Ken Borland

SA chip away at Sri Lankan batting 0

Posted on January 05, 2012 by Ken

South Africa continued to chip away at the Sri Lankan second innings as the tourists reached 138 for four in their follow-on innings at stumps on the third day of the third and final test at Newlands on Thursday.

Sri Lanka are still 203 runs behind, with South Africa needing just six more wickets in two days to win the test and clinch the series 2-1.

After being asked to follow on 341 runs behind, under cloudless skies on a mostly even batting pitch, Sri Lanka lost regular wickets.

Their only partnership of note was the 67-run second-wicket stand between Lahiru Thirimanne and Kumar Sangakkara.

Jacques Kallis, who had scored 224 to provide the foundation of South Africa’s massive first-innings total of 580 for four declared, eventually removed Thirimanne for 30 in an aggressive spell after tea.

The left-handed opener edged a lifter on to his thigh pad, from where the ball ricocheted to short-leg, Hashim Amla clasping a fine reflex catch above his head.

Leg-spinner Imran Tahir then piled on the pressure with an impressive spell around the wicket into the rough outside the left-handed Sangakkara’s off-stump, the former captain eventually edging a back-foot defensive stroke to Kallis at slip.

Sangakkara had held up the South Africans for a little over two hours in scoring 34.

Kallis then took a thrilling catch, diving low in front of first slip, to remove Mahela Jayawardene for 12 off the bowling of Morne Morkel.

Angelo Mathews then went confidently to 28 not out by stumps as he struck three fours off 38 balls. He was partnered by Thilan Samaraweera, on 19 not out, at the close.

Seamer Vernon Philander gave Sri Lanka the most headaches after lunch as Sri Lanka struggled to 42 for one in their follow-on innings at tea.

Philander took three for 46 as he wrapped up the Sri Lankan first innings for 239 and he then claimed the one wicket to fall before tea.

Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan fell for just five when he edged a booming drive at Philander through to wicketkeeper Mark Boucher.

Morkel should have claimed the wicket of fellow opener Thirimanne on 10, but Boucher dropped a simple catch behind the stumps.

South Africa captain Graeme Smith enforced the follow on after Sri Lanka lost their last three wickets for 20 runs in the half-hour after lunch, fast bowler Dale Steyn also finishing with three wickets.

Steyn bowled with great intensity and control before lunch to give South Africa a firm grip on the test. Sticking to a wonderful line just outside off stump and moving the ball away at high pace, he took three for 16 in eight overs on the third morning as Sri Lanka’s ill-equipped batsmen slumped to 219 for seven at lunch.

Rookie wicketkeeper/batsman Dinesh Chandimal was their leading light on Thursday as he was the last man out, for 35.

Sri Lanka had resumed on their overnight score of 149 for two and lost eight wickets for 90 runs.

It was Steyn who started the rot when he removed Sangakkara, who drove lazily to Amla at point, for 35 with the third ball of the day.

Philander, who may have taken more wickets with a bit more fortune, then found the edge of Samaraweera’s bat as the veteran prodded at another fine delivery that nipped away from back-of-a-length outside off stump. Kallis took a low catch at second slip and Samaraweera was out for 11.

Steyn, who did not stray from his exemplary line all morning, then returned half-an-hour before lunch and Jayawardene (30) was not able to resist pushing firmly at a delivery outside off stump, edging another catch to Kallis at second slip.

Mathews did not trouble Steyn for long, making just a single before he dabbed at an away-swinger and wicketkeeper Boucher took a good catch diving forward.

Spinner Tahir then rushed a big-turning leg-break through Thisara Perera’s defences to bowl him for five with what became the last ball before lunch.

Fast bowler Steyn finished with three for 56 in 20 overs, while Tahir took two for 54 in 21 overs.

South Africa won the first match of the series at Centurion by an innings and 81 runs and Sri Lanka triumphed by 208 runs in the second test in Durban.

Tags: chip away Dale Steyn follow-on Newlands second innings South Africa Sri Lanka stumps third day third Test Vernon Philander wickets
Category Cricket, Sport

AD is the big brother for SA bowlers 0

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Ken

Allan Donald © Gallo Images

Allan Donald is like the big, elder brother for the South African bowlers, whether he’s on Vernon Philander’s shoulder or stepping into Morne Morkel’s sizeable shoes.

South Africa’s bowlers might have got stuck into Sri Lanka, sweeping them away en route to an innings victory, but for bowling coach Donald, there is always progress to be made.

