Ken Borland

Matthew Boast

One of the clutch of new players being groomed to be stars at SuperSport Park, Matthew Boast is a lively pace bowler and useful lower-order batsman who hits the ball hard. Educated at Hilton College in KwaZulu-Natal Inland, Boast then joined Tuks and was a key member of the SA U19 team in the 2022 Junior World Cup.

His potential was shown when he was bought by the Pretoria Capitals as a rookie for a whopping R1.6 million for the second season of the SA20. Boast played one first-class match, taking four wickets, and three 50-over games, claiming five wickets, for the Titans last season. He will turn 22 in February.

Keegan Petersen

Having lost his place in the Proteas Test team, Keegan Petersen has decided to reignite his career by moving from his birthplace in Paarl to join the brilliant cricket therapists at the Titans. There is a proud tradition of batsmen from the Western Cape coming to stay at SuperSport Park and scoring plenty of runs.

Having played a starring role in South Africa’s epic series win over India in 2021/22, Petersen played just three Tests last summer and had his struggles domestically for Boland as well. But he showed his enduring class in the One-Day Cup, scoring 383 runs at an average of 76.60 and a strike-rate of 82.01, with a century and three fifties.

A gutsy cricketer who is always up for a challenge, Petersen has always worked diligently on his batting, and even though he is 31 years old now, he is still learning and growing his game. Technically sound, Petersen’s highly-esteemed strokeplay is always worth a watch as he massages the ball around the field, but he also has great resilience.

Corbin Bosch

Corbin Bosch adheres to the principle of going hard whether it is with ball or bat, making him one of the Titans’ most valuable all-rounders, particularly in the white-ball formats.

The 30-year-old has developed into a reliable lower-order batsman, and he was especially good in first-class cricket last season, averaging 42.75 and taking his tally of career half-centuries to eight.

But the Durban-born Tuks product first made his name as a mean and nasty fast bowler, who often creates pressure and wickets for the bowler at the other end. Bosch has followed in the footsteps of his late father Tertius, a bowler of great pace for Northerns who played a Test and two ODIs for South Africa in 1992.

Corbin Bosch enjoyed an excellent T20 campaign for the Titans last season, playing in 13 matches and taking 13 wickets, while conceding just 7.33 runs-per-over.

Neil Brand

Half-a-dozen seasons of consistency at the Titans with both bat and ball earned Neil Brand reward last season when he made his Test debut for South Africa, and was given the honour of captaining the team on their tour of New Zealand.

Although Brand did not fare as well as he usually does with the bat for the Titans last season, he showed his adaptability as a cricketer when he moved into the middle-order for the CSA T20 Challenge and did a fine job, averaging 34.83 and scoring at a strike-rate of 130.62.

He made a considerable contribution with the ball throughout the season, though, his left-arm spin netting him 12 wickets in four red-ball matches at an average of just 16.75, while he was tough to score off in the white-ball formats with economy rates of 5.25 in one-day cricket and 6.83 in the T20s.

Generally a top-order batsman, Brand will be relied upon again this season to get the Titans on the front foot, while his bowling has also earned respect.

Dewald Brevis

The weight of expectation on young Dewald Brevis, the 2022 U19 World Cup Player of the Tournament, does not stunt the growth of his game as his second full season of senior cricket saw him once again produce several moments of great skill and daring.

He came of age in four-day cricket, averaging 40.63 with two centuries, and he also made two hundreds in one-day cricket, averaging 53.14 at a strike-rate of 97.89 as he collected 372 runs, the most for the Titans.

The maker of the highest individual score by a South African in T20 cricket – his breakthrough 162 off just 57 balls for the Titans against the Knights in 2022/23 – only played three matches in the shortest format for the franchise last season, due to his IPL commitments.

His two 50-over centuries were contrasting efforts: Brevis made 100 off only 80 balls against the Dragons, and also scored 116 off 118 deliveries, out of a total of 217, the Titans having lost their first three wickets with just one run on the board, against Western Province.

