Ken Borland

While Northern Cape came within a whisker of upsetting the Lions, South-Western Districts suggested that Division II of local cricket will not be weak as they beat Western Province by three wickets with two balls to spare in the CSA Provincial T20 Cup at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley on Saturday.

A weak batting effort by Western Province after they elected to bat saw them slump to 49 for five as seamer Hershell America returned an outstanding three for 22 in his four overs. Western Province were lifted to 130 for seven by Aviwe Mgijima, with a run-a-ball 35, and Kyle Simmonds, who struck a determined 46 not out off 32 balls.

SWD’s other new-ball bowler, Renaldo Meyer, was also excellent, taking one for 20 in his four overs, while off-sinner Pheko Moletsane took two for 12 in two overs.

SWD were indebted in their run-chase to opener Yaseen Valli, who has been around the block for more than a week, as he steered them home with his run-a-ball 55 not out. SWD were five for two inside the first two overs, but Valli and the experienced Andre Malan (21) added 48 for the third wicket to settle them down.

Heath Richards, Moletsane, Meyer and Sean Whitehead then all reached double-figures as they helped Valli seal a big win over their local rivals. Western Province’s three left-arm quicks – Nandre Burger (2-21), Beuran Hendricks (4-1-18-1) and Wayne Parnell (1-29) all bowled well but had too much to do. 

Kagiso Rabada provided the fire up front with three wickets but it was spinner Keshav Maharaj who made the key strikes as he claimed only the second hat-trick for South Africa in Test history to send the West Indies plummeting to 109 for six at lunch on the fourth day of the second Test at St Lucia.

The left-arm spinner removed Kieran Powell (51), Jason Holder (0) and Joshua de Silva (0) with successive deliveries in the penultimate over before lunch, Anrich Nortje, Keegan Petersen and Wiaan Mulder taking catches of increasing difficulty to help Maharaj to the wonderful achievement.

Opener Powell looked in the mood to stick around as the West Indies went in search of a steep target of 324 for victory, but then suddenly decided to tee-up Maharaj and slog-swept him straight to Nortje at deep midwicket. The tall Holder then inside-edged his first ball on to his pad from where it rebounded quickly to short-leg, Petersen taking a sharp catch quite high to his left.

The hat-trick ball saw Mulder snatch a marvellous one-handed grab at leg-slip, diving to his right, as Da Silva tickled Maharaj around the corner.

South Africa’s only other Test hat-trick came in 1960 when fast bowler Geoff Griffin performed the feat against England at Lord’s.

Despite Maharaj’s success, the St Lucia pitch continues to be a haven for fast bowling and Rabada was outstanding up front as he had West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite (6) caught in the slips in his second over of the day.

A vicious, superbly-directed short ball then saw Shai Hope (2) glove a catch to the slips, while Kyle Mayers looked set for bigger things but eventually succumbed to some fine pressure bowling on 34 when he skied a wild pull at a delivery outside off stump from Rabada and Proteas captain Dean Elgar took his second well-judged catch of the morning.

Jermaine Blackwood survived through to lunch on 5 not out, while Kemar Roach is on one. The West Indies were only too happy for the sanctuary of the changeroom after their collapse from 90 for two, losing four wickets for 17 runs, left them still needing 215 runs to level the series with just four wickets standing.

South Africa will be kicking themselves that they didn’t just score a handful more runs or solve their no-ball problem as they made Pakistan sweat in pursuit of a target of just 145, the tourists eventually winning by three wickets with just a ball to spare in the fourth and final T20 at Centurion on Friday evening.

Following a dismal batting display that saw the Proteas bowled out inside their 20 overs for the first time in more than a year, Pakistan made a fast start courtesy of Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman (the Proteas will be having nightmares over those two) adding 91 in nine overs.

Fast bowler Lizaad Williams removed both in the 10th over, Fakhar having blazed his way to 60 off 34 balls, while Babar’s contribution was a mere run-a-ball 24.

