Author: Zoli Xhola

An eight-wicket match haul from Hardus Viljoen led the Lions to a massive victory in the Jukskei derby. Chasing 320 to win, Titans imploded against Lions’ pacers, leaving just five wickets to be plucked on the final morning.

The match was over before lunch as Pumelela Matshikwe, who went wicketless despite maintaining exemplary control in the first innings, got among the scalps. Lions’ spinner Eddie Leie also claimed a couple of wickets, including the final one to end an all-round dominant performance by Geoffrey Toyana’s men.

Lions took control early on, after Titans put them in to bat under cloudy skies on Thursday. A 172-run second wicket stand between Stephen Cook and Temba Bavuma set up their first innings. Cook went to on to register a century and Bavuma looked set to do the same but gave it away when he was on 88, dancing down the track to spinner Roelof van der Merwe.

With Thami Tsolekile marshalling the tail, Lions batted deep to ensure even Cobus Pienaar’s late strikes did not allow them to lose the advantage. Pienaar threatened to swing the pendulum with bat in hand. Together with an in-form Heino Kuhn, he put on 158 for the second wicket before becoming Chris Morris’ only victim.

After Kuhn was dismissed, Titans lost three wickets for four runs, all to Viljoen, to leave the Titans on 216 for 6. Farhaan Behardien kept the lower middle order together but Zander de Bruyn’s late strikes ensured the Lions took a 100-run first-innings lead.

Lions openers pressed home the advantage as Cook and Dominic Hendricks shared a 101-run partnership. Once the openers were dismissed, Rowan Richards struck quickly and Lions were in some trouble at 149 for 4. Not one of their last eight batsmen apart from Tsolekile managed double-figures and even though Titans could be pleased with their bowling effort, it was still a tall order for their batsmen.

The match was over on the third afternoon when Morris ripped through the top order. All the top five were dismissed for single figure scores to leave Titans at 20 for 5 overnight. Lions finished up on Sunday morning to take a morale-boosting win after finishing last in the One-Day Cup.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) today announced the fixture list for Pakistan’s limited overs tour at the end of November 2013.

The tour will start with two KFC T20 International matches to be played at the Bidvest Wanderers Stadium and Sahara Park Newlands respectively and will be followed by three Momentum One-Day Internationals to be played at Sahara Park Newlands, Axxess St. George’s and SuperSport Park.

“We are really happy to have a full international fixture list for the 2013/14 season with five Test matches, six ODI’s and five T20 International matches,” commented CSA Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat.

“This was important for our team as they prepare for global events and for our fans and stakeholders who have been fantastic in supporting us through a difficult time.

“We have also done our best to give all our venues a fair chance bearing in mind that we have practical and logistical issues to deal with,” he added.

Preferential ticket sales for Love Cricket Gold and Silver members will go on sale tomorrow at 11h00 with ticket sales to the public opening on Friday 8^th November at 11h00.

Pakistan tour itinerary:

Wed 20, November: day/night, 1^st KFC T20 International, Bidvest Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

Fri 22, November: day/night, 2^nd KFC T20 International, Sahara Park Newlands, Cape Town

Sun 24, November: day, 1^st Momentum ODI, Sahara Park Newlands, Cape Town

Wed 27, day, 2^nd Momentum ODI, Axxess St George’s, Port Elizabeth

Sat 30, day, 3^rd Momentum ODI, SuperSport Park, Centurion

CSA Media Release

CRICKET SOUTH AFRICA (CSA) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced the fixture list for India’s tour to South Africa in December.

As previously announced, the tour includes two Sunfoil Series Test matches and three Momentum One-Day Internationals.

“After the completion of our two Test matches against India we will have a further three Tests against Australia,” commented CSA President Chris Nenzani. “This will allow all of our five premier Test match venues to host a five-day match.

“I would also like to assure all our stakeholders that we are working on plans to fill the gaps in our international itinerary for the 2013-14 season.”

India will arrive in South Africa on December 2.