The 21-year-old’s maiden four-day hundred (110) came in the thrilling win over the Warriors, and he then scored 113 a week later in a victory over the Dragons in Potchefstroom. Those back-to-back displays really attracted attention and the further development of this precocious, massive talent will be eagerly watched this season.

Junior Dala

If ever there was a player who you could choose to represent the ultimate professional, then Junior Dala would be your man. Supremely fit, willing to charge in all day and constantly growing his skills with both ball and bat, Dala was the leading wicket-taker for the Titans in the four-day competition, taking 23 in just four matches at an excellent average of only 22.47. His six for 58, and nine wickets in the match, against the Lions at SuperSport Park almost bowled the Titans into the final.

Capped a dozen times for South Africa in white-ball cricket, Dala initially played for Gauteng and Easterns, but joined the Titans in 2013. His outstanding resilience and athleticism have now been complemented by great clarity in terms of game-plan, and this affable stalwart of Titans cricket will no doubt continue to be a key strike bowler this season.

Donovan Ferreira

Born and bred in Pretoria, Ferreira got off the mark in international cricket with a second-ball six, which epitomises the boldness of his batting. But the 26-year-old is way more than just a hard-hitting basher: Ferreira is a nice package across the board as a cricketer – an adept finisher but someone who is also crossing over with success into four-day cricket, a handy off-spinner and a part-time wicketkeeper.

Having been plucked out of civilian life as a salesman by Titans coach Mandla Mashimbyi, Ferreira continues to grow his game and is now a sought-after player in leagues across the world.

Ferreira hammered 353 runs in seven innings, at an average of 58.83 and a strike-rate of 137.35 for the Momentum Multiply Titans in the One-Day Cup, ensuring a positive end to most innings. He collected 18 sixes during the competition, more than anyone else.

He showed his bowling prowess by taking 10 wickets in the four-day match against North-West in Potchefstroom, while his brave 96 against Western Province at Newlands was his red-ball batting highlight.

Dayyaan Galiem

After being named the Titans’ 2019/20 Player of the Season, Galiem has had terrible misfortune with injuries. Nevertheless, he keeps popping up with crucial contributions with both bat and ball, and in all three formats. As a bowler, the all-rounder has lively pace and swings the ball prodigiously, making him a real handful when conditions are conducive. Galiem is also a very capable batsman down the order, as shown by his average of 23.82 for the Titans in four-day cricket, while his strong hitting has seen him employed in a finishing role in white-ball cricket. Alongside Donovan Ferreira, he famously steered the Titans to the CSA T20 Challenge title in 2022/23 with a top-class, matchwinning, unbeaten effort with the bat, while last season he had a strike-rate of 152.63 with the bat in the same competition to show his ability to punish attacks.

Sibonelo Makhanya

Very pleasing on the eye whether as a strokeplayer or when dashing around the field, Sibs Makhanya was one of the Titans’ most consistent batsmen last season in both four-day cricket and the T20 competition.

He had a marvellous T20 tournament, scoring 348 runs, second only to Rivaldo Moonsamy for the Titans, at a strike-rate of 132.82 and he passed 50 three times, more than any other Titans batsman. He shone as a true middle-order entertainer, bringing great urgency, quick running between the wickets and tremendous improvisation and skill to the crease, as well as being one of the best fielders in the competition.

In first-class cricket, he notched four half-centuries, averaging 31.75 for the campaign.

Makhanya was a member of Aiden Markram’s 2014 junior world cup winning team and has also been a popular captain of the Titans.

Rivaldo Moonsamy

The wicketkeeper/batsman was on fire last season on his return to the Momentum Multiply Titans, being their leading run-scorer in both the four-day and T20 competitions. Moonsamy averaged an impressive 48.72 against the red ball, scoring 536 runs which included hundreds against the Warriors and the Dolphins. He also more than earned his bread in the T20 competition, lashing 428 runs at a dazzling strike-rate of 136.30.

