered in franchise cricket.

“I’d still like to fulfil my full potential, I haven’t always done it justice in the past,” the scorer of 10 first-class centuries, four in List A and one in Twenty20, says.

But the burden of captaincy is certainly not increasing the pressure on Davids.

“I’ve only captained before at school and academy level, but I think I’ve learnt a lot about the game since my first-class debut in 2000. I guess my personality suits captaincy because I’m very calm and I don’t lose my temper. It’s a great challenge, but I love it. When Matthew Maynard [coach] spoke to me about being captain, he didn’t have to ask me twice. It’s an honour to captain a franchise with such a great history.”

The Davids family hail from the Cape Winelands town of Pniel and his father was a star of the Board leagues playing for the Coronation club.

“My dad was a wicketkeeper/opening batsman and, as a youngster, I thought I must just do the same. I started playing when I was six for the Coronation club’s U12 side,” Davids says.

And the diminutive batsman has had to overcome some early scarring to make it at first-class level.

“My first memory is playing on one of those coir mats, opening the batting  and getting hit on the head. I fell over on to the stumps as well … But I don’t get hit on the head a lot since then … the difference is I’ve learnt how to hook now,” Davids smiles.

A man of simple tastes, Davids says his family is his favourite hobby and his most valuable possession is his second daughter, Ashlyn, born on November 5.

“Being with my family is the best time of my life, I was brought up in a big family. I do enjoy the odd round of golf as well though … “ he says.

During that purple patch in 2007-2008, Davids played a couple of games for South Africa A, scoring a century against Sri Lanka A in Benoni, and he admits to still dreaming about playing international cricket, although he knows the chances are slim.

“Of course I still dream about it. The body’s still lasting, I’m in good nick, but I just want to go out and enjoy my cricket and win games for the Titans.”

After more than two months of limited-overs cricket, Davids is now turning his attention back to leading the Titans in the Sunfoil Series, beginning with a crunch game against the log-leading Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras in the Mother City from December 20. It will be a mammoth encounter between the defending champions and the team who won the competition the previous two seasons.

The Titans have had a lean time thus far in the competition, with just 13.32 points from a loss and a draw in their two matches.

But Davids is certain his team is up to the challenge of lifting themselves off the bottom of the log.

“We’ll just concentrate on getting the basics right and if we do that, we can beat any team. We’ve been playing in patches, we still haven’t hit our straps, but if we play to our full potential, then the sky’s the limit!”

The final SuperSport Series trophy has been inscribed with “2011/12 champions Nashua Titans” but coach Matthew Maynard has imprinted a fresh mindset on his team for the new four-day competition, the Sunfoil Series.

“We’re trying to win the title, not defend it. It’s a slightly different mindset, but it means we just want to win every game. It’s obviously a massive competition for us and we know the opposition will have a slightly different take on us,” Maynard said at SuperSport Park on Tuesday.

The Titans will also be led by a new captain this year in Henry Davids, and Maynard said the appointment was made bearing in mind the disruption to the team caused by call-ups to their numerous national players.

“At this stage of Henry’s career, it’s definitely the right move. While Martin van Jaarsveld is very vocal and leads from the front, Henry is more likely to just go round and have a quiet word with the boys. He’s the guy I see taking the team forward.

“While someone like Faf du Plessis may be viewed as a more natural leader, his international commitments mean there would be too much disruption to the team and I’m big on not having disruptions to the team.”

Davids himself said he was excited by the challenge and, having averaged 35.65 in four-day cricket for the Titans, with just two centuries in 33 innings since joining the franchise in 2010/11, he is hoping the captaincy will also inspire him to greater deeds with the bat.

“It’s just an extra responsibility and I’m sure it will bring out the best in me. I enjoy challenges and I’ve been inspired by them in the past.

“My personality is to stay very calm and hopefully that will rub off on the team. They are very calm usually and I can be stern where needed too,” Davids said.

The Titans will go into their opening Sunfoil Series match, against the Knights in Kimberley from Thursday, already weakened by international call-ups for Du Plessis and Farhaan Behardien.

“It’s obviously tough losing Farhaan and Faf, and then Jacques Rudolph will be going on tour to Australia, but we’ll manage as we did last year and cover it. The players that came in last season all put their hands up, it wasn’t just two or three players that won us the SuperSport Series,” Maynard said.

