Ken Borland

South Africa were unable to marry their stellar defensive efforts with an attacking edge in the Women’s Hockey World Cup over the weekend, with defeats to Germany and Ireland in Amstelveen condemning them to the playoffs for 13^th-16^th spot.

Taking on powerhouses Germany for a place in the quarterfinals, goalkeeper Phumelela Mbande led an amazing defensive effort that saw South Africa miss out on a top-eight finish by just a single goal. They had kept the world’s fourth-ranked team goalless in the first half, but an early penalty corner strike in the second half proved the difference in a 1-0 defeat, that nevertheless made an impression on the world of hockey.

The defeat on Saturday evening meant South Africa had to play again less than 18 hours later against an enthusiastic Ireland team for a finish in the top-12.

Unfortunately, having put up such a stout effort in the previous game, the team’s lack of energy reserves caused them to sell themselves short in a 2-0 defeat.

After a bright start, South Africa gradually began falling off the pace, with ill-discipline and cards not helping their cause. Ireland began to take control of the match and it was only a heck of a defensive effort again which kept them to two goals. The Irish enjoyed 13 penalty corners to 1 and had 24 circle entries compared to South Africa’s 14.

“We’re disappointed with how we played,” Lilian du Plessis, who earned her 150^th cap on Sunday, said. “We let ourselves down a bit technically, we knew what to do tactically and it worked when we executed it properly.

“It was tough playing so soon after the Germany match, but we can’t use that as an excuse because individually we were not good enough.

“We need to regroup and refocus now, put lots of prep into our next game and try to fix what we got wrong today,” Du Plessis said.

It wasn’t really the weather for playing golf or even flying kites at Sun City on Saturday as the third round of the South African Open was unable to be completed, heavy thundershowers cutting short Justin Harding’s high-flying ascent to the top of the leaderboard.

Harding had just teed off on the 14^th hole, having gone to 11-under-par and a one-stroke lead over Danie van Tonder and Oliver Bekker, when the siren signifying play had been suspended due to the threat of lightning went off at 1.05pm.

It bucketed down for the next two hours, more than 30mm falling, and a typical Pilanesberg maelstrom was accompanied by heavy winds that had the trees waving around like flags at times.

But the organisers were hopeful of getting play back underway at 4pm, only for another storm to arrive, this time depositing a quick 8mm. A putative restart time of 5pm was then in place, but the storms just kept circulating over the ancient concentric rings of volcanic mountains that surround the Gary Player Country Club.

With the thunder and lightning never really going away, the day’s play was called off at 5pm. The third round, with the leaders having five holes to play, will be completed from 7am on Sunday and tournament director Reinard Kilian said they were hopeful of completing the final round in the afternoon.

“The safety of the players is what determined our decisions, that’s the first thing we think about,” Killian said. “The storms were predicted from 2pm and we changed the draw to try and finish by then.

“Unfortunately the storms got to us quicker than expected and then they just wouldn’t go away. And it was quite an intense, violent storm. Unfortunately every time we saw a window of opportunity to get play underway again, it would close with another storm popping up.

“There’s a chance of moderate rain tomorrow [Sunday] in the early morning and showers through the day. Thunderstorms are possible, but there’s not as high a likelihood as today.

“So we have a good feeling that we can complete the tournament tomorrow [Sunday]. The fairways should still be playable and we’re confident we can sort the bunkers out. The course should be as playable as it was this morning,” Killian said.

Harding became the co-leader with his third birdie on the front nine and, when overnight leader Oliver Bekker bogeyed the par-four ninth it meant he surrendered at least a share of first place for the first time in the tournament.

Bekker then bogeyed the par-three 13^th shortly before play was suspended, meaning Harding’s punishment for a bogey on the 10^th was shortlived.

Van Tonder was also flying on Saturday, also collecting three birdies on the front nine.

South Africa’s finishers were unable to answer the call as the Proteas slipped to a 14-run defeat in the first ODI against Sri Lanka at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Thursday night.

