Ken Borland

India thwarted South Africa’s hopes of wrapping up the ODI series in the second match in Ranchi on Sunday, using aggressive batting and disciplined bowling to beat the Proteas by seven wickets with 25 balls to spare.

Chasing 279 to win, a fabulous 113 not out off 111 balls by a pugnacious Shreyas Iyer and a ferocious 93 off 84 balls by Ishan Kishan set the home side side up for a comfortable victory. The dashing pair added 161 for the third wicket in 25.4 overs, aggressively targeting anything even slightly loose from the bowlers.

And South Africa, who had won the toss, certainly had a tough time controlling a ball that was damp due to high humidity in the evening, and were unable to replicate the same consistent lengths that India’s attack had produced on a low and slow pitch.

India had to withstand some pressure up front as the Proteas reduced them to 48/2 in the first nine overs. Wayne Parnell bowled Shikhar Dhawan for 13, and Shubnam Gill looked threatening as he played some superb drives down the ground, but Kagiso Rabada took a breathtaking return catch to dismiss him for 28 off 26 balls.

But the rest of the innings was a fiery ordeal for the South African bowlers, with all six of them going for at least 5.50 runs-per-over, while India had four of their bowlers below that mark.

The Proteas will own up to not making the most of their own excellent third-wicket partnership, as Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram shared a run-a-ball stand of 129.

Hendricks, brought into the team for the first time on the Indian tour because regular captain Temba Bavuma was ill, stroked a classy 74 off 76 balls, with nine fours and a six, looking totally at ease on a tricky pitch as he injected valuable momentum into the Proteas innings.

With Heinrich Klaasen then adding a quickfire 30 off 26 balls, a total of more than 300 looked to be their’s for the taking as they reached 215/3 in the 38^th over.

Klaasen was brilliantly caught by Mohammed Siraj, running in from long-on off Kuldeep Yadav, and just two balls later, Markram leant back to lash a shortish delivery from off-spinner Washington Sundar through the covers, but hit it in the air to extra cover, where captain Dhawan took a sharp catch.

Having weathered a tough start against Kuldeep, Markram was beginning to really dominate the bowlers as he scored 79 off 89 balls.

But his dismissal meant there were two new batsmen at the crease and India conceded just 63 runs in the last 12 overs, their bowlers hitting the pitch hard with slower balls. The tactic even kept the in-form David Miller relatively quiet as he finished on 35 not out off 34 deliveries.

Siraj was the pick of the bowlers, claiming the wickets of both Quinton de Kock (5) and Hendricks, who picked out deep square-leg with a short-arm pull, and he finished with 3/38 in his 10 overs. Siraj bowled four overs on the trot at the death, conceding just 12 runs, an astonishing effort.

Like an aeronautics expert trying to ensure take-off happens at exactly the right time, Bulls director of rugby Jake White will be using the next two weekends of Currie Cup action to try and ensure his team peak at the business end of the United Rugby Championship.

The Bulls have already sealed a quarterfinal place in Europe, but their match against Ospreys in Swansea on May 20 could decide whether they will have crucial home ground advantage for that playoff match.

So basically White is looking for four straight wins in the URC to take the title. But his desire to win a hat-trick of Currie Cup crowns is also great, so he was quite happy on Friday to announce a Bulls team that is a half-and-half mix of URC and Currie Cup players for their match against Griquas on Saturday evening at Loftus Versfeld.

“It’s predominantly URC guys that I want to game-time to, but it’s a double-edged sword because we take the Currie Cup seriously as well,” White said.

“There will be another rotation next week for our match against the Golden Lions when we give some of these players the week off.

“But we can’t afford to give the URC guys two weeks off before such a vital game as the Ospreys one, it’s absolutely critical to try and get a home playoff. So it’s another hit-out for them.

“It’s an opportunity to try and get right the things we want to do at the back end of the URC and this team is the sort of ideal balance you’d want every week – seniors and youngsters playing together,” White said.

The Bulls have tended to concede the most points at the starts and deaths of games, and a team like Griquas can be lethal if you allow them a foothold in the game, so White said starting and finishing better is a work in progress for his team.

“We definitely want to start well. You work out along the way what works in terms of getting a good start – the warm-up order, your routine before the game or selection can all be factors.

“There’s no exact answer, but the more you get it wrong, the closer you are to getting it right. Once you find a formula that works, you lean on that. You try to find the right recipe, but sometimes it takes a while,” White said.

Bulls team: Canan Moodie, Stravino Jacobs, Cornal Hendricks, Harold Vorster, Madosh Tambwe, Chris Smith, Embrose Papier; WJ Steenkamp, Cyle Brink, Arno Botha, Reinhardt Ludwig, Walt Steenkamp, Robert Hunt, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Lizo Gqoboka. IMPACT – Schalk Erasmus, Simphiwe Matanzima, Dylan Smith, Ruan Nortje, Muller Uys, Keagan Johannes, Juan Mostert, Stedman Gans.

