Ken Borland

Theunis de Bruyn decided today was the day to return to form as his commanding, unbeaten innings of 92 put the Northerns Titans in a strong position after the second day of their crucial CSA 4-Day Series match against the Central Gauteng Lions at SuperSport Park on Saturday.

Replying to the Lions’ first innings of 270, Northerns had reached 261/3 when bad light brought the day’s action to a close with just over an hour still scheduled to be played.

De Bruyn, who had scored just 67 runs in four previous innings in the competition this season, came to the crease in the second hour of the day following opener Grant Mokoena’s dismissal for 25, bowled by arguably the ball of the day from Cody Yousuf. The former Proteas batsman played himself in solidly, reaching 16 not out by lunch.

The Titans’ other opener, Neil Brand, had reached a composed half-century by then and the pair of lanky batsmen rammed home their advantage after lunch as they took their second-wicket partnership to 95 before Brand was caught at a deepish square-leg off Malusi Siboto for 81. The left-hander played an excellent innings, but greater things beckoned.

De Bruyn batted on and was left on the brink of his first century since May 2021 when he lashed 113 not out off just 64 balls for SA A against Zimbabwe A. He has faced 168 deliveries and struck eight fours and four imperious sixes.

Heinrich Klaasen (35) helped him in a third-wicket stand of 55 and Sibonelo Makhanya (20*) has so far added 41 with De Bruyn for the fourth wicket.

The Eastern Province Warriors, who are also trying to overtake the Lions at the top of the log, were also frustrated by the weather in Bloemfontein as they reached 166/3 in reply to the Free State Knights’ 227 all out.

Rudi Second (59*) and Diego Rosier (50*) had both scored half-centuries and shared an unbeaten fourth-wicket stand of 99 as EP also put themselves in a powerful position. If they win their last match and the Lions lose to the Titans, then the Warriors will claim the four-day title.

Earlier, Free State had resumed on 198/7 and once Patrick Botha was caught behind off Tiaan van Vuuren for a defiant and dazzling 123, the rest of the innings folded quickly.

The same bowlers did the damage for Eastern Province as on the first day, with Van Vuuren taking 4/46 in 19 overs and Akhona Mnyaka (15-1-54-3) and Mthiwekhaya Nabe (16-3-45-3) sharing the other six wickets.

Scores in brief for other matches

KZN Dolphins 422 (Grant Roelofsen 49, Keegan Petersen 123, Andile Phehlukwayo 107, Prenelan Subrayen 51; Achille Cloete 3/58, Shaun von Berg 3/134) v Boland 129/1 (Pieter Malan 74*, Stiaan van Zyl 40*).

Western Province 576 (Jonathan Bird 128, Yaseen Vallie 44, Gavin Kaplan 73, Daniel Smith 153, George Linde 70; Delano Potgieter 6/87) v North-West 124/3 (Lesego Senokwane 57*; George Linde 2/33).

The Northerns Titans and the Central Gauteng Lions clash at SuperSport Park from Friday in what could be the decisive fixture in deciding this season’s winners of the 4-Day Domestic Series, with both teams looking to field players who have just returned from the Proteas tour of New Zealand.

The Lions, runaway leaders of the four-day competition for most of the season, go into the final round under severe pressure from not just the Titans but also the Eastern Province Warriors.

There is just a 0.48-point gap between the Lions at the top of the log and the Warriors, who travel to Bloemfontein to play the Free State Knights. Northerns are in third place just 6.30 points behind the Lions, so if they beat their Gauteng neighbours and the Warriors are held to a draw by the Knights, then the Titans could claim the four-day crown.

Pivotal to Northerns’ hopes is whether ace off-spinner Simon Harmer, who was in the Proteas squad in New Zealand but did not play, is able to get on the field on Friday. The competition’s leading wicket-taker, with 35 in six matches, is apparently keen to play despite only landing back in South Africa on Thursday afternoon.

With pacemen Dayaan Galiem, Junior Dala and Okuhle Cele all out injured, Harmer would provide some much-needed bite to the attack. In fact, with Tabraiz Shamsi technically available and always keen to show he is not just a white-ball bowler, could the Titans try and surprise the Lions with a spinners’ pitch?

The Lions have lost the most players to the Proteas and have been trying to get permission from CSA to field the likes of Ryan Rickelton and Duanne Olivier, their most successful batsman and bowler respectively. Without them, they have slim pickings to choose from.

Rumours that the Warriors have signed leg-spinner Imran Tahir for the last round of matches are apparently incorrect, but EP coach Robin Peterson will be keeping an anxious eye on the weather. Sources in Bloemfontein say the outlook is for lots of rain, but Peterson said “your guess is as good as mine” when asked about it.