As one of the greatest fast bowlers the game has seen – he took 330 wickets in 72 tests at 22.25 – there is no doubting Donald’s standing and his views are highly respected in the team. But it is his method as much as his reputation that achieves this.

“I’m not here to teach them how to bowl. It’s all about the attitude towards the skill, I’m not doing anything technical. It all starts at training and the culture we’re building as an attack,” Donald said.

Philander, going through a purple patch, and Morkel, in the midst of a slump, have been the two major beneficiaries of Donald’s friendly advice in recent days.

Donald said Philander’s incredible success – he is just the second bowler in over a century to take four five-wicket hauls in his first three tests [Australia’s Rodney Hogg being the last to do it in 1978/79] – did not surprise him because the 26-year-old worked extremely hard on his game in the three years he was outside the national squad.

“I’m not surprised, he went away and really learnt his game. He understands his role and Vernon’s a wonderful, classy bowler. Conditions have played their part, but he still had to execute those skills,” Donald said.

The bowling coach said his most important work with Philander going forward will be outside the field of play.

“I’m constantly on Vern’s shoulder. He’s going through a golden spell and the danger is him not caring about why it’s happening. He needs to understand why things are going so well, why the ball is swinging. So when Mr Bad Form arrives, he doesn’t have to come and ask me what’s going on.

“Vernon needs to feel why things are going well. You don’t ever take it for granted when you’re in good form. He will be tested on flatter pitches,” Donald said.

Morkel’s performance at Centurion was probably the most disappointing aspect of the innings win, but Donald said the lanky fast bowler just needed more game time.

“I put myself in Morne’s shoes and I was also a rhythm and confidence bowler, I needed to bowl a lot. Morne’s the same, he just needs to get some confidence and then he’ll be back all the way.

“I think he’s just one spell away. The last day at Centurion was really good, we wanted him to have a long spell after lunch after we tinkered on a few things after the first innings,” Donald said.

The South African attack, as a whole, was much improved in the Sri Lankan second innings, after a first-innings display in which they only really hit their straps in the last hour.

“The bowling performance in the first innings was probably a 6/10,” Donald said. “We need to get off the blocks in a really good way, and we did that on the last day.

“We tend to start sessions not so well and then play catch-up and pull it back. Sometimes we get too loose, maybe too arrogant, but even if we’re not bowling well, we manage to pull it back. The second innings was what we wanted.”

The danger on such well-grassed pitches as the Centurion one is that the bowlers can become over-excited and forget the basics.

“That typifies the 6/10 effort. On a responsive pitch, instead of just bowling into your area, you feel as a unit that you need to get into the hot zone more often. It can be difficult on pitches like that because of the expectation, but it’s no excuse,” Donald said.

http://www.supersport.com/cricket/sa-team/news/111219/AD_is_the_big_brother_for_SA_bowlers

Tags: Allan Donald cricket Morne Morkel South Africa Vernon Philander
Category Cricket, Sport

Philander covers himself in glory again 0

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Ken

Rookie seam bowler Vernon Philander covered himself in glory once again as he took five wickets, and 10 in the match, to lead South Africa to victory by an innings and 81 runs in the first test against Sri Lanka at Centurion on Saturday.

Sri Lanka produced a shameful batting performance against the relentless South African attack as they subsided to 150 all out in their second innings eight minutes before tea to lose in less than three days.

Sri Lanka were bowled out in just 39.1 overs on a pitch that still sported a healthy amount of grass, as Philander took five for 49, giving him match figures of 10 for 102.

Only Thilan Samaraweera, who top-scored with 32 in 71 minutes, and lower-order batsmen Kaushal Silva (17), Thisara Perera (21) and Rangana Herath (23) showed the right degree of resistance as the home attack sped through the Sri Lankan batting line-up.

Fast bowler Dale Steyn supported Philander well as he took two for 36.

Wicketkeeper Mark Boucher took six catches as the South African bowlers zipped the ball around the edges of the bat in helpful conditions.

Sri Lanka had collapsed to 38 for four by lunch, but the middle-order dug in before South Africa’s charge to victory gathered momentum again when Steyn and Philander returned to the attack.

Philander claimed the wicket of Angelo Mathews for five with a superb delivery that nipped away from back-of-a-length, found the edge of the bat and Boucher took a good catch.

Lanky fast bowler Morne Morkel had Samaraweera caught by Boucher in the next over with one of the few deliveries he managed to get on target.

Philander then wrapped up the innings with deliveries that obtained extra bounce to dismiss Chanaka Welegedara and Herath and claim his fourth five-wicket haul in his first three tests.