Moonsamy was named the Titans’ Men’s Player of the Year in a triumphant return to the province after two seasons away with Northern Cape. A born-and-bred Pretoria product, Moonsamy is from Laudium and was schooled at St Alban’s, making the Northerns Schools team in 2013 and 2014.

Selection for the SA A team for the four-day series against Sri Lanka A in September showed that Moonsamy has put himself in line for higher honours and he will be eager to once again produce the goods for the Titans this season.

Joshua van Heerden

The St Alban’s educated Van Heerden played in just eight matches for the Momentum Multiply Titans in 2023/24, but it was across all formats and he marked his return to Pretoria, having played in the Eastern Cape since leaving school, with some memorable personal achievements. The right-handed opener notched his first century for the Titans when he scored an unbeaten 109 against the Tuskers in Pietermaritzburg, adding a record 252 for the first wicket with Matthew Kleinveldt. Van Heerden also scored his first T20 half-century for the Titans when he bashed 56 off just 35 balls against the Dolphins.

A composed batsman who shows good judgement, Van Heerden played 10 T20 internationals for Germany in 2022/23.

Lizaad Williams

One can’t underestimate the threat posed by Lizaad Williams with his skiddy bounce and ability to move the ball off the pitch. Those weapons are why the Proteas had selected the pace bowler for two Tests, four ODIs and 13 T20 internationals by the start of this season. He was part of the 50-over World Cup squad that made the semi-finals in 2023.

Fiercely competitive, Williams was the leading wicket-taker for the Joburg Super Kings in the SA20 in 2024 and he has served the Momentum Multiply Titans extremely well since 2020/21, when he was named as their Player of the Year at the end of the season, as a strike bowler able to break those stubborn partnerships.

The Lizaad Williams story is an inspirational one as he comes from humble beginnings in Vredenburg on the Cape West Coast and early hardships have made him a very resilient character.

Sisanda Magala

The Proteas white-ball international is a new signing for the Momentum Multiply Titans, having missed most of last season with the Lions due to knee surgery. Magala is a marvellous limited-overs bowler, possessing both a magnificent yorker and, thanks to his physical strength, the ability to hit the deck hard while bowling at decent pace.

Hailing originally from the Eastern Cape, Magala should also not be underestimated as a batsman, averaging 19.44 in first-class cricket with nine half-centuries, and having a pair of fifties each in 50-over and T20 cricket.

Magala was originally named in South Africa’s squad for the 2023 World Cup, but had to withdraw due to his knee injury, and he will want to perform at top-level again this season to show why he is regarded as one of the best death bowlers in the country.

Tsepo Ndwandwa

The Momentum Multiply Titans are the fourth franchise left-arm spinner Ndwandwa will represent after previous stints with the Cobras, Warriors, Knights and Lions. Another Eastern Cape product, Ndwandwa began his career with Border before moving to South-Western Districts, where he enjoyed the bulk of his success, taking 67 wickets in 22 first-class matches at an average of 27.70.

He has been a tidy performer in 50-over cricket and his career economy in the T20 format is a stingy 7.19.

Jhedli van Briesies

The 23-year-old from Mossel Bay, South-Western Districts, enjoyed a marvellous past season with the Garden Route Badgers in which he averaged 68.25 in first-class cricket, including a couple of centuries.

Van Briesies is a pleasing strokeplayer who favours the leg-side and is magnificent on the pull. He is also a tidy wicketkeeper and his arrival at the Momentum Multiply Titans, after a breakthrough season in Division II, will generate much interest.

Schooled at Langenhoven Gimnasium, Van Briesies played for the SWD Schools team for three years (2017-19) and has also played a couple of seasons of club cricket in the UK.

Lhuan-Dre Pretorius

One of the kings of junior cricket in South Africa, Pretorius successfully transitioned from U19 cricket to the senior Momentum Multiply Titans ranks last season.

