Ken Borland

Both South Africa and India’s batsmen plundered runs before rain had the final say and gave the hosts an 11-run victory on the Duckworth/Lewis Method in the New Age Friendship Cup T20 at the BidVest Wanderers Stadium on Friday.

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Jacques Kallis and Colin Ingram blazed half-centuries to lay the foundation for South Africa’s total of 219 for four, and Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa were making a very good fist of the chase as they took India to 71 without loss in just 7.5 overs before rain stopped play.

After ending their innings on a tremendous high, Justin Ontong and Albie Morkel lashing 26 runs off the final over, South Africa were unable to make a breakthrough with the ball, but Lonwabo Tsotsobe’s three overs for just 15 runs were ultimately the difference as India were behind according to the Duckworth/Lewis calculation, but in control in many people’s eyes.

Gambhir hit seven fours and a six in his 49 not out off just 28 balls. It was a stunning mix of stylish strokeplay and awesome power from the left-hander and it definitely had South Africa on the back foot.

Uthappa had made it to 18 not out off 19 balls when the rain arrived to end the match.

Tsotsobe was the only bowler to keep the batsmen quiet, not conceding a boundary. The other four bowlers used by South Africa conceded 53 runs in 4.5 overs.

South Africa had earlier charged to the fourth-highest T20 international total ever as they plundered 219 for four.

Kallis – who was being “honoured” by the game – and Ingram established South Africa’s dominance with a record second-wicket stand of 119 off 81 balls, before Ontong and Morkel provided an emphatic conclusion by taking 26 runs off the final over bowled by Suresh Raina.

With overcast, rainy skies over the Wanderers only clearing a couple of hours before the toss, Mahendra Singh Dhoni called correctly and then sent South Africa in. Richard Levi hit four of his first six balls to the boundary, but his cameo was over almost before it had begun as left-armer Irfan Pathan switched to over the wicket and immediately had him caught at slip by Rohit Sharma for 19.

The colder weather in Johannesburg may have helped the amazing Kallis, but having flown halfway around the world from chilly New Zealand just 48 hours previously, the great all-rounder produced another remarkable innings to celebrate his own party.

Showing his usual ice-cool judgment, Kallis was content to push singles, until he found the length he wanted. He would then positively murder the ball, lashing five fours and two sixes in his 61 off 42 balls.

Ingram, battling to establish himself at international level, had a dream evening as he blasted a career-best 78 off 50 balls, with eight fours and three sixes.

Their century stand – coming off 72 balls – was the sixth by a pair of South African batsmen and the first against India. They batted through until the end of the 15th over, when Kallis was eventually caught by Rohit on the midwicket boundary off Ravichandran Ashwin.

That just seemed to bring out the best in Ingram as the last five overs produced a great finish by the South Africans – 78 runs being scored in the last five overs!

Ingram cut loose by scoring his last 28 runs off just 12 balls, finishing with eight fours and three sixes, most of his strokes being in keeping with the MCC Coaching Manual.

Off-spinner Raina had been the one Indian bowler to police the South Africans up till then and he removed Ingram at the start of the 18th over, Rohit taking his third catch of the innings – the first Indian to do so – diving forward at deep midwicket.

Only five runs had come from the over, before Ontong ended it with a slog-swept six over midwicket.

Irfan was then tidy in the 19th, conceding just a single Ontong boundary, before the experienced right-hander went into overdrive by hitting the first two balls of Raina’s final over for four and six. Ontong then missed a cunning quicker, flatter delivery from Raina to be bowled for a quickfire 22 off seven balls, but Morkel was just the man to close the innings, going six-four-six to finish with 16 not out off three balls.

Debutant Farhaan Behardien kept the momentum going with his 20 not out off 11 balls and these are exciting days for South African batting when one considers Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy and Faf du Plessis weren’t even playing!

The end result was South Africa’s highest total against India, beating the 172-5 in the 2010 T20 World Cup in the West Indies, and the second-highest score they have ever made, behind the 241-6 against England at SuperSport Park in 2009/10.

The off-spinner Ashwin was the most economical of the visiting bowlers, with one for 33 in his four overs.

