Ken Borland

Following an encouraging set-piece display in the win against the Lions at Ellis Park last weekend, Sharks prop Ox Nche is confident his team will be able to deliver the goods again when they host the Stormers in their United Rugby Championship match in Durban on Saturday.

The Sharks do seem to have settled down in terms of their scrummaging and much of the credit for that must go to their scrum coach, Akvsenti Giorgadze, the former Georgia hooker who joined the franchise at the start of the URC season. The home side will need to be at their best in the set-piece to counter a strong Stormers scrum led by powerhouse Springbok loosehead Steven Kitshoff.

“The Lions average four or five penalties a game won and at 2-2 last weekend at Ellis Park, it was fairly even,” Nche said on Tuesday. “We were pretty happy, being our first match back.

“We can only get better and there’s not much difference between the guys coming off the bench and the front row that starts, we have all worked hard and put in the same effort.

“We have a good system in place with Akvsenti, he keeps it fairly simple. It’s an all-eight effort and he is very good with the little things like our shape and technique. He brings confidence.

“And he insists on attitude as well, he expects forwards to be forwards! He tries to bring the best out of every player and he’s doing that, we have a good relationship,” Nche said.

The Sharks scored six tries in beating the Lions 47-37 and some of them were dazzling efforts showcasing the brilliant skills of their Springbok-laden backline. Nche, wearing the No.1 jersey and playing an important role in winning the time and space for the backs to flourish, knows the whole team will have to take another step up against the Stormers, who lead the way in the South African franchise, two points ahead of the Sharks.

“The Springboks really put their hands up against the Lions and kept their form, which was good to see,” Nche said. “We have some really special backs.

“But it’s going to be a good challenge this weekend against Kitshoff and the boys. We were shocked when we saw they were 18-0 up in the first half at Loftus Versfeld. We expected the Bulls to come out steaming.

“This Saturday, whoever pitches on the day and executes their plan will come out on top and it’s going to be a pretty good challenge. The Stormers will come here with big confidence.

“We have to man up and be at our best. If we can pull it off, it would be a major win for us, and especially for me because it will be the first time I’m playing with fans back at home,” Nche said.

The Proteas once again did the country proud with another gutsy win as they sealed an incredible 3-0 ODI series win over India, following the remarkable triumph in the Tests, by winning the third and final match by four runs at Newlands on Sunday.

Despite Quinton de Kock’s thrilling century, South Africa were left defending a moderate total of 287 and there were times when India looked well on track for victory. But the Proteas attack, without Tabraiz Shamsi, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, kept fighting back and ultimately clinched the game in the final over. Defending just six runs, Dwaine Pretorius conceded a single and then dismissed last man Yuzvendra Chahal (2), skying a cutter into the covers.

Although Lungi Ngidi removed Indian captain Lokesh Rahul for 9 in the fifth over, Shikhar Dhawan, with a free-scoring, uncomplicated 61 off 73 balls, and Virat Kohli, with a typically feisty 65 off 84 deliveries, provided a great platform for the chase with their second-wicket partnership of 98 off 112 balls.

Andile Phehlukwayo’s golden arm turned the game, however, when he removed both Dhawan and Rishabh Pant, who charged down the pitch to his first ball and sliced it to deep cover, in the same over.

Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj bowled a superb spell of 10 overs for 39 runs in the middle overs and, in his last over, he gained reward with the massive wicket of Kohli, who was undone by sharp turn and bounce.

Shreyas Iyer (26) and Suryakumar Yadav (39 off 32) threatened, but the admirable Proteas attack kept chipping away. Iyer was very well caught by Phehlukwayo at deep backward square-leg as Sisanda Magala dug the ball hard into the pitch, and Yadav was fooled by a cutter from Dwaine Pretorius.

But Deepak Chahar blasted 54 off just 34 deliveries and South Africa really had to show their mettle at the death.

Some calamitous late overs left India needing just 21 off the last four overs. The explosive Chahar eventually fell when an Ngidi (10-0-58-3) slower ball saw him skying a catch into the covers, Pretorius taking the tester very well. Phehlukwayo (7-0-40-3) removed Jasprit Bumrah (12) in the next over and the experienced Pretorius then ensured South Africa kept their cool in the final over.

De Kock, returning to international action after missing the Test series, was scratchy in the first ODI and batted fluently in the second game, but he was sublime on Sunday. Continuing his wonderful record both at Newlands and against India, he stroked 124 off 130 balls and there were plenty of gorgeous shots to drool over. Today was the day the true genius of the left-hander came out and he was supreme in both the straight-bat and the cross-batted strokes.

India had won the toss and a bit of early moisture provided them with some swing and South Africa slipped to 70/3 in the 13^th over. But De Kock found the perfect partner in the unflustered and in-form Rassie van der Dussen (52).