The left-handed opener is still in school, doing matric at Cornwall Hill College this year, having been a dominant figure in the powerful St Stithians team, breaking the record for the most centuries for the school.

After an excellent Junior World Cup, in which he was among the top five-run-scorers with 287 at an average of 57.40 and a strike-rate of 94.09, Pretorius debuted for the Titans in the CSA T20 Challenge and scored 279 runs at a strike-rate of 119.74. While this showed the Klerksdorp-born 18-year-old is a tremendous talent, it was also the way he scored those runs that was so impressive. Renowned as a big-hitter who destroys attacks, Pretorius showed he is able to hit the ball ferociously hard and also manipulate it all around the field with sweetly-timed strokes.

His tally included two half-centuries – 58 from 43 balls against the Tuskers at SuperSport Park and a vital 52 off 32 balls in the de facto quarterfinal win over Western Province at Newlands. Pretorius also kept wicket tidily and there are high hopes he can follow in the footsteps of former Titans kingpin Quinton de Kock as a left-handed opener/wicketkeeper who became a major international star.

Roelof van der Merwe

Going into his 19^th season as a professional cricketer, Roelof van der Merwe continues to advertise his enduring passion for the game with every double fist pump wicket celebration, every lusty swing of the bat and every moment of age-defying brilliance in the field.

The veteran all-rounder is an astute signing by the Momentum Multiply Titans as he is a serial winner in the white-ball game, and a key member of the previous generation of Titans players that dominated South African domestic cricket. He last played in South Africa in 2023 when he led the Sunrisers Eastern Cape to the inaugural SA20 title and he remains a sought-after T20 player all over the world, having played in the UK, the Caribbean, the IPL, the UAE and the Big Bash. Van der Merwe is a double international, having played 26 times for the Proteas and more than 50 times for the Netherlands.

A left-arm spinner adept at keeping batsmen quiet and an aggressive batter who was good enough to score an unbeaten double-century in first-class cricket for the Titans, Van der Merwe will bring competitive fire to the team, his nickname of The Bulldog still being most apt.

Gerald Coetzee

The Momentum Multiply Titans welcomed Coetzee to SuperSport Park last season and even though he only managed to appear once for them due to Proteas commitments, when he did play the Titans ended up winners of a thrilling four-day match against Eastern Province, the former Free Stater taking four for 54 as they won by just 13 runs. Those international commitments included the 50-over World Cup, which ensured Coetzee is now well-known across the world for having plenty of wheels and the ability to take wickets, as he broke the South African record for the most dismissals (20) in a single edition of that showpiece tournament. His passion and aggression have also made him a favourite at the Wankhede Stadium following his stint for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL.

Coetzee is also a handy batsman who will rattle up quick runs in the lower-order.

Heinrich Klaasen

The way Heinrich Klaasen has grown his game in the last couple of seasons has been remarkable and he is now one of the kings of white-ball cricket globally, being one of the very best finishers around. His performance in last year’s 50-over World Cup was exceptional as he plundered 373 runs at the second-highest strike-rate of the tournament (133.21) and he continued these heroics in the T20 World Cup this year, including the fastest ever half-century in a final (27 balls).

In the last two seasons, he has scored 1065 ODI runs at an average of 48.40 and a strike-rate of 134.46, with three centuries.

The wicketkeeper/batsman is acknowledged as one of the finest players of spin in the world, and his relaxed persona belies a steely determination. When he’s not sparring with the world’s best bowlers, Klaasen loves to play for the Titans and is one of the franchise’s favourite sons with more than 8000 runs and 11 centuries for the union across all formats.

Aiden Markram

The co-captain of the Proteas alongside Temba Bavuma, Markram has been one of the great leaders of the Titans over the last decade. His captaincy credentials seem to improve with every year: having led South Africa to the U19 World Cup crown in 2014, he captained Sunrisers Eastern Cape to the title in the first two seasons of the SA20, and in 2024 he led the Proteas to an historic place in the T20 World Cup final.