The rain returned to the Wanderers to stop South Africa’s ball-chasing as India raced to 71 without loss in 7.5 overs in their New Age Friendship Cup match in Johannesburg on Friday.

8th over – Gautam Gambhir provides India’s score with a late boost before the rain, top-edging a hook off Wayne Parnell for four and then lashing the next ball through the covers for four as he was offered too much width. Sadly for them, it’s not enough as India are still 14 runs behind the Duckworth/Lewis target.

7th over – Captain Johan Botha brings himself on to stem the bleeding, but Robin Uthappa steps out of his crease and drives the off-spinner’s first ball crisply through extra cover for four. Gautam Gambhir also collects a boundary, late-cutting Botha beautifully to third man for four.

4th over – Gambhir greets Rusty Theron’s introduction by bashing his first ball straight down the ground for four. Two balls later, the on-fire left-hander pulls a ball kindly placed on his hips behind square for four.

2nd over – Magnificent batting by Gambhir as he hammers Albie Morkel for four, six and four! The left-hander starts with a stylish cut that has tremendous power behind it, point getting a hand to the ball as he dived, but it still races away for four. Morkel then bowls short and wide and Gambhir lashes an uppercut over third man for six, before punching a drive through the covers for four.

South Africa innings

India were left aghast as South Africa plundered 219 for four in their New Age Friendship Cup T20 match at the BidVest Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Friday.

20th over – Suresh Raina bowls the final over and Justin Ontong drives the first ball sweetly over extra cover for four, before slog-sweeping the second delivery for a mighty six. WICKET – Raina’s next ball is quicker and flatter though, and this time Ontong misses the slog-sweep and is bowled for a quickfire 22 off seven balls. That serves to dispel the myth that he can’t hit the ball at the death! Albie Morkel comes in and just punches his first ball away on the leg-side, perhaps to get Behardien back on strike … but look! It’s gone for six! That just shows Morkel’s amazing ability. The powerful left-hander then ends the innings in style by flicking a short, leg-side delivery away for four and then powers a straight drive through the hands of Ravichandran Ashwin at long-on, low and flat for six!

19th over – Justin Ontong latches on to a fullish delivery from Irfan Pathan and blazes it through the covers for four.

18th over – WICKET – Suresh Raina has been the best of the Indian bowlers and he gets his reward as Colin Ingram slog-sweeps to deeep midwicket, Rohit Sharma’s third catch – an Indian record – being a good effort diving forward. Ingram’s career-best 78 off 50 balls, with eight fours and three sixes, was nevertheless a fantastic display of his undeniable talent and has put South Africa in a powerful position. Only five runs have come from the over, but Ontong ends it in style as he slog-sweeps his second ball for six.

17th over – Spectacular batting by Ingram! Vinay Kumar pitches full and wide and the left-hander square-drives him over backward point for six. Vinay responds with a rubbish ball down leg which Ingram turns fine for four, before cutting, again with superb timing, for four. Farhaan Behardien ends the over with his first boundary in South African colours, a trademark drive through extra cover for a splendid four.

15th over – Wonderful cricket by Ingram as he dances down the pitch to Ashwin and drives him magnificently over long-on for six. WICKET – India finally break the second-wicket stand of 119 off 81 balls as Jacques Kallis tries to slog-sweep the off-spinner, but the ball just slides on, the shot is cramped and Rohit takes the catch on the midwicket boundary. Kallis played an innings to remember on his tribute night – 61 off 42 balls – and is perhaps the only batsmen who could play like that 48 hours after flying halfway around the world!

14th over – India turn to the part-time nothingness that is Virat Kohli and what an over it is for South Africa! Kallis collects three successive boundaries, the first bringing up his half-century off just 36 balls as Ravichandran Ashwin makes a mess of a lofted drive on the long-on boundary, the ball spinning away and dribbling on to the rope. Kallis lashes the next ball through the covers to bring up the century stand – the first for South Africa against India – off just 72 balls and then plays a magnificent cover drive, picking the gap brilliantly between the wide long-off and the cover sweeper for his fifth four to go with a pair of sixes. Ingram also brings up his maiden T20 international half-century in the over, off 38 balls, with six fours and a six.