The Titans are likely to go into the game against the Knights with two left-arm spinners in Paul Harris and Roelof van der Merwe, with Davids providing the off-break variety, while the pace bowling stocks are healthy with Ethy Mbhalati, CJ de Villiers, left-armer Rowan Richards and David Wiese, the other genuine all-rounder in the team.

The batting will be heavily dependent on Rudolph, Heino Kuhn and Davids, with two players in the top-order who are still learning their trade at this level in Tumelo Bodibe and Pieter Malan.

Davids sees the Knights as “tricky” opposition and one of the main challengers to their four-day title.

“The Knights are very tricky and they’ve been up there challenging since the start of the franchise competition. We’re expecting a great challenge and, even though there is no weak franchise in South Africa at the moment, we’re expecting the Knights and Cobras to give us the most problems,” Davids said.

LIKELY TITANS TEAM – Jacques Rudolph, Tumelo Bodibe, Pieter Malan, Henry Davids, Heino Kuhn, David Wiese, Roelof van der Merwe, CJ de Villiers, Paul Harris, Ethy Mbhalati, Rowan Richards. 12th man: Shaun von Berg.

http://www.supersport.com/cricket/domestic-four-day/news/120918/Titans_have_fresh_mindset_for_title_defence

The Highveld Lions have always said all they needed to challenge for the four-day domestic title was a more penetrative bowling attack and new coach Geoffrey Toyana is confident that his team now have the weaponry to win the Sunfoil Series this season.

“In the past our strength has been our batting and our problem was the bowling. But that’s now been solved because we’ve signed Hardus Viljoen and Imran Tahir, and there’s Chris Morris coming through as well,” Toyana said at the Wanderers on Monday.

“Hopefully they will all bowl well for us, plus there’s Garnett Kruger back with us as well. But the biggest thing is for us to play good, consistent cricket in all formats. In the past, we’ve been good in one format but poor in the others.”

Alviro Petersen, the Lions captain, shared his coach’s enthusiasm, saying the Gauteng/North-West franchise would go into the competition with a new-look attack.

“The whole format of our attack has changed, we now have three strike bowlers and one holding bowler, plus Zander de Bruyn can do a holding job for us as well. The bowling was our problem area, you have to take wickets to win four-day matches. We’ve done well with our batting, but now the bowling has to improve,” Petersen said.

The Lions team is likely to be a blend of experienced senior players such as De Bruyn, Neil McKenzie, Petersen and Thami Tsolekile and exciting new prospects like Chris Morris, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock and Pumelela Matshikwe. The mix excites Toyana.

“It’s a good thing to have that mix and I’ve appointed Neil to work with Temba Bavuma this season, while Alviro will mentor Quinton de Kock. Plus there’s Stephen Cook around too so there’s experience and youth, and it’s a good mix,” Toyana said.

The Lions begin their Sunfoil Series campaign against the Cobras in Potchefstroom on Thursday, before playing the Dolphins in Johannesburg from September 27. But then, in a quirk of scheduling, they will change to T20 action with the Champions League taking precedence.

“I can live with it, there are no issues, it’s easier to go from four-day cricket to T20 than the other way round,” Toyana said.

Petersen reckoned that the two four-day games would be a good build-up for the Lions as they look to celebrate a lucrative payday in the Champions League.

“It will be good for us, those two four-day games will give us a good base. Hopefully we’ll spend a lot of time batting and bowling and we’ll be at 100% going into the Champions League,” Petersen said.

“The last couple of years, we’ve been building a team to win the four-day competition and now we’ve got the squad, there’s a good vibe around the team.

“Geoff’s style is different, as with every coach. He’s more relaxed. The Lions have matured as a side, Dave Nosworthy did a great job steadying the ship, and now Geoff allows the guys just to express themselves. He also communicates well with both the young and senior players,” the national team opener said.

“The players must relax, I want them to start enjoying playing cricket again, that has been missing. But we want to hit the season running. We tend to only wake up after two or three games, so I’ve emphasised that we need a good start,” Toyana said.

http://www.supersport.com/cricket/domestic-four-day/news/120917/Toyana_confident_Lions_have_the_weaponry