Ken Borland

October has not been a great month for Proteas captain Temba Bavuma as he has scored just 11 runs in three innings and has been battling with illness. But he has to now lead by example and not only score brisk runs up front but also steer his team through a massive last week of the month in which they play Zimbabwe on Monday, followed by Bangladesh (Thursday) and India (Sunday).

Bavuma has been knocked over in the first powerplay in five of his seven T20 Internationals this year, so there will be plenty on his mind as he opens the batting in what could well be seamer-friendly conditions in Hobart on Monday. He admitted that there are a few “conversations in his head”, but one thing we do know about Bavuma is that he is a tremendously tenacious character and he will be fighting hard at the Bellerive Oval.

“I feel good, I’ve gotten over that sickness in India and I’ve had a couple of net sessions,” Bavuma said on Sunday. “The pressure is not unique to me, all international players have to deal with it.

“Yes, as captain, it is a lot more blown up, all eyes are on you and there’s a lot more critique of your performance and how you lead. It comes with the responsibility, and I won’t shy away from it.

“I will face up to it as honourably and with as much gratitude as I can. I’m aware of the conversations in my head regarding my game and how I’m going to lead.

“But I’m not aware of any outside conversations, those are not discussed within the team. Our focus is on knowing what we want to do and how to do it, anything else is for other ears.” The only selection issues then, with the dominating Reeza Hendricks out in the cold, will be whether South Africa play two spinners or one, and whether their all-rounder will be Wayne Parnell or Marco Jansen.

The Proteas, ranked fourth in T20s to Zimbabwe’s 11^th and Bangladesh’s ninth, will go into their first two World Cup matches as favourites. They learned from last year’s event, in which they lost just one match but were edged out of the semi-finals on nett run-rate, that once they get the upperhand, there can be no hesitation in ruthlessly going for the jugular.

“Our biggest takeway from the previous World Cup was that every game matters, you have to perform as well as you can in every match, and make sure you keep the pulse of the run-rate,” Bavuma admitted.

“If you have the opportunity to win really well then you have to make sure you take it. We’ll be looking to execute as well as we can against Zimbabwe. There’s no time to ease into the tournament, it is so important to start well.

“It’s going to be challenging up front against the new ball, with the bowlers targeting off-stump. We have to be circumspect but obviously with the right intensity to put pressure on the bowlers,” Bavuma said.

As a father of two and someone who rose to the top of the rugby world despite coming from an under-resourced background in Zimbabwe, it is no surprise that looking after the welfare of children would feature strongly in the post-Springboks life of Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira.

The 36-year-old Mtawarira, the most-capped prop in Springbok history, was announced this week as the Regional Ambassador for Eastern and Southern Africa for Unicef, the United Nations Children’s Fund.

His role will be to bring much needed attention to Unicef’s humanitarian and development priorities in the region and he has already travelled to the Mukuru informal settlement in Nairobi, where he spoke with the young children about the significant challenges they face.

Mtawarira is passionate about improving the education and sporting opportunities of vulnerable children. As someone who arrived in Durban in 2003 with just a bicycle and one bag as he tried to follow his rugby dream, The Beast knows first-hand what it means to fulfil one’s potential against the odds.

“I’ve always wanted to work with children and I am blessed to have two of my own, my pigeon pair Talumba and Wangu,” Mtawarira told Saturday Citizen. “I want to inspire children to reach their wildest dreams.

“In my playing days I saw myself as a role-model, as a symbol of hope. I was that kid once upon a time, who needed support to fulfil his talent, and now I want to pass it on.

“So it’s a massive honour for me to be Unicef’s regional ambassador, humanitarian issues have always meant a lot for me and to impact lives is the most meaningful thing I can do.

“I was in Nairobi last week, at an informal settlement, and it was humbling to see families in very tough circumstances. But Unicef allows those children to access quality education, sanitation and water,” Mtawarira said.

But the third most capped Springbok of all time is also an inspiration to adults, and his busy schedule also sees him playing a mentorship role at the Sharks. He is hopeful that Kings Park will become a factory for great tight forwards, picking up the baton he left in 2019.

“I spend a lot of my time involved with the Sharks, in a mentorship role with the players and I also represent MVM Holdings [the Sharks’ equity partners] as a strategic advisor on the board.

