Ken Borland

A 3-0 series victory over Malawi was as good a debut in charge as new Proteas netball coach Jenny van Dyk could ask for, but she said there is still plenty of room for improvement as she looks to grow the depth of the South Africa squad.

The Proteas won the three Tests, played at the Ellis Park Arena last weekend, 68-31, 69-38 and 69-24, a record winning margin against Malawi, a side who have always provided tough competition and are currently ranked seventh in the world to South Africa’s fifth.

“I’m really happy, it’s the way we wanted to start and I’m really proud of the girls,” Van Dyk said. “The team reacted well and they stuck to the game-plan, they played with a lot of passion, they played hard and they did us proud. As a first series, it was certainly good enough, we’ve got the goals we wanted. I challenged them to get certain scores and they have shown themselves to be coachable and they have a great mindset.

“Scoreline-wise, I am very pleased. To win 3-0 in your first run out is great and we also managed to test a lot of combinations. At times our second combination was under pressure and there are more proper tests to come. This series was an opportunity to pair the right combinations together and they gave it a good shot.

“We could just revert back to the old combinations, but I want 15 strong players. I understand it’s a tall order, but we’ve seen those cycles when we have seven strong players, but then you have one or two injuries and the whole campaign is destroyed. So we need to create depth and I will also be having a good look at the U21 World Cup next year, that gives good exposure to the young talent,” Van Dyk said.

The team will now have a short break before gathering in early December for a camp that will take place at the same time as the Spar National Championships in Johannesburg, and the next week the Proteas head off to Namibia for the Africa Cup in Swakopmund from December 9.

Four of the Proteas squad are, however, involved in the Fast 5 World Series in New Zealand, including Kamogelo Maseko, the creative mainstay of the team, and exciting new goal shooter Rolene Streutker.

Veteran Karla Pretorius is still an absolute pillar in defence for the Proteas, and she emphasised the learning curve that the national netball team are on at the moment.

“This series was an opportunity to push different combinations, it was not just about getting good wins but also testing combinations and putting players in different situations. We wanted tough games, to be in those tricky situations, out of their safety zones. To put out different combinations and still win 3-0 is the positive.

“We’re happy with what we got out of the series, we never panicked and we always felt fully in control. We just need to adapt quicker, not let the opposition get momentum. We need to get into the game defensively a bit quicker,” Pretorius said.

Defence was also the one area that Van Dyk highlighted as needing attention.

“We weren’t as pleased with the defending as we wanted to be, we weren’t quite in the positions we wanted to be and we allowed Malawi too much space. Especially our attackers, they need to be tighter on their opposite numbers. That is something we need to work on,” Van Dyk said.

Victory over Boland in Paarl at the weekend has ensured our DP World Lions men’s team go into the final week of round-robin action in the CSA T20 Challenge at the top of the log, but it was no cruise for our gutsy Pride.

Having lost the toss, our DP World Lions had to bat second and, after another clinical bowling display, they may have been chasing only 130, but the Boland Park pitch just became slower and lower as the day progressed and #ThePrideOfJozi in the end won with six wickets in hand, but with just two balls to spare.

The hard-fought victory, their fourth in a row, mean they go into Wednesday’s match against Western Province at the DP World Wanderers Stadium with a one-point lead over the North-West Dragons at the top of the log. 

Leg-spinner Junaid Dawood again excelled as he took three for 21 to become the leading wicket-taker in the competition this season, and he was well-backed by our pair of returning Proteas spinners, Bjorn Fortuin (4-0-22-0) and Nqaba Peter (4-0-28-1). Paceman Lutho Sipamla was also excellent with the ball, taking two for 19 in three overs.

Reeza Hendricks then showed his experience and class as he steered the Pride to victory with a fluent 72 not out off just 50 deliveries, a matchwinning effort with the bat. Zubayr Hamza scored 37 and it was their second-wicket stand of 82 in a dozen overs that was the backbone of the successful chase.

While praising the resilience and determination of the team in bouncing back from a poor opening match against the Titans, assistant coach Jimmy Kgamadi says our DP World Lions are still trying to improve with every outing as they look to defend their title.

“As coaches, we are very pleased because we did not start well against the Titans, who hammered us, really. But the team has shown great character to come back the way they have. And also to do it on the road in Bloemfontein and Paarl, to pull those matches through is great,” Kgamadi said.

“Paarl is a difficult place to play because it is very challenging conditions, a very slow pitch. We played three spinners to suit the conditions and that just shows the good depth in the squad, we can play in any conditions.

“For Reeza to avail himself to us is very special, he could have spent time with his family instead. He brings such experience and seniority, and enormous stability to our batting. He also uplifts guys like Zubayr, Wandile Makwetu, Connor Esterhuizen and Mitch van Buuren when they bat with him.

“But we never felt we had it in the bag because Boland bowled and fielded very well and the pitch went very slow, it really was difficult to score. But the guys held their nerve and were able to take it deep,” Kgamadi said.

