Ken Borland

Pieter Malan showed he is obviously still one of the best opening batsmen in the country when he batted the Boland Rocks through to the safety of a draw in their CSA 4-Day Domestic Series match against Western Province in Paarl on Monday.

Malan batted through the 119 over innings to score an extremely disciplined 117 not out off 349 balls to deny Western Province on the final day. Boland, who were 177 runs behind on first innings, began the final day on 106 without loss, still trailing by 71.

But Isma-eel Gafieldien was only able to add one run to his overnight score of 60 before he was trapped lbw by left-arm paceman Wayne Parnell.

Left-arm spinner Kyle Simmonds (45-16-81-3) then really raised Western Province’s hopes for a victory with a three-wicket burst that left Boland on 178/4.

But Malan found an able partner in the in-form Ferisco Adams, who scored 50 not out as the pair stayed together for 30 overs to secure the draw with Boland closing on 269/4.

The other match that went into the fourth day, between the Northerns Titans and the KZN Dolphins at SuperSport Park, was also drawn after the final day was washed out by rain.

Northerns, trailing by nine runs on the first innings, were left on the overnight score of 125/1 in the second innings.

The amazing thing about the Marakele National Park is you drive through the entrance gate into the Acacia bushveld – areas of dense dry thornbush interspersed with more open grassy or shrubby areas – just over a thousand metres above sea level, seeing arid country specials like Pied Babbler and Great Sparrow; and less than 20 kilometres away you can be in the mountainous vegetation, reminiscent of the Drakensberg, of Lenong Peak, at an altitude of more than 2000 metres.

From the arid woodlands of the western parts of the park, one is transported into a different world of low cloud and windswept grassland with almost alpine vegetation and four different species of Proteas.

There is a viewpoint at the end of the Lenong Drive, making the daunting single-lane mountain pass along a concrete track all the more worthwhile.

We had already seen Cape Vulture, soaring high overhead, the third bird we saw driving through the entrance gate earlier that morning, after bushveld regulars Chinspot Batis and Southern Black Tit.

But apart from stunning scenery, the Lenong viewpoint, at an altitude of 2039m, also provides the most convenient view of the Cape Vulture breeding colony: at about 800 breeding pairs it is one of the largest in the world for this threatened raptor.

It is both a serene and exhilarating sight to see these large scavengers floating and wheeling around the cliffs across a valley to the south-west of the viewpoint.

Just as thrilling was to discover an inquisitive pair of Buffstreaked Chat hopping around the small rocks at our feet. This striking bird is a familiar resident of the more moist Drakensberg grasslands and this population in the Waterberg is isolated.

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They were joined by a male Mocking Chat, standing proud with his glossy black plumage glistening in the sun, Cape Rock Thrush and busy Cape and Cinnamonbreasted Rock Buntings on the ground.

But it was the Chats that stole the show and my wife Lauren gave the spot the entirely fitting name of ‘Chatty Corner’.

Descending down the mountain, there was still another high-altitude specialist waiting for us in the form of a Striped Pipit, at 1791m above sea level (a.s.l.), which flew off the road and into the grass and rocks alongside.

Red Hartebeest were also enjoying the lengthy highveld grasslands close to the road.

Descending still further down the hairpin bends of Lenong Drive, at 1375m a.s.l., the rocky outcrops and shrubby grassland is ideal habitat for rock thrushes, but it was still unexpected to come across the Short-Toed Rock Thrush, which is apparently only sporadically found in the Waterberg. But there it was with just a hint of white flecking on the forehead and, of course, the blue-grey mask stopping at the throat rather than on the breast as in Sentinel Rock Thrush.

I was relieved to only come across our first Elephant once we had returned to the plains, with their open tree savanna and rich grassland around the wetlands, along with patches of thicker woodland. I have had the misfortune of having to reverse down the steep narrow pass at pace while being chased by one of those behemoths, which is far from a peaceful experience.

Heading back to our rustic but very comfortable thatched chalet at Griffons Bush Camp, one heads back along the base of the very mountains that not so long ago we were summiting.

The thornbush shrubland and deciduous forest, which is rather dry in May, starts to give way to more moist savanna in the shade of the cliffs. Passing through areas with more substantial understorey, I was delighted to see the secretive Coqui Francolin, South Africa’s smallest francolin.

Back at Griffons, we were given a warm welcome by Foxy the tame Meerkat, who doesn’t mind a scratch but does have quite a nip on him!

The broadleaved woodland around Griffons is a good place for bird parties foraging through the canopy and lower down, and seeing White Helmetshrike and Greyheaded Bush Shrike clicking and working their way up from the ground to the crowns of the trees, was a highlight, as was the presence of a Striped Kingfisher.