It seems like on an almost hourly basis someone in the media, whether traditional or social, will question the wisdom of the Sharks using Curwin Bosch as their starting flyhalf and for many, Aphelele Fassi’s ankle injury provided an opportunity to shift the mercurial Springbok to fullback and try someone else at No.10.

Fassi has indeed been ruled out of Saturday’s United Rugby Championship clash with Edinburgh at Kings Park, but the Sharks have elected to keep Bosch at flyhalf and bring Anthony Volmink back into the starting line-up in the No.15 jersey.

“Obviously we did discuss moving Curwin to fullback,” coach Sean Everitt said at their team announcement press conference on Thursday, “but we felt he is getting better every week at flyhalf.

“Anthony is a left-footed kicking option and he has always performed whenever he has put on the Sharks jersey. Overseas he was particularly good against Ospreys.

“So it was quite straightforward in the end. Curwin will be making his fourth start in a row at flyhalf and he has shown some great signs.

“He distributed well against Zebre last weekend and he had a 100% tackle completion rate. We are pleased with his growth at flyhalf,” Everitt said.

But with 23-year-old reserve flyhalf Boeta Chamberlain still learning his trade at this level and Tito Bonilla making some grim, crucial mistakes in the Sharks’ midweek Currie Cup loss to the Free State Cheetahs, Everitt does not have much choice really.

The Sharks are hoping Fassi will be fit for their local derby against the Lions on April 9.

Edinburgh will be the first real big guns of the tournament that the Sharks have met for a while, and whoever wins on Saturday will stay in contact with the top four on the log. Edinburgh are currently fifth in the standings, three points ahead of the sixth-placed Sharks, who have a game in hand.

“There’s a lot at stake because Edinburgh are just ahead of us on the log and the guys are amped,” Everitt said. “Our team has gained confidence from four bonus point victories on the trot.

“I thought it was also a better performance last weekend although we did not finish all the opportunities we created. We’ve had good consistency of selection, which helps.”

Sharks – Anthony Volmink, Werner Kok, Ben Tapuai, Marius Louw, Makazole Mapimpi, Curwin Bosch, Grant Williams, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Henco Venter, Siya Kolisi (c), Reniel Hugo, Gerbrandt Grobler, Thomas du Toit (v/c), Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche. Replacements: Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Khutha Mchunu, Le Roux Roets, Phepsi Buthelezi, James Venter, Jaden Hendrikse, Boeta Chamberlain.

Bulls coach Jake White said before their United Rugby Championship match against the Sharks in Durban that he would like his team to move towards the Northern Hemisphere approach of using the set-pieces as more of an attacking platform than as an opportunity to get penalties.

The Sharks clearly did not get the memo though as they thoroughly dominated the Bulls in the scrums, earning eight penalties as well as forcing referee Jaco Peyper to yellow card retreaded tighthead Lizo Gqoboka, and also putting the visitors under pressure in the lineouts. That dominance up front set in motion a commanding display as they swept the Currie Cup champions aside 30-16.

“The set-pieces are always important, especially with the conditions we have in Durban this time of year,” Sharks coach Sean Everitt said. “The set-pieces really functioned well and we got a maul try.

“So it’s been a good turnaround in that department. The scrum is one of three things that have to be in place for you to win, the others being territory and defence.

“We won the territory battle, although we were not as clinical as I would have liked in the first half. Defensively we stopped the Bulls’ momentum, we won the gain-line.

“At the breakdowns we were doing more cleaning next to the ball and not over it, but we got better at it, and in the second half we were able to put the opposition under pressure there,” Everitt said.

White said the Bulls are set to boost their front-row stocks, especially at tighthead prop, given the departure of Trevor Nyakane to Racing 92 in France, and the current unavailability of Jacques van Rooyen and Mornay Smith. The inexperienced Robert Hunt started in the number three jersey and was replaced by Gqoboka, who has not played on that side of the scrum since the start of his career.

“From a personnel point of view, we obviously need to get more experienced tighthead props because there are things in the scrum we have to get right,” White said.

“On our ball, I thought we played quite cleverly, but there was no stopping the Sharks on their ball and that put us under pressure.”

Everitt also gave a big thumbs up to his returning Springboks, who were very much the heartbeat of the side, especially Thomas du Toit and Bongi Mbonambi up front, and Lukhanyo Am at inside centre.

“Having the Boks back made a huge difference and they came through really well. It’s their attitude that was really pleasing.

“I’ve been at the Sharks for a long time and sometimes you worry about the attitude of the Springboks when they come back, but they came back very well prepared and it was a smooth transition.

“Lukhanyo played yet another 80 minutes and was man of the match, while Bongi fitted in seamlessly and did really well today. He was strong defensively and the set-pieces went really well,” Everitt said.