In addition to his leadership skills, Markram has contributed more than 6000 runs across formats for the Titans, with 19 centuries. Many of those have come from one of the most gorgeous cover-drives in the game. The 30-year-old also contributes useful off-spin and is going to go down as one of the greatest players for the franchise, having shared in eight trophy-winning campaigns.

Part of the considerable legacy of Tuks cricket, Markram attended Pretoria Boys High and Cornwall Hill College.

Lungi Ngidi

Pace bowler Ngidi made his debut for the Titans in 2015 and burst on to the international scene in 2017 when he made his Proteas debut in a T20 against Sri Lanka and won the man of the match award. His Test debut in 2018 was even more dramatic as he took a matchwinning six for 39 against India at SuperSport Park, and then made his ODI debut against the same opponents, taking eight wickets in his first three matches.

Hailing from KZN, where he won bursaries to Highbury Prep School and Hilton College, Ngidi came to Pretoria in 2015 to play for Tuks and was an immediate success. The 28-year-old has been struck down by untimely injuries, but has still managed to take 120 wickets for the Titans across the three formats.

Ngidi is a sought-after bowler in T20 leagues around the world, thanks to his ability to surprise batsmen with incredibly skilful slower balls and cutters, making him a difficult bowler to chase after.

Tabraiz Shamsi

The left-arm wrist-spinner used to loathe being hit for boundaries, but now that he has become one of the most potent wicket-takers in international white-ball cricket, Tabraiz Shamsi knows he has the ability to dismiss any over-confident or unwatchful batsman.

His performances for the Proteas will go down in lore as he is South Africa’s highest-ever wicket-taker in T20 internationals as well as being an ever-present member of the ODI squad.

Shamsi is an experienced campaigner around the world, having played in T20 leagues in the Caribbean, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, England and the IPL. He joined the Titans in 2014/15 and enjoyed a dream second season as he spearheaded their charge to the first-class title with 41 wickets at 19.97.

The Johannesburg-born and educated star really began to blossom after the 2019 World Cup, once Imran Tahir retired from international cricket, and Shamsi’s eight for 32 against the Warriors at St George’s Park in 2020/21 are the best ever bowling figures for the Titans franchise.

Andile Phehlukwayo

After making his name in Durban for the last decade, Proteas all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo is looking for a new challenge in Centurion with the Momentum Multiply Titans.

Phehlukwayo’s inventive seam bowling will give the Titans a skilful option in the middle and death overs of limited-overs cricket, to add to his sweet striking with the bat and ability to hit the long ball in the lower-order.

The 28-year-old has played in more than a hundred games for South Africa, in all three formats, and has played in the last two 50-over World Cups. Becoming a vital cog in the Titans outfit will go a long way to ensuring he is included in the 2027 squad for the World Cup to be played in South Africa.

Mandla Mashimbyi

The Momentum Multiply Titans head coach is an expert in boosting the sheer mentality of his players and that is shown by the four-day and T20 titles he has steered the team to since taking over from Mark Boucher midway through the 2019/20 season.

Mashimbyi’s own playing career was cut short in 2010 at the age of 29 by knee injuries, but the pace bowler took 103 wickets in 39 first-class matches for the Titans and Northerns, as well as averaging over 20 with the bat. He also played 44 one-day games while based in Centurion, helping Northerns to the three-day and one-day double in 2005/6 and captaining them to the CSA One-Day Challenge title in 2009/10.

The Phalaborwa-born Mashimbyi has also had stints at international level with the SA U19, SA A, SA Emerging and Proteas teams as an assistant coach.

Richard das Neves

Richard das Neves’ stock has risen considerably in recent years as he continues his progress into the elite coaching ranks, boosted by backroom roles with the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL and the Paarl Royals in the SA20.