 India Tour Itinerary

Monday, December 2: Arrive in South Africa

Thursday, December 5: 1^st Momentum ODI, Bidvest Wanderers Stadium (Day/Night)

Sunday, December 8: 2^nd Momentum ODI, Sahara Stadium Kingsmead (Day)

Wednesday, December 11: 3^rd Momentum ODI, SuperSport Park (Day/Night)

Saturday, December 14-Sunday, December 15: Two-day tour match vs. SA Invitation XI, Sahara Willowmoore Park

Wednesday, December 18-Sunday, December 22: 1^st Sunfoil Test match, Bidvest Wanderers Stadium

Thursday, December 26-Monday, December 30: 2^nd Sunfoil Test match, Sahara Stadium Kingsmead

The South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) has expressed its disappointment at today’s joint announcement by Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirming the shortening of India’s tour to South Africa.

“This is a huge blow not only to the players but also to the cricket loving public of South Africa,” said SACA’s chief executive, Tony Irish.

“Everyone is now deprived of a meaningful series, especially in the Test format between the world’s top two cricket nations.  I don’t see how this can possibly be in the interests of either cricket in this country or of the global game.  Cricket is the loser, plain and simple.”

“In addition CSA will suffer massive financial losses which will affect players, cricket programmes and cricket development at all levels in our country”.

“It’s a very sad day when international cricket becomes more about what happens off the field than what happens on it” said Irish.  “The only positive to emerge today is the stated commitment of both CSA and the BCCI to continue with good faith discussions over the possibility of agreeing further scheduled fixtures between the two teams.  At very least the players and the fans of both countries deserve that and should be entitled to hold the two boards to this commitment.”

The start to the 2013/14 domestic season kicked off on Friday night. The first round of the SACA MVP saw great player performances following an exciting round this past weekend.

The Unlimited Titans hosted the Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras on Friday night to open the season with a nail-biting finish that saw the Cape side winning the match by two runs with an outstanding team performance. Graeme van Buuren was named the Momentum Man of the Match on Friday night at Supersport Park, Centurion.

The second match of the weekend showed the momentum of Friday was not lost. The Chevrolet Knights hosted Davy Jacobs and his men in his hundredth first class match, at the Diamond Oval, Kimberly, where an equally exciting and tense game ended with the Chevrolet Warriors picking up an 11-run victory. Wayne Parnell achieved his best first class haul of 6-51, earning him the Momentum Man Of the Match.

Sunday saw the bizhub Highveld Lions take on the Sunfoil Dolphins at their second home ground of Senwes Park, Potchefstroom. The Dolphins showed great skill with both bat and ball to pull off an emphatic 6-wicket win against the Lions with David Miller being named Momentum Man Of the Match.

Topping the SACA MVP rankings for this round of matches is Wayne Parnell, followed closely by Graeme van Buuren. Check out the full SACA MVP rankings on https://saca.org.za/player/?view=list

On the surface, it seems a safety-first stance.  South Africa have not played Test cricket since the last week in February and have not been away from home in 11 months.  They have realised that thy will need to adjust to foreign conditions of the UAE and get back into what they’ve termed a “pattern of play”.

But they also understand they can’t take too long to get back into the groove. There is a lot at stake in this series.

Maintaining a sizeable gap at the top of the Test rankings is dependent on how South Africa play in the UAE. Anything less than a clean sweep will send South Africa backwards, because of the weighting system which highlights the difference between the two sides.

As the No. 1 Test team, South Africa are expected to beat Pakistan, who sit at No. 6. Should they draw and/or  lose this series against Pakistan in the UAE, they will drop points. There’s a good chance these intricacies don’t matter at the moment, even with the launch of the Test championship.

Conditions are not expected to suit a fast-moving game, especially in Abu Dhabi. Smith said the pitch looked “pretty similar” to the one South Africa played on in 2010. That was the first Test the ground hosted and there was only one innings in which a team was bowled out. The total number of runs scored over the five days was 1374, an average 274.8 a day.

The other two matches there yielded one draw between Pakistan and Sri Lanka and a victory for Pakistan over England. The latter was the only fixture which saw a team bowled out in an innings for under 100 – England were dismissed for 72. Twice, teams have bowled out for less than 200 on the surface and five of the 12 innings played there have not had all 10 wickets fall.