Sightings List

Chinspot Batis
Southern Black Tit
Cape Vulture
Forktailed Drongo
Blackbacked Puffback
Warthog
Southern Boubou
Cardinal Woodpecker
Brubru
Great Sparrow
Crested Barbet
Pied Babbler
Blue Waxbill
Black Flycatcher
Southern Masked Weaver
Tsessebe
Blue Wildebeest
Plains Zebra
Yellowbilled Hornbill
Giraffe
Ostrich
Goldenbreasted Bunting
Arrowmarked Babbler
Blackeyed Bulbul
Grey Lourie
Rock Martin
Chacma Baboon
Cinnamonbreasted Rock Bunting
Buffstreaked Chat

Cape Bunting
Cape Rock Thrush
Mocking Chat
Streakyheaded Canary
Striped Pipit
Red Hartebeest
Familiar Chat
Yellowfronted Canary
Short-Toed Rock Thrush
Elephant
Rattling Cisticola
Striped Kingfisher
Helmeted Guineafowl
Impala
Nyala
White Helmetshrike
African Hoopoe
Coqui Francolin
Greater Kudu
Speckled Mousebird
Yellowthroated Sparrow
Meerkat
Greyheaded Bush Shrike
Cape White-Eye
Redbilled Woodhoopoe
Glossy Starling

JOHANNESBURG, Gauteng (22 October) – “This is a very demanding golf course and you have to know where to miss,” comeback golfer Anton Haig said on Friday after he seized a share of the lead midway through the Blair Atholl Championship delivered by The Courier Guy.

This knowledge came in very handy for the 35-year-old golfer who is enjoying his second career on the Sunshine Tour, as he fired a three-under-par 69 to catch joint first-round leader Rupert Kaminski on seven-under-par.

Haig burst on to the scene in the mid-2000s and even won the lucrative Johnnie Walker Classic on the European Tour in 2007. But by 2011 he was taking a break from the game due to persistent back problems. But he returned to the Sunshine Tour in 2018 and the Johannesburg-based golfer has played the lengthy Blair Atholl Golf and Equestrian Estate course many times and he said this experience has proven invaluable.

“It’s a very demanding course, the fairways look quite wide but they’re not and the course is so long. You need to miss in the right spots and fortunately I’ve played a lot here so I know which side not to miss on. I know the back ledges and slopes better than most, which definitely helped,” Haig said after his impressive round.

Haig said his play from tee-to-green on Friday was excellent, but his putter, which was hot in the first round, went cold in the second round. He will try to get both aspects of his game working well on the weekend as he chases his first win on the Sunshine Tour since his comeback.

“The greens were really receptive after the rain came in in the morning – fortunately for just three or four holes – and I was hitting the ball really well. But I had 32 putts today after just 26 yesterday. So my ball-striking was really good today but my putting was a bit off.

“I’m definitely looking to score on the par-fives, but you have to really knuckle two shots to get on to some of them, four of the par-fives are more than 600 yards. So my length is a good advantage,” Haig said.

Kaminski, off in the afternoon in a fresh wind, shot a one-under-par 71 on Friday to go to seven-under for the tournament, while Riekus Nortje, who shared the lead with him after the first round, dropped two shots coming in to finish with a level-par 72.

That left Nortje tied for third with three other golfers – Heinrich Bruiners (71), Neil Schietekat, whose 68 included a double-bogey at the tough par-four 15^th, and Luke Brown (69).

Jayden Schaper produced the round of the day, a tremendous 65 which included an eagle three on the 606-yard fifth hole, to climb to five-under-par, sharing seventh with Kyle Barker (71).

Cricket-lovers in Kimberley can look forward to being the first spectators to resume watching live cricket at the ground, with CSA confirming that they are finalising plans to have a crowd in attendance for the first time since the Covid virus spread uncontrollably through the country 19 months ago at next week’s T20 Provincial Knockout Cup.

With government having now given permission for up to 2000 spectators to be allowed as long as all Covid procedures and precautions are followed, cricket is likely to be the second sport to open its doors, after 2000 vaccinated fans were able to watch Bafana Bafana beat Ethiopia 1-0 in their World Cup qualifier earlier this week in Soweto.

The CSA T20 Provincial Knockout Cup resumes with the quarterfinals on Tuesday at the Diamond Oval.

“Chances are that we will have our first set of spectators for the finals,” a CSA spokesperson confirmed to The Citizen on Wednesday evening. “We are finalising the logistics and we should be making an announcement soon.”

Tuesday’s action sees South-Western Districts take on the Northerns Titans, and then the Free State Knights, who used to have Kimberley as one of their home venues, play Western Province. KZN Dolphins versus Eastern Province Warriors and Boland Rocks against North-West Dragons are the other quarterfinals, both to be played on Wednesday.

The semi-finals will then take place on Thursday and then the final will be held on Friday.

SA Rugby announced earlier on Wednesday that fully vaccinated supporters will be allowed to attend both club and professional matches from now on. But the four franchises are all overseas playing in the United Rugby Championship and the first senior professional rugby match to be open to spectators is likely to be on November 6 at Loftus Versfeld when the Carling Champion XV take on Kenya.