“So I am quite hands-on. It’s been impressive to see how the pack has done lately. The arrival of Bongi Mbonambi [hooker] has made a significant difference and Ox Nche [Beast’s successor in the No.1 jersey] is coming up in leaps and bounds.

“So there are a lot of positives around the Sharks at the moment, which is what I wanted to see when I retired, so I’m happy.

“They have a core group of senior players, guys like Siya Kolisi, Bongi and Thomas du Toit, who are World Cup winners and understand what it takes to be a top-performing pack in such a tough competition as the United Rugby Championship.

“The youngsters will learn from them and Globis, the Georgian scrum coach [Akvsenti Giorgadze], has set really high standards. He’s great on technique and his attention to detail in training has seen significant progress in the scrum,” Mtawarira said.

The man who made 159 appearances for the Sharks in SuperRugby also says the move to the URC in Europe has been very good for South African rugby.

“I was blessed to play so many SuperRugby games, but the URC has been a great shift for the South African teams. The players relish the opportunity of playing in Europe.

“There are a lot of positives for South African rugby – especially that it’s the same time zone and you’re not necessarily going to be playing with jetlag.

“It’s not so similar conditions for the players, but no South African is going to shy away from a bit of cold weather. There is a lot more in our favour than there was in SuperRugby,” Mtawarira said.

While Beast was a vital part of the South African team that won the 2019 World Cup and he is confident they can defend that title in France next year, he says he hopes to see the births of some legendary new Springbok careers in the build-up to that tournament.

“I think the Springboks are in a great position to defend the World Cup, we have a lot of depth and talent, but the big thing is to not peak too early.

“I hope we give the youngsters a chance before the World Cup, especially during the Wales tour here in July. Guys like Aphelele Fassi, Damian Willemse and Wandisile Simelane have been shining in the URC and we must blood them.

“It’s also important to perform well in the Rugby Championship, we must win that, and you also want to get through this season without any serious injuries.

“A lot of other teams will have studied our game-plan and will see how they can break us down. We know our strength lies in our pack and so our method will not change, but hopefully there are a few tricks or variations we can bring in,” Mtawarira said.

Former captain Graeme Smith is highly impressed by the recent performances of the South African one-day side, but believes the success in the Zimbabwe triangular series was soured by the lack of opportunity given to the middle-order.

JP Duminy scored 51 in one innings but only managed another 51 runs in his other four innings, two of which were undefeated.

David Miller could only score 13 runs in three brief innings, Ryan McLaren batted twice for 30 runs and Rilee Rossouw also only batted twice, scoring a duck and 36.

“They’ve really done well and for me winning in Sri Lanka was the big one. Zimbabwe was great for their confidence. Australia were a bit undercooked, but there was needle in those games and it’s always lekker to beat them. We’re beating them more than ever before, here, over there and in other places.

“Our top five can really win games and set a platform, but I worry a bit about our middle-order. It’s a really difficult place to bat in and I think we need to give more opportunity to those guys, get them batting up the order in warm-up games or the softer matches. They must get batting, that will get them confidence and it will change the whole dynamic of the side,” Smith told The Pretoria News.

Smith said he felt particularly sorry for Miller, who either came in to bat with very few deliveries remaining or with the top-order having fallen cheaply.

“We know his ability and I think he should have been pushed up the order against Zimbabwe. That’s what should happen in the softer games. A guy like him needs both clarity in terms of his role and confidence,” South Africa’s captain in a record 149 ODIs said.

Smith also backed leg-spinner Imran Tahir as the man who will probably be the first-choice spinner for the World Cup early next year in Australia and New Zealand.

“I think Imran is a terrific short-form bowler, he picks up wickets and he’s difficult to attack because he turns the ball both ways. A finger spinner, if he doesn’t get big turn, can be lined up and go for 50 or 60 runs without the batsmen taking any risks. The smaller boundaries in New Zealand mean you probably won’t play two specialist spinners there, especially since JP Duminy is basically a frontline bowler now.

“Imran is the sort of bowler who can create things, he’s a partnership breaker and he takes pressure off the seamers. If you don’t have a spinner taking wickets then the seamers can be over-bowled and then they’re tired at the death,” Smith said.

The recently-retired left-hander said the need for wicket-taking bowlers remained a strong conviction of his.

“You need impact bowlers, both spinners and pacemen. In one-day cricket, if you can have game-changers with the ball then it makes a big difference.”

