Ken Borland

Eyebrows would have been raised when KZN captain Prenelan Subrayen said “we know our score is on par, very competitive”, after the Dolphins posted just 148/5 against Western Province in their crucial CSA T20 Challenge match at St George’s Park on Wednesday.

He was dead right though as WP were bundled out for just 83 as KZN stormed to victory by 65 runs and a place in Friday’s semi-finals.

Bryce Parsons, mixing left-arm orthodox with wrist-spin, took 3/22, but Subrayen (4-0-17-2), Andile Phehlukwayo (3-0-16-2) and Ottneil Baartman (2-0-16-2) were also all amongst the wickets.

Sent in to bat, KZN had to recover from  a disastrous start as they slumped to 13/3 against the spin of George Linde (4-0-24-2) and Aviwe Mgijima (4-0-25-2). WP’s other spinner, Junaid Dawood, took 1/15 in his four overs.

But KZN recovered superbly thanks to Khaya Zondo’s defiant 59 not out off 51 balls, Ruan de Swardt (22) and Parsons (28 off 22) batting well around him.

Phehlukwayo then provided the boost at the end as he blasted 25 not out off 10 deliveries.

The Eastern Province Warriors have become a team to love but they fell short of winning their last game, going down by 10 runs to the North-West Dragons.

North-West batted first and Heino Kuhn enjoyed himself in a punishing 78 off 57 balls, and with lovely cameos from Delano Potgieter (29 off 22) and Senuran Muthusamy (24* off 11), they posted 169/5.

For EP, Lesiba Ngoepe scored a sparkling 43 off 28 deliveries and captain Sinethemba Qeshile (24 off 13) and experienced Rudi Second (29 off 14) launched a daring late onslaught which ended when both were dismissed by Duan Jansen in the penultimate over.

Lwandiswa Zuma took 3/25 for NW, while Muthusamy’s wonderful tournament continued with 1/15 in his four overs.

Western Province batted with tremendous authority on Wednesday to chase down a record score of 164 and beat the Eastern Province Warriors by seven wickets with 17 balls to spare for their second successive victory in the CSA T20 Challenge at St George’s Park.

Opening batsman Richard Levi led the charge with a powerful, sensational knock of 40 off just 17 balls, including five fours and three sixes.

With fellow opener Jonathan Bird making 39 off 26 deliveries, Western Province raced to 69/1 in the powerplay.

Bird fell in the 10^th over with 66 runs still required, but well-organised batting by the experienced duo of Dane Vilas (33* off 27) and George Linde (34* off 24) ensured the visitors kept the whip hand over the Warriors.

Mthiwekhaya Nabe (3-0-18-2) was the best EP bowler and spinner Jon-Jon Smuts was economical, but the rest of the attack was plundered.

Eastern Province, after electing to bat first, had posted a commanding 163/5 thanks to opener Wihan Lubbe batting through and controlling the innings with his 69 not out off 59 balls.

There were other little cameos around him, but the most profitable partnership was the 56 off 40 deliveries he put on with Lesiba Ngoepe (36 off 20) for the third wicket.

Left-arm seamer Wayne Parnell was the pick of the WP bowlers with 1/25 in his four overs.

The Northerns Titans lost on the opening day to the Warriors, and the composure they showed in beating the Boland Rocks by three runs in a thrilling game will please coach Mandla Mashimbyi.

Boland looked well on their way to their target of 159 when they needed 19 runs off two overs with the sixth-wicket pair of Michael Copeland and Ferisco Adams going well.

But fast bowler Junior Dala (3/36) ended the penultimate over in outstanding fashion, removing both set batsmen, and Aya Gqamane then conceded just eight runs in the final over when 12 were needed for Boland to win.

SA U19 player Copeland, making his senior T20 debut after returning from the West Indies on Monday, did extremely well to score 39 off 33 balls.

Janneman Malan had given the Boland chase a blazing start with 45 off 31 balls, but Northerns spinners Aaron Phangiso (4-0-20-2) and Tabraiz Shamsi (4-0-24-1) then turned the screw.

Having been sent in to bat, Titans openers Gihahn Cloete (53 off 41) and Quinton de Kock (72 off 61) batted brilliantly and were in full control as they added 106 in 13.5 overs.

The Boland bowlers, led by Adams, who conceded just 26 runs in his four overs, fought back well though, and despite Donovan Ferreira’s 27 not out off 17 deliveries, Northerns would have felt they could have posted more than 158/2.

George Linde has obviously found married life to be to his liking as he led Western Province to victory over the Boland Rocks with a fine display with both bat and ball on the opening day of the CSA T20 Challenge at St George’s Park on Monday.