12th over – Off-spinner Rohit is the seventh bowler used and Kallis heaves him superbly over midwicket for six. Clever cricket by Ingram brings him four more runs as he comes down the pitch and drives inside-out over extra cover.

11th over – Another super shot by Ingram as Ashwin bowls a fraction short and the left-hander swings him sweetly over square-leg for six.

8th over – Yusuf Pathan comes on to bowl his darts and Kallis collects the first six of the evening. And it’s massive, the honouree launching a slightly-overpitched delivery majestically over long-on.

7th over – Praveen Kumar returns and bowls a full toss which Ingram dispatches over wide mid-on for four.

6th over – The first bit of spin for the innings and Ingram sweeps off-spinner Ashwin fine for four.

5th over – Too short from Vinay and Kallis gives himself room outside leg-stump and clatters the ball through point for his first boundary. Kallis ends the over with a shot of pure strength – standing still in the crease and short-arm jabbing an in-swinger over the head of deep mid-on for another four.

4th over – Ingram advances a couple of steps down the pitch to Irfan and punches him handsomely through the covers for four.

2nd over – Richard Levi now has 19 off just six balls, including four fours as he slaps his first delivery from Irfan through mid-off for four and then pulls through the diving midwicket for another boundary. WICKET – A change of angle does the trick for India, however, as left-armer Irfan comes over the wicket and bowls back of a length, finding the edge of Levi’s bat as he prodded at the delivery angled across him, Rohit Sharma taking a low catch at slip. It was the first defensive stroke Levi played, perhaps that was the problem! Colin Ingram times his first ball beautifully as he steers Irfan through point with an impressive square-drive for four.

1st over – A sensational start by Levi! The first ball of the match from Praveen is driving confidently straight down the ground for three runs by Levi. Kallis, as is his wont, then takes a couple of balls before getting off the mark with a single pushed into the covers. Levi’s second ball is hoisted over extra cover for four and then he shows wonderful touch and skill as he chops a ball down through the vacant gully for another boundary.

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Nashua Titans coach Matthew Maynard said his players’ dedication and ability to rise to the occasion had been the shining lights of their MiWay T20 Challenge campaign that culminates in the final against the bizhub Highveld Lions at the Wanderers on Sunday.

“The intensity in practice has been sensational, as good as I’ve come across, and I’m delighted that they’ve been rewarded for their efforts. Trophies are what is expected in professional sport and I’ve been blessed with a very good squad. Managing the guys who’ve been away and come back is always a challenge, but when Faf du Plessis and Jacques Rudolph have come back, they’ve been highly motivated to succeed.

“It’s been an incredible year. Ever since I arrived from a foreign land, I’ve felt so welcome. The first phase was getting to know the players and the first thing that struck me was how driven they are. I just had to create an environment for them to thrive in, I’m very much an empowering coach, leaving the onus on them. The players have been absolutely fantastic and I couldn’t have asked for more as a coach in terms of how they’ve gone about their work,” Maynard said.

The Titans reached the final in the most dramatic circumstances at SuperSport Park last weekend, after they seemed to have once again wrecked their chances with a poor batting display. But Farhaan Behardien pushed them close and Alfonso Thomas hit the last ball of the 20 overs for six to force a Super Over decider, in which he and Behardien once again shone.

“We’ve got through some tight situations this season, starting in Paarl in the SuperSport Series when we had a very difficult chase and Albie Morkel made an unbeaten half-century. That was a massive defining moment and then we prepared a filthy green pitch against the Dolphins because we had to win outright, but we lost the toss and had to bat first and Heino Kuhn smacked 128 to put them on the back foot and Faf then scored 157 to get us plenty of bonus points.

“And then it was an incredible way to reach the T20 final and we’ve had to let it sink in. But this is a great bunch of players, they’re very self-motivated and there’s a lovely balance between those who have won before and the youngsters. They’ve done the key things right in the tight games,” Maynard said.

During their years of promising much but eventually failing at the final hurdle in T20 cricket, the Titans were generally fast out of the blocks before fading at the business end of the tournament. But this season, they have slowly built their way to peak form ahead of the crucial final two matches, winning their last four games.