What seems obvious is that recent conditions have been ore tailored to suit Pakistan’s spin attack, as they were for the England match, but indications are that it will not be quite so slanted this time. Misbah-ul-Haq praised South Africa’s ability against spin and Pakistan have acknowledged trying to turn their opposition inside out will be more challenging than it was against England. That can only mean more placid pitches on which South Africa will have to do a lot more to force a positive result – because it will be up to them and not Pakistan, who will be content with sharing spoils – to do so.

Smith has acknowledged the burden lies with South Africa. “The mind-set has to be to take the game forward but at the same time, we have to lay platforms and give ourselves a base to work off,” he said. “We haven’t played together for six months and it might take us time to get to the standards where we were before. Our goal is to put Pakistan under pressure. Recently, we’ve been able to handle pressure well and exert pressure on opposition.”

Since becoming No. 1 last August, South Africa have succeeded in injecting a more ruthless streak into their game. It was evident in Perth, against Australia, when Smith and Hashim Amla scored at around seven runs to the over for a session to take the game beyond Michael Clarke’s men. None of their home Tests last summer, which included two against New Zealand and three against Pakistan, went to five days and they bowled both teams out for under 50 on one occasion.

They’ve proved they have the game-breakers to change a match in a session, be it with bat or ball, but whether those players will be able to do that in conditions which may not assist them remains the biggest challenge. Whether they will be able to do that against an opposition whose main aim could also well be not to mess it up, will present a different stumbling block.

Pakistan are banking on “home advantage” to prove they are far worthier than being sixth out of ten in the rankings. They see South Africa as similar to the way they saw England – a No. 1 team whose confidence they could send off track, if not derail it entirely. “Whenever you are facing a top side in the world, it motivation for you,” Misbah said. “All the players want to prove themselves. We’ve got a chance here so we should go out and play good cricket.”

Pakistan’s year could also be defined by this series, although they have the certainty of three matches against Sri Lanka still to come. After losing to South Africa, they drew a series against Zimbabwe and their loss Harare led to severe reputational damage. The best way to recover from that will be to give South Africa a hard time, a scare and even a defeat.

Unlike other teams who languish in the lower half of the Test rankings, few doubt Pakistan can actually achieve that. Known as a group of mercurial mavericks who turn their performances on and off at will, they have been labelled “unpredictable” in the same way South Africa are called “chokers” – even if it does not apply, people still use the term.

Since Misbah took over the captaincy, ahead of the series in 2010 in the aftermath of the spot-fixing scandal, they have become a more consistent side than before. In 21 Tests, they’ve won 10, lost six and drawn five, a winning percentage of 47.62. Overall, their success rate is 30.93%.

They still cannot be described as formulaic but teams do know what to expect from Pakistan: uncertainty in the top-order, two pillars of strength – Younis Khan and Misbah – in the middle, seam bowlers with varying and complementary skills, a spin threat and a feisty fight. It will be up to South Africa to show if and how they can handle that.

CAPE TOWN – Graeme Smith has been included in South Africa’s touring party for the series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates starting next month, but must still confirm his full recovery from an ankle injury that has kept him out since May.

Smith is pencilled in to captain the 15-man test squad for the two-match series and has been named in the one-day selection, though Proteas convener of selectors Andrew Hudson said they would take a cautious approach with the 32-year-old.

“We should have a definite picture on the status of Graeme’s recovery from surgery within the next two weeks,” Hudson said in CSA statement released on Tuesday.

“We will obviously be monitoring Graeme’s condition very carefully and do not want to overload him too much during the early stages of his return.”

Smith was at Adidas headquarters in Germany last week, where he was fitted for custom-made boots that it is hoped would relieve the stress on his ankles and potentially prolong his career.

There were no new caps in the test squad, though middle-order batsman JP Duminy returns for the first time since picking up an Achilles injury in the away series against Australia last November.

Vernon Philander has been included in the one-day selection having made known his desire to play limited-overs cricket.

The South African selectors have been hesitant to pick the swing bowler in the past, preferring he concentrate on the longer version of the game.

The first test against Pakistan will start in Abu Dhabi on October 14, while there will also be three one-dayers and two Twenty20 internationals.

The squad for the latter will be announced after the Twenty20 Champions League in India that starts next week. Squads:

Tests: Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Imran Tahir, Jacques Kallis, Rory Kleinveldt, Morne Morkel, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Thami Tsolekile.

ODIs: AB de Villiers (captain), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Graeme Smith, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.