As a successful former captain of the Gauteng team, Das Neves is strong on the theory behind winning cricket and strategy, and he made Easterns the kings of the second division, leading them to three titles in four seasons between 2017/18 and 2020/21. He was named Cricket South Africa’s Coach of the Year in 2020.

As a player, Das Neves was an off-spinner and useful batsman, scoring nearly a thousand first-class runs, including one century, and taking 126 wickets at an average of just 24.

The Titans assistant coach is a qualified biokineticist.

*All stats as of September 1, 2024

PORT EDWARD – Jaco Ahlers backed up his opening-day 64 with another six-under-par score on Thursday in the second round of the SunBet Challenge hosted by Wild Coast Sun, once again conquering the blustery conditions with barely a hiccup as he stretched his advantage at the top of the leaderboard.

Ahlers only dropped a single shot on Thursday, at the par-three 17^th, but he collected five birdies and an eagle on the par-five 16^th in his second-round 64 that took him to 12-under-par, four ahead of Keegan McLachlan going into the final round on Friday.

Ahlers started his round on the 10^th on Thursday and was cruising from the outset with two birdies in the first three holes. He again did the bulk of his scoring on the back nine, going out in 31, and his bogey-free front nine featured birdies on the two par-fives – the third and the seventh holes.

“I’m pretty chuffed because it was a bit windy today. The greens on the back nine are a bit better, less bumpy, so I was able to roll the ball better and make more putts there,” Ahlers said.

“I missed a few putts coming in, I was a bit cautious on the greens and left a few short. But overall I didn’t miss many greens today and that’s the key at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club, to give yourself opportunities. I will just keep doing what I’m doing: hit the greens and hopefully make a few putts. I play the course as it is because I’m not the longest hitter and I can’t overpower it,” Ahlers said.

The 11-time winner on the Sunshine Tour enjoyed a bit of fortune for his eagle on the 16^th. Having tugged his tee-shot a bit on the 492m par-five, it rode the wind and lay in the semi-rough.

“I got a bit lucky,” Ahlers admitted. “That hole was downwind today and I only had 110 to the flag, I hit it to 10 feet and made the putt. Which I was very pleased about because everyone is going to score on that hole today.”

Trevor Mahoney, who shot 65 in the first round to be second, one stroke behind Ahlers, saw his hopes die an ugly death on the par-five 12^th as he posted a 10, on his way to a 78 and missing the cut by just one stroke.

McLachlan is now second after shooting a 66, also with just one bogey, on Thursday. Gerhard Pepler is one stroke further back after a never-say-die 66, in which he bounced back from a double-bogey on the 12^th by collecting birdies on the 14^th, 15^th and 18^th holes.

Brandon Stone is in fourth place, seven strokes behind Ahlers after a second-round 67, but the leader will be anxious about Stone’s ability to go really low in the final round of events.

PORT EDWARD (KwaZulu-Natal) – Given his lack of joy with his putter recently, Jaco Ahlers made sure he was sinking birdie putts with rapacious intent when the short stick joined the party on the back nine on Wednesday as he soared to the top of the leaderboard after the first round of the SunBet Challenge hosted by Wild Coast Sun with a six-under-par 64.

Ahlers came home in a tremendous 30 strokes, making five birdies on the back nine. He leads Trevor Mahoney, who came home in 31 shots to post a 65, by one stroke, with Keegan McLachlan a shot further back after a 66 that included an eagle-two on the short, 315m par-four second hole.

The 41-year-old Ahlers has been playing solidly recently, but has not been getting reward on the greens. His last four finishes have been ties for 13^th, fifth, 23^rd and 10^th.

“I finally made some putts today. The putter was the catalyst for my 64. Not so much on the front nine, where I had 16 putts, including sinking one from off the green for birdie on the fifth. But on the back nine I had just 12 putts, so I capitalised on some pretty good golf and sank nice putts on the 13^th and 17^th holes,” Ahlers said.