Scenarios

(courtesy official CSA statistician Andrew Samson)

If Lions beat Titans and Warriors don’t win, Lions will finish 1st.

If Titans beat Lions and Warriors don’t win, Titans will finish 1st.

If Lions beat Titans and Warriors win, the team between them with most bonus points will finish 1st.

If Titans beat Lions and Warriors win, the team between them with most bonus points will finish 1st.

If the Lions v Titans match is drawn and Warriors win then Warriors will finish 1st.

Bonus points needed

Assuming that all teams have the same bowling bonus points and results are as above, then in the first 100

overs of their first innings:

Warriors will need to make 25 more runs than Lions to finish above them.

Titans will need to make 292 more runs than Warriors to finish above them.

Titans will need to make 316 more runs than Lions to finish above them.

For every 1 point difference in bowling points between any of these side the run requirements will be adjusted by 50, e.g.

South Africa, chasing a record-breaking 305 to win on a deteriorating pitch, were no match for a ruthless Indian attack at SuperSport Park on Thursday as they were bowled out for 191 to succumb to a 113-run defeat in the first Test.

The Proteas began the final day on 94/4 and India claimed three wickets before lunch and then wrapped victory up with ridiculous ease after the break as the last three wickets fell in the first two overs.

Captain Dean Elgar, who batted for more than four hours in scoring his tenacious 77, was the key wicket to fall before lunch, India’s strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah switching to around the wicket and trapping the left-hander lbw.

Temba Bavuma batted with similar grittiness to his captain, finishing on 35 not out off 80 balls. Quinton de Kock (21) was the only other batsman to score more than 20, but he seemed to be chasing runs rather than trying to save the match and a third loose waft outside off stump saw him chop the ball into his own stumps off Mohammed Siraj.

Elgar admitted that his team had been chasing the game from the first day when poor bowling allowed India to rack up 272/3.

“If the opposition are only three down at the end of Day 1 here, then you’re always going to struggle,” Elgar said. “Them scoring more than 300 after winning the toss and batting first was a massive positive for them.

“But we were behind on runs throughout the four days. There were a lot of learnings for us, we need to get the basics of the game right and we did not have that from a batting point of view.

“It’s never easy against the new ball here, but the top-order know what it’s about. But if you get a good one then you go and watch the rest of the innings.

“They utilised the new ball to a T and their batsmen left very well, especially in the first hour of that first session. Our batsmen need to capitalise on starts,” Elgar said.

Jasprit Bumrah, with 3/50 in 19 overs and Mohammed Shami with 3/63 in 17, were the chief demolishers for India, although Siraj took 2/47 and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin claimed the last two wickets off successive balls to finish with 2/18.

“We had a lot of belief in our bowling unit to get the job done,” India captain Virat Kohli said. “Just the way these guys bowl together, it’s a hallmark of our team, getting a result from that position with a day washed out.

“Shami is an absolutely world-class bowler, among the top-three seam bowlers in the world for me. I’m very, very happy for him to get 200 Test wickets and have an extremely impactful performance,” Kohli added.

Having failed to withstand the heat of the Indian attack at SuperSport Park, the Proteas will now hop into the furnace of the Wanderers in the second Test starting on Monday, but captain Dean Elgar says their confidence has not been dented.

South Africa, bowled out for just 197 and 191, lost the first Test by 113 runs in Centurion on Thursday and a struggling batting line-up is going to have to come to terms quickly with the outstanding Indian pace trio of Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.

“India have a really balanced attack. Shami posed issues for our right-handers and Bumrah always runs in with high energy, he’s always challenging you. You have to be very mindful of both of them,” Elgar said after his brave four-hour 77 was not enough to inspire the rest of the batting line-up, apart from Temba Bavuma, who remained unbeaten on 35.

“And when Mohammed Siraj has his tail up he’s also a bit of a handful.

“But we will not lack confidence going into the Wanderers Test. It’s never nice to lose but we know where we went wrong and we have time to reflect and learn from that.

“You need big runs to compete in Test cricket and we did not execute in the first innings when that was doable. We’ve got to compete against the new ball, but we were behind on the number of runs scored on all four days,” Elgar said.

South Africa’s bowlers also took a while to wake up to what was required, although India’s pacemen certainly enjoyed the benefit of a more lively pitch on the third day as the surface quickened up with the early moisture gone.

India reaching 272/3 at the end of the first day meant they could snooze easily for the rest of the Test match, knowing they were already ahead of the game.