Ken Borland

Siya Kolisi taking just 16 minutes to score his first try for his new team summed up a dazzling start for the Sharks, laying the platform for a 45-12 win over the Bulls in their preparation fixture in Durban on Friday night.

The Sharks brushed off the sodden conditions, Kings Park resembling a swamp, scoring five tries in the first 25 minutes to race into a 31-5 lead. Their fast start was enabled by their first two scrums being massively dominant, earning penalties which first set up hooker Fez Mbatha for a try and then earned a penalty try (and a yellow card for Bulls hooker Schalk Erasmus) inside the first eight minutes.

The Bulls were on the board after 13 minutes, Kolisi almost intercepting flyhalf Morne Steyn’s pass to Marnus Potgieter, but the outside centre showed great skill to take the ball outside his man and break the line before passing out wide for eighthman Nizaam Carr to score.

But the Springbok captain had his moment of glory just three minutes later. A Sharks attack seemed to be going nowhere, but flyhalf Boeta Chamberlain and wing Sbu Nkosi, changing direction to good effect, sparked something. Nkosi provided the telling break, Kolisi was up in support and he powered through two tacklers to score.

Kolisi’s debut lasted until the 50^th minute, longer than coach Sean Everitt said he expected, but that was due to eighthman Sikhumbzo Notshe rolling an ankle in the first half and needing to be replaced. Kolisi had a quiet but industrious game, wearing the No.6 jersey but playing more of a traditional eighthman linking role. His last action came when he was bumped off in midfield by Bulls centre Dawid Kellerman, on his way to the tryline on a monstrous run from halfway.

Centre Marius Louw and prop Ox Nche both scored after Kolisi and then, with the Bulls down to 13 men in the last 10 minutes, replacements Rynhardt Jonker and Sanele Nohamba added two more tries to the home side’s tally.

The Bulls improved in the scrums and kept the Sharks scoreless between the 25^th and 74^th minutes and their largely second-string side never lacked for enthusiasm and effort. But they made too many mistakes and ill-discipline was once again a problem as Marius van der Westhuizen was an unsympathetic referee. Which is what SA Rugby are expecting from the officials up north.

Scorers

Sharks – Tries: Fez Mbatha, penalty try, Siya Kolisi, Marius Louw, Ox Nche, Rynhardt Jonker, Sanele Nohamba. Conversions: Boeta Chamberlain (3), Nohamba.

Bulls – Tries: Nizaam Carr, Dawid Kellerman. Conversion: Morne Steyn.

South Africa on Thursday named 29 different players for their ODI and T20 matches against Pakistan next month, which, even taking into account the larger squads needed for bio-secure bubbles and the players released to go to the IPL, could create the dangerous impression that the selectors are ‘calling all pockets’ to an extent.

A 22-man squad for the three ODIs that kick off the series includes uncapped players in Sisanda Magala, outstanding with the white-ball for the Lions, and in-form paceman Lizaad Williams, and returns for Aiden Markram, who is in a rich vein of form in red-ball cricket, all-rounder Wiaan Mulder and fast bowler Daryn Dupavillon.

George Linde is surprisingly not named in the squad, with Warriors veteran Jon-Jon Smuts filling the spin-bowling all-rounder berth. Andile Phehlukwayo, out of form and lacking game-time due to injury, hangs on to his place in the ODI squad, but will surely be under pressure from the likes of Mulder and Magala.

For the four-match T20 series, IPL stars Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, David Miller and Kagiso Rabada will vacate their places, leading to call-ups for uncapped players in the hard-hitting Wihan Lubbe, Williams and pace bowler and lower-order hitter Migael Pretorius.

From the T20 squad that toured Pakistan last month, batsman Ryan Rickelton and fast bowlers Okuhle Cele and Nandre Burger, none of whom played a game, have been left out of the squad, while Phehlukwayo, Junior Dala, Smuts, Jacques Snyman and Glenton Stuurman all join the club as players dropped from the 17-man T20 squad.

While South Africa have traditionally viewed the T20 squad as a finishing school for new talent, a way to introduce new players to the Proteas culture, there is a World Cup coming up in just seven months time and new captain Temba Bavuma would no doubt like to start gelling his first-choice unit together.