“I played two weeks ago in Morocco on the Asian Tour, and the putter was very cold, that probably cost me the win. But I’ve been playing decent golf lately and in the last few months my acceptance of things on the course has been a bit better.

“That’s a big thing at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club where conditions are always different one day to the other. The greens can be bumpy and there are normally strong winds, you just have to not get too agitated. The wind was up today but it was just experience, having played here and done well many times before, that allowed me to manage it well,” Ahlers, who won the 2016 Wild Coast Sun Challenge and lost in a playoff in the 2014 Vodacom Origins Wild Coast event, said.

Mahoney, a former South African amateur star, was level-par after eight holes, but then collected back-to-back birdies on the ninth and 10^th holes. He was then able to further massage his score with a strong finish, picking up further strokes on the 15^th, 16^th and 18^th holes.

McLachlan, from Silver Lakes Country Club, started his round on the 10^th and went out in level-par. But the 25-year-old was excellent on the front nine, birdieing the first and fourth holes to add to his eagle on the second.

Jacques P. de Villiers, Gerhard Pepler, Pieter Moolman, Jaco van Zyl, Matthew Spacey and Leon Vorster were all tied in fourth place after shooting three-under-par 67s.

KITWE – A wonderful albatross at the par-five fourth hole lifted MJ Viljoen to a six-under-par 66 and the top of the leaderboard after the first round of the Mopani Zambia Open at Nkana Golf Club on Thursday.

Viljoen said his game-plan has generally been to hit three-woods off the tee, but the tee-box being moved up on the 484m fourth hole was why he decided to try his driver. And what a decision it was as he notched the first albatross of his career.

“I keep telling everyone it was just two perfect golf shots. There’s a little sluit in the way on the fourth, and I didn’t expect them to move the tee-box up. That gave me the idea to maybe try driver and I hit it over the sluit and into a perfect position. I had 187 metres to the flag and my six-iron only goes 180 and it was a touch into the wind. So I was never going to go too long and I could just swing as hard as I can.

“It came out just unreal and I saw it going straight for the hole. Jean Hugo and the guys on the next tee-box affirmed that it went in like a putt, if it had missed the hole it would have only been by two or three inches,” Viljoen said.

The tremendous round came at a time when the Serengeti-based Viljoen feels like he is getting back to being the golfer who soared to two Sunshine Tour wins and more than R4 million in prizemoney after joining the tour in 2015. But last season was a real struggle for him as he tried to juggle his commitments at home and playing on the Asian Tour and Challenge Tour; he finished 64^th on the Order of Merit Delivered by the Courier Guy, the first time he was outside the top-30 since 2018/19.

He completed the season well, though, with top-20 finishes in the Stella Artois Players Championship and the Limpopo Championship. This season he has finished in ties for sixth, 14^th and 34^th in the three events so far.

“Last year was a struggle, but I have played good golf in the past so obviously I know what it takes. That kept me mentally alive, even though my head was all over the place playing on the Asian Tour, having some status on the Challenge Tour and trying to keep my card in South Africa. I also struggled with my equipment and made big changes at bad times.

“I was in a downward spiral but then I went back to my old equipment and my old coach, Hendrik Buhrmann. Shaun Landsberg looks after the mental side for me, telling me how the brain works and putting that puzzle together.

“So today was the way I know I can play and even though it’s just one round, it’s nice to get a pat on the shoulder from the game. I’m very happy with my round as a whole, I played very solid golf and I can’t see how I would not have a good score playing like that. It was pretty flawless,” the 29-year-old Viljoen said.

His divine moment on the fourth also separated him from the chasing pack, with Keegan Thomas and Jason Roets both shooting four-under 68s. Thomas was bogey-free around the 94-year-old, 6571m course, the only golfer to achieve that feat on Thursday.

Home favourite Madalitso Muthiya was in a tie for fourth on three-under-par after a 69 that included a seven on the par-five 17^th. The Zambian is alongside Lyle Rowe and Heinrich Bruiners.