Smith also said the role of the selectors was crucial in getting the balance of the side right for the World Cup.

“A lot of the time, the balance of the side is about gut feel. But the selectors need to create consistency in the build-up to the World Cup. Those last two or three places in the squad are also crucial and the management have to have confidence in them if they decide to play the extra batsman or extra bowler. You don’t want things to suddenly start changing once you’re at the World Cup,” Smith warned.

“But we’ll obviously feel more at home in the conditions in New Zealand and Australia. Eighty percent of the time now you play in sub-continental conditions, but this World Cup will suit our style of play. Spinners will still be effective because the boundaries are big, so rotating the strike is key,” Smith said.

The 33-year-old is now a full-time employee of major cricket sponsors Momentum, marking the start of his business career and confirming that he has turned down the approaches of the Big Bash in Australia and of his own Cape Cobras side to play in the Champions League.

“My relationship with Momentum started back in 2003 and it’s a great place to start my business life. I’ll also be doing work with Cricket South Africa on the cultural identity of the Proteas, which is something very close to my heart, as well as some leadership consulting, public speaking, that sort of thing. So I won’t be going to the Big Bash to play for Perth Scorchers or to the Champions League with the Cobras,” Smith confirmed.

An unbeaten half-century from Richard Levi saw South Africa to a 10-wicket victory, set up by a top-class bowling performance, over Zimbabwe in their ICC World T20 match at Hambantota on Thursday.

 – http://www.supersport.com/cricket/sa-team/news/120920/Levi_and_pacemen_see_SA_to_victory

Having been sent in to bat, Zimbabwe’s hopes of staying in the tournament were quickly soured by a brilliant display by the South African pacemen, led by Jacques Kallis, as they were restricted to a paltry 93 for eight.

South Africa’s prior two encounters, both unofficial, with Zimbabwe had ended in embarrassing defeats, but the difference this time was the tremendous strikepower that was available with Kallis, Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn all in action.

It was pros against amateurs as Craig Ervine (37 off 40) was the only batsman to score more than 15.

Kallis returned with new career-best figures of 4-15, tearing through the middle-order with 3-3 in his first two overs.

It was a good toss to win for South Africa as their fast bowlers revelled in the moist conditions after a heavy afternoon shower, and Morne Morkel (4-0-16-2) immediately justified the decision to send Zimbabwe in as he removed Vusi Sibanda (0) and Brendan Taylor (4) in his first two overs.

Sibanda was bowled by a marvellous delivery that jagged back through the gate to hit the top of off stump, while both Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza, who was caught off Albie Morkel for six, erred in trying to manufacture strokes that the conditions did not allow.

Ervine produced a couple of beautiful strokes through the off side and Zimbabwe were dreaming of a comeback as he and Stuart Matsikenyeri added 35 for the fourth wicket.

But then Kallis, the man with the golden touch, seized control of the innings.

He didn’t have much to do with his first wicket, Matsikenyeri leaving his crease and slapping the ball straight to cover to be caught for 11, but Kallis’s next delivery was far too quick and straight for Elton Chigumbura, who stayed back and played all around it to be trapped lbw for a golden duck.

Graeme Cremer averted the hat-trick, but Kallis had his career-best figures three overs later when he surprised Cremer (6) with a bouncer that was gloved through to wicketkeeper AB de Villiers.

Prosper Utseya (5) was soon sent on his way by a superb diving catch down the leg side by De Villiers off Steyn, South Africa’s bowling spearhead not disappointing with outstanding figures of 1-9 in his four overs.

Ervine, the one Zimbabwean to emerge with some credit, was the last batsman to fall, caught behind as he failed to control a well-directed lifter from Kallis.

South Africa’s chase was a mere formality, even though Hashim Amla was dropped on 29 and Levi erred once in top-edging a hook for four off left-arm paceman Brian Vitori.

Most importantly, Levi put to bed the doubts over his place at the top of the order as he cruised to 50 not out off 43 balls, with six fours.

While Zimbabwe’s limited bowling was clearly right up his street, Levi impressed by not playing across the line so much and half his boundaries were straight through the covers.

Amla finished on 32 not out off 33 balls, with three fours, as Zimbabwe were condemned to a flight back to Johannesburg and then home after just three days of the tournament.