The Titans now look such a settled, in-form and slick unit that it seems national stars AB de Villiers, Morne Morkel, Jacques Rudolph and Marchant de Lange will be left on the sidelines for Friday’s final.

“I will need to sit down with them and see how fatigued and motivated they are. It’s a very tough call, because it affects the balance of the side, but it’s all about how motivated they are to play. It can also be hard on them because the levels of expectation will be very high, but they’ll be fatigued after a long tour and a long flight. You only need to be 2% off your best to not be able to perform in a final,” Maynard said.

South African captain Graeme Smith was showing the effects of that long flight when he arrived back in Johannesburg late on Wednesday afternoon and he said it was a very tough ask for his team-mates to play on Sunday.

“I feel like I’ve been flying for four days, so I feel for the guys playing on Sunday. Your sleep patterns are a mess and it’s not just about game day, but also the training beforehand. It took us time to find our feet when we flew to New Zealand, about seven or eight days,” Smith said.

There has been speculation that the Titans played their “final” in their thrilling qualifying playoff against the Knights, but Maynard said their focus will be firmly on Sunday’s actual final.

“For every franchise, first-class team in England, state in Australia, New Zealand or the West Indies, it’s exactly the same thing, it’s our version of Champions League football to qualify and play against the best in the world. You don’t get that opportunity very often and financially, it’s obviously a massive boost for the union.

“But we won’t be relaxing, there are a couple of new T20 Proteas [Behardien and Du Plessis] who have a lot to prove, and winning the final would be the cherry on top of the cake,” Maynard said.

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Coach Dave Nosworthy went out of his way on Wednesday to assure bizhub Highveld Lions fans that his team are not satisfied with merely qualifying for the Champions League; instead, there is a great hunger in the side to win Sunday’s MiWay T20 Challenge final against the Nashua Titans at the Wanderers.

The Lions topped the round-robin log to qualify for the lucrative Champions League for the second time in three seasons, but Nosworthy said this time they are determined to go one better and win the final. In 2009/10, the Lions were hammered by 82 runs by the Eastern Cape Warriors in the final.

“We’ve learnt a lesson from the previous season we qualified for the Champions League, when we rode the honeymoon for too long. Two years ago at St George’s Park, it was a big honeymoon for us and we relaxed mentally. There’s a totally different vibe in the side now and the most important thing for them is the final. The Champions League is great, but the guys are desperate to get over the line on Sunday and will be right up for the game,” Nosworthy said at the Wanderers on Wednesday.

The Lions have not played a full match in the last fortnight, bad weather causing both their games against the Sunfoil Dolphins and the New Age Impi to be abandoned, but the loss of momentum has been partially offset by the opportunity to refocus after the joy of qualifying in first place.

“The emotions have been allowed to come off that massive high and we were out in the middle yesterday, regaining any lost momentum with a middle practice where we set different scenarios. So our preparations are on track,” Nosworthy said.

Nosworthy managed to arrest the decline in confidence in the side after a miserable One-Day Cup campaign at the end of last year in which the Lions finished bottom of the log after winning just two of their 10 games.

“There’s a lot of belief in the side and a balance between the experienced players who have won stuff before and the exuberance of youth. The team chemistry has been one of the key things and when games have gone down to the wire, we’ve had that belief. We’ve stuck to our game plans and kept to our good habits,” Nosworthy said.

The former Titans coach confirmed that he will definitely be making use of the services of Alviro Petersen, who returned from New Zealand with the national team on Wednesday afternoon. While the opening batsman is obviously in form and is a proven limited-overs performer, there is always the risk of disruption to the side, especially since Petersen has been in test-match mode for the last three weeks.

“Alviro will come straight back into the team as captain. He was here for the first four matches and the issues are more if you change four or five players, which changes the whole dynamic. But through this season, Alviro has been more with us than anywhere else and everyone’s more than comfortable with him coming back.

“The players all know his plans and the relationship between him and Thami Tsolekile [the previous captain] is crucial. It is brilliant, they are good mates, so Alviro comes back, he has always been part of us,” Nosworthy said.

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