Linde, who pulled out of the Proteas tour to New Zealand due to his wedding last weekend, was outstanding with the ball as he took 2/13 in four overs as Boland were restricted to 142/6 after electing to bat first.

They got that far thanks to a partnership of 79 between Christiaan Jonker (46) and Ferisco Adams (34), both of whom were dismissed in the space of three balls by the orthodox left-armer.

Fellow spinner Junaid Dawood (4-0-20-1) and left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks (4-0-28-2) were also impressive for Western Province.

The Western Province chase was given a superb start by returning opening batsman Richard Levi, who slammed 67 off 39 balls, despite another former international, fast bowler Hardus Viljoen, taking 3/16 in three overs.

But Levi was dismissed in the 13^th over with 42 runs required, giving Boland a chance of getting back in the game.

But Linde then scored 20 not out and, with Aviwe Mgijima (26*) steered Western Province home with three overs to spare.

The Northerns Titans, with Quinton de Kock, Heinrich Klaasen and Theunis de Bruyn providing plenty of batting power, and spinners Tabraiz Shamsi and Aaron Phangiso dominating the middle overs, have been installed as one of the favourites for the competition.

But they were beaten by 8 runs by the Eastern Province Warriors as their batting failed to fire and poor bowling with the new ball and in the closing overs undid their good work in the middle.

Sent in to bat, Matthew Breetzke (36 off 21) and Wihan Lubbe raced to 65 inside the first seven overs.

The Northerns spinners, led by slow left-armer Phangiso’s 1/24 in four overs, then fought back, but Lubbe batted through to the 17^th over for his well-controlled 56 off 46 balls and Tristan Stubbs provided a matchwinning boost by lashing an outstanding 51 off 27 deliveries to take EP to 163/8.

Lizaad Williams dismissed them both to finish with 2/29 in his four overs.

Lubbe then claimed the key wicket of De Kock for a two-ball duck in the opening over and Gihahn Cloete (23), De Bruyn (17) and Klaasen (20) were all unable to build on starts.

The talented Donovan Ferreira belted 60 not out off 40 balls but did not have enough support as Northerns closed on 155/8.

Lubbe took 2/15 in two overs, but the best Warriors bowler was the experienced Jon-Jon Smuts, who conceded just 12 runs in his four overs and claimed the key wicket of Klaasen.

Curwin Bosch was considered a mint talent when he arrived at Kings Park in 2016, but is almost a forgotten Springbok these days. The 24-year-old’s latest comeback will happen on Wednesday night as he has been named as the Sharks’ starting flyhalf for their Currie Cup match against Western Province in Durban.

The Eastern Cape prodigy has played two Tests for South Africa, but the last of those was in June 2018. Bosch has not appeared in the United Rugby Championship since the Sharks’ match in Cardiff on October 16.

The rumour mill has been rife with speculation that the Sharks want to offload the bright and still young talent, despite their five-year investment in him, but CEO Eduard Coetzee has denied this.

“Curwin has had a bit of an unfortunate run, he had a hip flexor injury, but he’s back this week,” Coetzee said at the Sharks’ media weekend. “With the British and Irish Lions defeat and the Currie Cup final, he lost a bit of confidence.

“But we are looking to get him back in the team, even though he thinks his future may lie outside of the Sharks. We’ve given him time to get his head right and if he wants to stay with us then that would be cool.

“Curwin is an unbelievable rugby player who has won games for us. But sport is cruel. He’s a great kid though and it’s important that we look after him,” Coetzee said.

The presence of one Elton Jantjies at Kings Park over the weekend – ostensibly to visit his nephew who is at the Sharks Academy – could indicate there is further pressure, however, on Bosch’s future in Durban.

Adding the skills and trickery of Jantjies, all of it done flat to the gainline, to the powerful Sharks backline would be a mouthwatering prospect.

And Coetzee has admitted that they need to bolster their squad in order to challenge for URC honours and beyond.

“We gave away the most penalties at scrum time of any team – 3.8 per game – hence our signing of Globis [Georgian scrum coach Akvsenti Giorgadze] and Bongi Mbonambi.

“We had to ask ourselves, if Thomas du Toit goes down, we have another tighthead? So we are looking to bolster our tight five. I don’t think we’ll be signing any wings …

“It’s a balancing act because there are also transfer fees to consider and we have to wait for the right guy to come up. But by July 1, I’m confident we will have a squad that can win the URC.

“We are a global competitor and we are ambitious. We want to enter the Heineken Champions Cup and win it. We need older heads for that because age is the big difference between our teams and the overseas ones,” Coetzee said.