The Proteas were chasing a daunting 301 for victory, more than any team has achieved to win a match batting second at Sri Lanka’s biggest stadium.

But following a marvellous 96 off 90 balls by opener Aiden Markram and an excellent run-a-ball 59 by Rassie van der Dussen, South Africa needed 41 to win off the last four overs with six wickets in hand. Exactly the sort of match situation in which the finishers are expected to produce the big hits.

But unfortunately Heinrich Klaasen (36 off 31), who had batted well in support of Van der Dussen, and Andile Phehlukwayo (5 off 8) just could not accelerate enough to win the game.

That it all came down to them was partly due to sheer bad luck for the Proteas. Captain Temba Bavuma was well set on 38 not out and the Proteas were cruising as he and Markram had added 106 for the second wicket at pretty much a run-a-ball. But Bavuma was then struck on the hand by a wayward throw by a Sri Lankan fielder and two overs later had to retire hurt.

It was a crucial change in momentum as South Africa needed 146 from 22 overs, with nine wickets in hand and Markram flying, when the skipper left the crease.

When Markram was dismissed three overs later, it meant the visitors had to rebuild and, as well as Van der Dussen did, he lacked enough quality at the other end.

Markram had driven over extra cover superbly all innings, but he was splendidly caught by Wanindu Hasaranga running in from the cover boundary when left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama obtained sharper turn than expected.

A brave effort by the South African top-order was also undone by some friendly, ineffictive bowing by the Proteas seamers.

Between them, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Phehlukwayo conceded 171 runs in 24 overs.

Opener Avishka Fernando punished the wayward bowlers as he anchored the Sri Lankan innings with a brilliantly-paced 118 off 115 balls, adding 79 for the third wicket with Dhananjaya de Silva (44).

The real fireworks came when young Charith Asalanka struck a powerful 71 off 62 balls, adding 97 in 12 overs with Avishka.

The spinners bowled well for South Africa with Keshav Maharaj outstanding with two for 30 in his 10 overs.

GolfRSA chief executive Grant Hepburn on Friday extended an olive branch to all those in the golf industry who have been without work and frustrated golfers unable to play, saying the organisation’s patient approach to government had paid off as clubs and courses can now open for both amateurs and professionals.

The Department of Sports, Arts and Culture announced on Friday that any member of a federation, agency, club or body may begin playing golf again from Saturday, subject to certain regulations. Clubs need to complete the Confirmation of Compliance Document and submit it to GolfRSA before they can open their facilities.

“These have been incredibly difficult times with the stress of Lockdown and the number of jobs lost, and we have been aware of the frayed tempers and frustrations. We have been in the same boat with friends and colleagues losing work. But we just had to be patient, we knew government were listening to us and they had given us assurances. But it’s been a very complex time and a massive challenge for golf bodies.

“But we believed in the process we were following with the Department, they were always extremely positive and the whole way through they engaged with us in the right way. We wanted to do the right thing and we needed to wait for the new directives. The most important priority is to save lives and mitigate the risk, and the time it has taken us has allowed us to prepare and put things in place at the clubs,” Hepburn said on Friday.

The CEO warned however that golfers could not just rush out on Saturday and expect everything to be back to normal; the golf industry, which contributes R48 billion to the South African economy, would take time to become a well-oiled machine again.

“The job is not yet done, this is not about celebrating. It’s a step in the right direction but there are still many people involved in golf who still can’t put food on their table. So I hope people continue to support clubs and I know our golfers and clubs will be responsible when it comes to the scanning and the monitoring process. Through the HealthDocs app we’ve bought for all clubs, information can be sent back to government at the push of a button.

“We need to control the numbers of golfers and the times they arrive and leave, but it’s time to get busy now with saving golf clubs through the safe return of golfers, which will generate the income for them to survive and save thousands of jobs, especially of those in the vulnerable sector, which makes up 85% of the industry. We know our clubs can comply and sport can help government because exercise is good at reducing comorbidities,” Hepburn said.