Now the DP World Lions will be back in home conditions in Johannesburg against a Western Province team who are in sixth position in the standings and so desperately need a win to keep their hopes of being in the playoffs alive.

Our DP World Lions have shown glimpses of their best in each of the departments – the batting against the Warriors in their second game, the bowling in the first half of the innings against the Dolphins and against Boland, and the fielding versus the Knights in Bloemfontein – but Kgamadi is hopeful that #ThePrideOfJozi will be able to put all three facets together in a complete performance against Western Province.

“I’m still waiting for that great all-round performance, when all parts of our game come together. We’ve seen glimpses, but it hasn’t all come together from the first over to the 20^th and I can’t wait for when the puzzle all comes together. But the attitude and energies of the team is certainly up there,” Kgamadi said.

It’s been an SA20 campaign of some angst for the Pretoria Capitals and their new coach Jonathan Trott, but a change of captain and bringing in a handful of fresh players saw them ease to an assured bonus point victory over the Joburg Super Kings at Centurion on Tuesday night, which will provide a considerable confidence-boost as the playoffs loom.

The Capitals came into this crucial local derby having won just one of their previous seven matches, but two No-Results and a bonus point win meant they weren’t knocked out of contention just yet. But another victory was almost essential and they pulled it off in style, winning by six wickets with fully eight overs to spare.

The triumph was set up in the field after new skipper Kyle Verreynne won the toss and sent Joburg in to bat. The bowlers responded with a superb display of calm discipline – conceding just one leg-bye and one wide as extras epitomised that – and the Capitals were brilliant in the field.

The pressure saw the Super Kings restricted to just 99 for nine in their 20 overs, the lowest SA20 total ever at Centurion.

Two players making their SA20 debuts set the tone with the ball. Australian Thomas Rogers was excellent up front, taking one for 20 in his four overs, while Gideon Peters, from North-West via Border but born in Pretoria, caused great unease in the middle overs with his sheer pace and excellent control. He finished with two for 15 in his four overs, dismissing two of Joburg’s international stars in Devon Conway (9) and Moeen Ali (0). And Peters very much got them out – Conway couldn’t handle the heat from a short delivery and was caught behind, while Moeen was trapped lbw by a searing leg-stump yorker.

The batting line-up also has a fresh look with Will Smeed, Ashton Turner and Keagan Lion-Cachet all in the top six.

Regular captain Rilee Rossouw was unavailable on Tuesday because his wife had given birth in the morning, but Verreynne confirmed after the match that the change of captain will be in place until the end of the tournament.

“We wanted to freshen up the team with new guys and they’ve had an immediate impact. We’ve had five guys sitting on the side who are very hungry and we did really nicely in the field, just keeping it simple,” Verreynne said.

“I thought with both the ball and in the field we were exceptional and we were really ruthless, which is maybe what we have lacked up till now. We just kept putting pressure on the Super Kings and the way we played is very pleasing and important because we’ve spoken about getting momentum to take into the back stretch of the competition.”

The Pretoria Capitals are now just one point behind the fourth-placed Super Kings, with both franchises having two games remaining. The Joburgers host Paarl Royals and Durban Super Giants, while the Capitals play home and away against MI Cape Town, so it is going to be a tense finale to the round-robin stages.

Joburg Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming was upset by his team’s failure to exhibit much tenacity. After their poor batting display, they were scattergun with the ball and sloppy in the field, two catches going down. The most crucial was Marques Ackerman being missed on 0 by Lutho Sipamla at deep backward point when Pretoria were two down inside the first five overs. The left-hander went on to score 39 off 22 balls, which settled the contest in poised fashion.

“It was a really bad one, a poor performance. There’s been a bit of a trend this season that batting first seems a bit more challenging, but the players didn’t have the mindset to work their way out of a tough situation. We were sloppy with the bat, the ball and in the field, so 0/3 of our skills worked, which is a problem,” Fleming said.

“The Capitals were able to extract variable pace and bounce, but we contributed to our own demise, we should have posted 140 but we just gave up too easily. You need to adapt to conditions and get a score on the board, but the modern player doesn’t seem to have that toughness to find a way to do it. It’s mostly mental.”

With the Western Cape teams playing such inspired cricket at the moment, Fleming admitted that it will now take a miracle for the Joburg Super Kings to finish in the top two and earn themselves two chances of making the final.

“We’re probably out of the race for one and two, but there are three teams hunting hard for the other two playoff places. We have our last two games at home, where we are very comfortable. So that’s a positive, but we have to play better,” Fleming said.

The Pretoria Capitals, meanwhile, seem to have found some belated inspiration. The rousing fast bowling of Peters had much to do with that. The 25-year-old was born and schooled in Pretoria and represented the SA U19s in 2018. He played 28 matches for Northerns across all three formats, but for some reason left to play for Border in 2021.

Thankfully for a bowler of his potential, he has been playing for North-West in Division One for the last two seasons.