Much like in the South African innings, the collapse from there was rapid as Pakistan crashed from 92 for one to 129 for seven.

Pacemen Sisanda Magala (4-0-33-2), Andile Phehlukwayo (2-0-11-1) and Williams (3.5-0-39-2) backed up another excellent spell from wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi (4-0-21-1), and suddenly South Africa were back in the game with Pakistan needing 25 from three overs.

The 18th over by Phehlukawayo went for nine but Magala made a magnificent start to the penultimate over, with three dot balls and a wicket bringing the equation to 16 needed off eight balls. And then he bowled successive no-balls for the second time in the series, the second free hit seeing Mohammad Nawaz (25* off 21) hammer a six that meant only a run-a-ball was needed in the last over.

The Proteas, needing to win the match in order to share the series, started well enough after being sent in to bat as they reached 109 for two in the 13th over. But outstanding seam bowling saw them lose seven wickets for only 35 runs as they were skittled for a meagre 144, posting their lowest all-out total since Australia shot them out for just 96 at Newlands in February 2020.

Aiden Markram again looked in prolific touch, hitting Nawaz’s first four balls for 11 runs, but he was then trapped lbw by the left-arm spinner’s arm ball, a bit unluckily as the batsman’s review showed it was umpire’s call for both height and hitting leg-stump. Janneman Malan scored 33 off 28 deliveries as he put on 57 for the second wicket with Rassie van der Dussen.

The ever-reliable Van der Dussen went on to score 52 off 36 balls, but he had just reached the milestone when things again fell apart for the Proteas around the 13th over, he and captain Heinrich Klaasen (9) being dismissed in successive overs.

Malan and Van der Dussen were the only batsmen to reach double figures as Pakistan’s pacemen, keeping to a good, full length on a pitch that was slower than two days ago, ripped through the rest of the batting.

Faheem was outstanding, taking three for 17 in his four overs, Haris took two for 18 in three-and-a-half overs and Shaheen Shah Afridi also bowled extremely well to concede just 19 runs in his four overs and take a wicket.

The size of their target may have been a meagre 197, but the Dolphins needed a tremendously determined partnership between all-rounders Senuran Muthusamy and Robbie Frylinck to get them home by three wickets in their exciting Momentum One-Day Cup semi-final against the Cape Cobras in Potchefstroom on Monday.

The Dolphins had crashed to 58 for five when the pair came together, but they negotiated a big-turning pitch with aplomb, adding 112 off 132 balls to all but seal victory.

The burly Frylinck was the more imposing of the two as he hammered 62 off 60 balls, while Muthusamy played the ideal support role with his 57 off 82 deliveries.

They were dismissed in successive overs but by then the Dolphins only needed 17 more runs, which captain Prenelan Subrayen and Eathan Bosch sorted out with a trio of boundaries.

Eathan’s brother Corbin had struck two big blows up front, swinging the ball late to remove Mangaliso Mosehle and Marques Ackerman for ducks in the first over.

Off-spinner Imraan Manack, opening the bowling with Bosch, then left the Dolphins with a daunting task as he bowled both Grant Roelofsen (34) and Ruan de Swardt (5) with deliveries that turned a mile.

But the size of the fight, as well as their skill and composure, was too great in Muthusamy and Frylinck and the Dolphins will now meet the winners of Tuesday’s semifinal between the Imperial Lions and the Knights in Thursday’s final.

Opening bowler Frylinck (9.2-0-25-2) and left-arm spinner Muthusamy (9-0-34-2) had also played starring roles in the Dolphins attack as the Cobras, who were sent in to bat, were bowled out for just 196 in the 47^th over.

The Cobras were well-placed at one stage as Tony de Zorzi, who showed great composure in battling through a tough time up front and making 61 off 71 balls, and Jason Smith (37) took them to 83 for one in the 19^th over.

But paceman Ottneil Baartman produced an inspired spell as he took three for 15 in five overs, and the rest of the Dolphins attack just continued to squeeze pressure on the Cobras batsmen.