The pair added 144 at just about a run-a-ball as Van der Dussen notched another determined half-century, marked by excellent shot-selection and composure under pressure.

But both in batsman fell in successive overs and the Proteas needed a solid partnership of 40 between David Miller (39) and Pretorius (20) to get them a total which they were able to defend thanks to a never-say-die attitude they showed in the field.

For Rassie van der Dussen, every innings is a new instalment of his career, a new situation to adapt to, and he did it to perfection at Boland Park in Paarl on Wednesday as his unbeaten century led South Africa to an impressive 31-run win over India in the first ODI.

Van der Dussen came to the crease in the 18^th over when the Proteas were struggling on 68/3. Together with his captain Temba Bavuma, who was busy getting himself in and would go big in scoring a brilliant century of his own, they added a magnificent 204 off just 190 deliveries, the best ever fourth-wicket stand for South Africa against India.

Van der Dussen’s commanding 129 not out off just 96 balls means he has now scored 1178 runs in his 30 ODIs at an extraordinary average of 73.62. What marked this innings out was how fluently he played right from the start of his innings, on a slow and tricky pitch that made scoring difficult.

“The pitch was taking a bit of turn and I knew I would have to go to my sweeps and reverse-sweeps fairly early,” Van der Dussen said after his career-best ODI score. “If I let the spinners settle on a slow pitch then it would not be easy to go down the ground.

“I tried to put the pressure back on them, and Temba and I were constantly reminding each other to keep the intensity high. Always as a batsman, especially in the middle-order, I try and read the situation.

“I’m trying to make a good score that will win the match, I have no other reference. I appreciate it may look like something else for those outside. Today I knew that if I allowed the spinners to settle then they would get into a good rhythm and it would be very difficult to win.

“So I tried to reverse the pressure with low-risk boundary options. You have to be able to go to those skills whether it’s your first ball or 100^th ball,” Van der Dussen said.

South African teams have historically struggled against the turning ball and both Indian spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal, have prospered against them in the past. But the way Van der Dussen and Bavuma played them on Wednesday suggests all is okay now on that front.

“Conditions in Paarl generally suit the spinners because there’s not a lot of pace,” Van der Dussen added. “But the way we’ve upskilled ourselves has allowed us to use these game-plans against spin.

“It started in the West Indies last year and then in Sri Lanka, while we knew spin would play a big role at the T20 World Cup. So it’s been a process that has been going on for more than a year.

“In the past we came short against spin, but we identified it as a weakness and credit to Mark Boucher and Justin Sammons [batting consultant] for giving us the skills to apply out there and execute in the middle,” Van der Dussen said.

South Africa have not played a completed ODI in four months but captain Temba Bavuma says his team is going to carry the momentum from their Test series win over India into the 50-over matches that start in Paarl on Wednesday.

The Proteas, fielding a second-string side, had a washed out ODI against the Netherlands at the end of November, but before that their last proper action was a 2-1 series loss to Sri Lanka in Colombo at the beginning of September.

But confidence is running high in the Proteas camp after their tremendous Test series triumph over India, in which Bavuma played a key role with his second-innings heroics.

“Momentum is a real thing and in the Wanderers Test we managed to get some,” Bavuma said on Tuesday. “So we will lean on that, although it’s obviously a different format with different skill sets and pressures.

“There’s always going to be pressure, whether we played ODI cricket last month or not. We’re coming up against a very strong outfit and hopefully that inspires us to bring our best cricket.

“We need to make sure we pitch up and do what we need to do. We played a lot of T20 cricket last year and in one-day cricket we accept that there are improvements we need to make.

“This series is the perfect opportunity, against a very strong outfit, to test ourselves and see how our game needs to improve and whether we have the right personnel because the road to the 2023 World Cup has started,” Bavuma said.

In terms of selection, the skipper said the first thing he will look for is bowling options, making it likely that part-time off-spinner Aiden Markram will play. But he will not be opening the batting.

“As captain, I always like as many bowling resources I can get on the bowling front,” Bavuma explained. “You accept that one of your bowlers is not going to hit their straps on the day, and then to have a replacement is a luxury.

“I would like as many bowling options as I can get, considering the balance of the team. But Quinton de Kock and Janneman Malan have done well up front, so I don’t see a change there and I come into the picture at No.3.

“But the middle-order is where the real conversation is – do we play another all-rounder at No.6 or a specialist batsman?

“Considering the Paarl conditions – the bounce is lower and more skiddy – we need pace bowlers who can exploit that with the new ball and it’s quite friendly to the slower bowlers,” Bavuma said.

Kagiso Rabada has been released from the team for the series due to high workloads over a sustained period of time and the need for him to recover before the Test tour to New Zealand in February.