While Peters may not be known to many, Verreynne had a brief but memorable meeting with him before they became SA20 team-mates.

“I played against him in a T20 match for Western Province last season. The first ball I didn’t see and the second ball got me out. So I knew what he was about and obviously I’ve seen him a lot in training now. He’s a serious talent with the ability to bowl 150km/h-plus, and his ability to bowl at any stage of the innings impresses me. Plus his attitude and hunger is most pleasing,” Verreynne said.

Johannes Veerman produced inspired golf on the final day of the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City on Sunday, but even then his eventual victory had a touch of the miraculous about it, with the 32-year-old himself expressing his amazement.

Veerman shot a 69, one of just four sub-70 rounds on the final day, to finish on five-under-par 283. He was in the tie for seventh, five shots off the lead, at the end of the third round. But no-one else on that score or above him on the leaderboard was able to shoot less than 71 and Veerman came from nowhere to claim the prestigious title.

“What just happened?!” Veerman said in his press conference after lifting the famous crystal trophy on the 18^th green, presented by tournament patron Gary Player. “My mindset after posting five-under was that at best I would have to go out again for a playoff, but I was thunderstruck when I heard I didn’t have to.

“I really look up to players like Max Homa and Mackenzie Hughes, and Gary Player of course, to be in the same field as them is a dream come true because I respect them so much. But to actually win, you have to pinch me, how did I do that? It’s crazy!,” Veerman said.

For the player born in Orange County, California, the win is his first outside of Europe, having won the Czech Masters in 2021. Veerman has always prioritised playing on the DP World Tour, and his journey towards fulfilling all his golfing dreams has been a fascinating one.

The son of a Dutch father who worked for a multinational oil and gas company, Veerman lived his early life in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, China, England and the United States. His mother is Indonesian.

He went to university at Tulsa and at Texas A&M, but he is one of the few American golfers who clearly have a global view of the game. Homa, who was the defending champion, is another.

But it was while the family were living in Berkshire, England that Veerman’s life changed. He was nine years old when father Jan took him to watch the PGA Championship at Wentworth. Johannes was enchanted and immediately decided to take up golf.

His talent for the game was obvious and he returned to the U.S. to play college golf. Except being a professional golfer was still not his first love. Following a mishap when a firework accident nearly blew off his thumb, Veerman was so impressed by the work of the surgeons who repaired the damage that he decided he wanted to be a doctor.

That only changed when his fellow pre-med students at Texas A&M said playing golf would surely be a better option.

And that ‘career change’ certainly seems to have paid off as Veerman now has his second professional victory, and a famous title that carried a winner’s cheque of more than a million dollars.

“To win Africa’s Major – I can now put that on my Instagram and call it the fifth Major! – means a lot because my family has sacrificed so much for me. My wife sold her business and now we travel with a one and a two-year-old, so it’s a lot of work being on the road all year. So this is really satisfying.

“I’ve played the majority of my golf in Europe and Asia but my first priority has been the European Tour. So I remember Ernie Els and Retief Goosen winning here, I was a very big fan of them and always wondered what it would be like playing on this iconic course.

“I was kinda lurking all week, so to walk away with the trophy feels amazing. I could not believe how big the grandstands were on 18 when I played a practice round and the crowds have been amazing. I think it helps that I have a name like ‘Johannes Veerman’, so it feels a bit like home advantage!

“This week has also been great fun with all the functions and meeting really fun people. We had a fireworks show, dinner in the bush and just so much fun because the support of the crowds is amazing and just the whole environment is great.

“Sun City compares with anywhere in the world and the Gary Player Country Club is absolutely a premier golf course. All the greens look like clovers so there are little nooks. Nowhere else in the world do you get that plus the wind and heat we’ve had every day. They call this place the ‘Caddy Graveyard’ because the wind just switches all the time.

“The closing stretch especially is so difficult, and I knew that if I could par my way in then I might have a chance. It’s an incredible test of golf and you have to stay so patient. It tests every club in your game, but not just your equipment, also your attitude and your grit.

Although the married father of two clearly wants to experience the wonderful whole wide world of golf, he admits that eventually a return home to play on the U.S. PGA Tour is clearly a goal.

“I could play on the DP World Tour forever and I love playing in Europe, and of course now in South Africa. I’m obviously coming back to Sun Coty, forever at this point, and winning this tournament is the biggest bang at the start of the season that I could have hoped for.

“But I would also love to play on the PGA Tour and this is such a big step in that direction. All my family are over in the U.S. and with decisions about daycare and schools coming up in a few years, obviously I would be nearer to my kids if I play in America,” Veerman said.

Having won the toughest Nedbank Golf Challenge since 1990 when David Frost claimed his second title with a four-under-par tally of 284, the outlook is good for Veerman, who has now gone to the top of the Race to Dubai rankings, to finish in the top-10 of the order of merit and gain a PGA Tour card.