Throwing the selection net wide is all good and well, but the selectors’ efforts will surely need to become more focused after this series.

Squads

ODI – Quinton de Kock, Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen, Jon-Jon Smuts, Andile Phehlukwayo, Wiaan Mulder, Sisanda Magala, Keshav Maharaj, Junior Dala, Kagiso Rabada, Lutho Sipamla, Lizaad Williams, Anrich Nortje, Beuran Hendricks, Daryn Dupavillon, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi.

T20 – Temba Bavuma, Janneman Malan, Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, Pite van Biljon, Kyle Verreynne, Heinrich Klaasen, Wihan Lubbe, Dwaine Pretorius, George Linde, Bjorn Fortuin, Sisanda Magala, Migael Pretorius, Lutho Sipamla, Beuran Hendricks, Lizaad Williams, Tabraiz Shamsi.

That Cricket South Africa are taking no chances with Covid was borne out on Wednesday as Titans batsman Theunis de Bruyn was pulled from the final day of their 4-Day Domestic Series match against the Knights in Centurion.

De Bruyn has had close contact with someone who has subsequently come down with symptoms of Covid and tested positive for the virus. Although the Proteas batsman has himself tested negative, the decision was made on Friday morning to pull him from the game between the two pool leaders as a precautionary measure, with another international, Heinrich Klaasen, replacing him.

Wicketkeeper/batsman Klaasen was initially rested from the game with a knee niggle, but now could well get a bat in the afternoon with the Titans on 258 for two in their second innings at lunch, leading by 107.

The 28-year-old De Bruyn has a franchise batting average of 46.98 and was considered a hot property in the early stages of his career. But in recent years he has been dogged by injuries, eye problems and illness and has lost his Proteas place after playing 12 Tests and two T20 Internationals.

De Bruyn scored a century in the opening match of the season against the Cape Cobras, but in 10 innings since then he has just 146 runs to his name, including 28 in the first innings of the game against the Knights.

David Miller is an outdoor kind of guy so being confined to his Lahore hotel room is taking a bit of getting used to, and on the field of play the 31-year-old says the lack of bounce on the Gaddafi Stadium pitch is going to be the main thing the Proteas have to adapt to in their T20 series against Pakistan which starts on Thursday afternoon, 3pm SA time.

South Africa take on Pakistan with only three members of the Test squad involved, so there has needed to be a period of acclimatisation, which Miller said has gone very well.

“I’ve only been to Pakistan before for a very brief time, only three games for a World XI in 2017, but we’ve all quickly realised how the conditions are here – the bounce is a lot lower than what we’re used to. But there are some venues in South Africa where the bounce is pretty low too and we have all travelled enough to adapt. It will be important to assess and adapt very quickly as we go along.

“I’m still getting used to playing in bubbles though, and I think the longer you play in a pandemic situation, the harder it gets. It’s quite restricting and you don’t have that free movement we’re used to, so it is quite challenging. Fortunately this tour is pretty short. We just need to sort ourselves out mentally and find a place we can come together as a team and address whatever issues there are as quickly as possible,” Miller said on Wednesday.

As a team, with just 218 T20 International caps between them and Miller having 78 of those and another 77 being shared between Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi and Reeza Hendricks, the Proteas acknowledge they are the underdogs but the nature of the format and the eagerness of the players being given the opportunity to stake World Cup claims, naturally levels the playing field.

“There’s been a lot of chat about this being a young side with new, inexperienced players, but they are being given a lot of opportunity to step up in a World Cup year, especially the guys who haven’t played before. We’ve prepared extremely well and as a senior player I would like to step up both on and off the field. It’s a really refreshing group and we are here to win and shine as much as we can.

“We respect the Pakistan side, but in T20 if you prepare well and mentally you’re up for the game, if you’re really switched on and stick to your processes, then I don’t see why the underdogs can’t win. We will come under pressure, but that’s a great opportunity to step up, we know we’re representing our country and we want to show the Proteas in the best possible light,” Miller, who has played 320 T20s at domestic, franchise and international level (second only to AB de Villiers’ 325 amongst South Africans), said.