South Africa had batted for four overs on the third morning, extending their first innings total to 411 all out – a lead of 231 – before Sri Lanka collapsed in a heap before lunch.
Philander struck twice with the new ball and Steyn once, and there was also a stupid run out as Sri Lanka’s top-order showed little confidence on a pitch that offered both seam and bounce.
Philander struck first in the fourth over when he had Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan caught behind by Boucher for six.
Dilshan prodded at the ball, it hit the edge and wicketkeeper Boucher took a good catch diving forward.
It was Steyn’s nagging line and length, with a bit of movement, that accounted for fellow opener Tharanga Paranavitana, who also edged a catch to Boucher, on four.
Philander then got the key scalp of Sangakkara for just two, as the left-hander got into a tangle against an excellent delivery that swung and then seamed away, edging another catch to Boucher.
Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka’s leading run-scorer, suffered the heartbreak of being stranded just one run short of 10 000 test runs when he was run out for 15.
Jayawardene had defended a lively delivery from Jacques Kallis back down the pitch when partner Samaraweera called for an unlikely single. With the new laws no longer allowing Jayawardene to change direction and run in front of the stumps, the quick-thinking Kallis was able to throw down the wickets at the bowler’s end, leaving the batsman stranded on 9999 runs in his 126th test.
Earlier, the veteran Boucher had completed his first half-century in 18 months to relieve the pressure on him, finishing with 65 as he and Imran Tahir (29 not out) extended their last-wicket stand to 61, South Africa’s best against Sri Lanka and highest at Centurion.
Left-arm paceman Welegedara and seamer Perera shared six wickets for Sri Lanka.

Tags: Centurion collapse first Test second innings South Africa Sri Lanka third day Vernon Philander
Category Cricket, Sport

Keeping it simple brings Philander fame 0

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Ken

Vernon Philander continued to make one of the most famous introductions into test cricket at Centurion on Thursday as he completed his third five-wicket haul in his first three tests for South Africa.

Thanks to Philander’s five for 53, South Africa bowled Sri Lanka out for just 180 on the first day of the first test, the 26-year-old continuing in the same vein as his debut series against Australia last month, when he took 14 wickets in two tests.

The seamer is the first South African to take three five-wicket hauls in his first three tests.

Philander is not altogether new to South Africa’s national team, having played seven ODIs and seven Pro20 matches between 2007 and 2008, but he was considered ill-equipped mentally and physically for the rigours of international cricket and dropped.

Since then, Philander has taken 151 first-class wickets at an average of just 17.80 to suggest his omission was ill-judged.

“I just try to keep it as simple as possible. There was a bit of assistance there today and I tried to exploit it,” Philander told a news conference after the first day’s play at Centurion on Thursday.

“For me, I just tried to bowl as if it was a flat pitch. Sometimes you get on a greentop and you think you should bowl bouncer, bouncer, yorker and then bowl the middle stump out. But the assistance is there, why try to bowl any differently?”

Philander, who was educated at Ravensmead Secondary School in Cape Town, came through South Africa’s powerful junior cricket programme, representing Western Province Schools for three years (2001-2003) and SA Schools in 2002 and 2003.

He is also a hard-hitting lower-order batsman who has scored two first-class centuries and averages 27.13 with the bat. Philander is also in talks with Somerset to represent them at the start of next summer.

“It’s not finalised yet, but the talks are in final stages. It will be nice to experience their wickets before South Africa tour England next year,” he said.

South Africa ended the first day of the test on 90 for one, just 90 runs behind, however Philander believes they still have work to do in order to take charge of the game.

“Tomorrow morning there’ll still be something in the pitch and a lot depends on the overhead conditions. Obviously we hope the sun is out so it flattens the pitch. We still need to bat well and get through that initial patch,” Philander said.

The Sri Lankans, according to wicketkeeper/batsman Kaushal Silva, are rueing the pre-tea collapse that saw them lose their last six wickets for 24 runs in 5.1 overs.

“It was a hard task for us after losing the toss, especially with the kind of bowlers South Africa have and the pitch, but we did okay in the first two hours. It was only after the water break in the second session, when we lost three wickets in quick succession, that the game really turned.

“The way Jayawardena and Samaraweera were batting, we were planning a score of 250-300 which would have been competitive,” Silva, who was the first-ball victim of a contentious caught behind decision on review, said.

Tags: Centurion cricket South Africa Test Vernon Philander
Category Cricket, Sport

SA chip away at Sri Lankan batting 0

AD is the big brother for SA bowlers 0

Philander covers himself in glory again 0

Keeping it simple brings Philander fame 0

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