Category Archives: Sports News

Sport24.co.za | Marais: Bulls have let the fans down

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Pretoria – Bulls coach Nollis Marais acknowledges that his side has let down the Loftus Versfeld faithful this Super Rugby season. 

The Bulls go into their final match of the year against the Stormers at Loftus on Saturday having lost 10 of their 14 matches under Marais, including defeats to the Sunwolves and Kings. 

It has been a season to forget for the champions of 2007, 2008 and 2010 and it ultimately cost Marais his job. 

While he will be staying on at the union and will serve as the Blue Bulls’ Currie Cup coach, Marais has lost his Super Rugby spot to the incoming John Mitchell. 

Speaking at Loftus on Thursday after his team announcement, Marais gave some insight into whatb he had endured this season.

“Obviously there is change coming, but we’ve let the fans down which is not nice. It’s not the greatest feeling in the world,” he said.

“For me personally, I learnt a lot from on and off the field issues … especially from off the field issues. That was not something I dealt with in the lower levels.

“There are a lot of things I’ve learnt, but there are a also a lot of positives. There are a lot of youngsters coming through.”

Marais firmly believes that this group of Bulls players will be a highly competitive Super Rugby force in a couple of years, while he says he always knew 2017 would be a tough year because of how young the players were. 

All the Bulls can control now is Saturday, and with the Stormers having already qualified for the quarter-finals, there is only pride to play for.

“I think they’re playing good rugby and they’re going to be tough. There are a lot of Boks in that side. They’ve got an excellent pack so if we’re going to match them, we’re going to have to match them up front,” Marais said of the Capetonians.

“But we want to finish off strong and make people proud on Saturday by playing good rugby.”

Kick-off is at 15:05

Teams:

Bulls

15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Duncan Mathews, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Nick de Jager, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Shaun Adendorff, 5 RG Snyman, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Conraad van Vuurren, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Pierre Schoeman

Substitutes: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 John-Roy Jenkinson, 19 Ruben van Heerden, 20 Ruan Steenkamp, 21 Piet Van Zyl, 22 Tony Jantjies, 23 Burger Odendaal 

Stormers

15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.

Substitutes: 16 Ramone Samuels, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Chris van Zyl, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Justin Phillips, 22 Juan de Jongh, 23 Dan Kriel

Sport24.co.za | Morkel out to banish no-ball blues

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Nottingham – South Africa fast bowler Morne Morkel is disappointed but philosophical about holding the unwanted record for most Test wickets overturned by no-balls.

Morkel took his tally to 13 in the act of over-stepping when he bowled Ben Stokes in South Africa’s 211-run first Test defeat by England at Lord’s last week.

With the Proteas looking to level the four-match series at 1-1 in the second Test at Nottingham’s Trent Bridge, Morkel said of the Stokes ‘wicket’: “It’s not the first no-ball I’ve bowled in my life.

“It’s not going to end my career,” the 32-year-old also told reporters at Trent Bridge on Wednesday.

“It’s 13, yes — world record.

“Somebody needs to hold it. It’s 13 wickets I’d like to have in the bank, but it wasn’t meant to be.”

Morkel, a veteran of 75 Tests, added: “It’s part of the game. (England) also bowled a couple of no-balls that could have easily taken a wicket.”

But Dean Elgar, who skippered the Proteas at Lord’s but will hand over to returning captain Faf du Plessis in Nottingham, described some of South Africa’s mistakes, including dropped catches and no-balls, in the first Test as “non-negotiables”.

“It’s not acceptable – it’s a controllable sort of thing,” Morkel said. “I can’t make excuses.

“I need a lot of rhythm, and timing for me is crucial, and I felt the more I bowled in that Test the better my timing was.

“Unfortunately, I did bowl that no-ball, and that’s the sort of thing you don’t want, to give quality players extra lives … you’re going to get punished.

“The only thing I can do is keep on working on getting that foot behind the line.

“I think it’s just a rush of blood to the head, wanting to create something with the older ball.”

Morkel will have additional responsibility after fellow paceman Kagiso Rabada was banned from the second Test as a result of swearing at Stokes at Lord’s.

“Obviously, we’re going to miss ‘KG’ – an ability to bowl long spells fast, with a lot of energy, of course we’re going to miss that,” said Morkel.

“You can’t lie about that … but it’s an opportunity for another guy to step into his place and put his hand up.

“We just need to put whatever happened in the last Test behind us, with KG, with everything, and just focus on Friday.”

Sport24.co.za | Mercedes: Hamilton is still in the fight

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Cape Town – Despite falling 20 points behind Sebastian Vettel in the title race, Mercedes are adamant Lewis Hamilton is “still right” in the fight.

Hamilton finished fourth in Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix unable to recover any further from a gearbox penalty that left him down in eighth place on the grid.

His main title rival Vettel was second on the day, only losing out to Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

As such the Brit now trails the Ferrari driver by 20 points.

Toto Wolff, though, insists he is not yet out of contention for the title.

“Lewis is still right in the fight,” said the Mercedes motorsport boss.

“It’s not even half time in the championship and there are 275 points still to be won. 

“Our target will be to let him fight back in the best possible way in Silverstone.”

The Austrian conceded that Hamilton’s efforts had not been helped of late by Mercedes but believes the triple World Champ’s luck will change.

“In my opinion Lewis had all the bad luck that you can have,” Wolff told reporters.

“We’ve let him down with the headrest, we’ve let him down with the gearbox. Now it’s about time to fight back and hopefully that’s going to happen in Silverstone.

“It’s about time that this changes, the momentum goes in the other direction.”

Sport24.co.za | Cronje: I want to be loyal to Kings

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2017-07-10 13:40

Port Elizabeth – Kings flyhalf Lionel Cronje has been at the centre of everything the side has done right this season. 

On Saturday, he had another superb game that ended with a last-minute penalty that gave the Kings a memorable 31-30 win over the Bulls at Loftus. 

It was a stark reminder of how far the Port Elizabeth-based franchise has come this season. 

Still, the future remains uncertain for the team.

It was confirmed on Friday that the Kings and Cheetahs will not take part in Super Rugby 2018 as SANZAAR restructures the tournament. 

While both of the cut South African sides have been linked with joining the Pro12 in Europe, nothing has been confirmed yet. 

That uncertainty has forced a number of players in the Kings set-up to secure their futures elsewhere, and Cronje will be joining Jake White at Japanese club Toyota Verblitz. 

But, speaking after the Bulls win, Cronje said he wasn’t done with the Kings.

“I’d like to come back to the Eastern Cape and represent them again,” he said.

“I come from a background where I need to be loyal to the people that have entrusted opportunity with me. I’d like to come back and give more to the Eastern Cape.

“This whole season has been about respect – to the players around you and to yourself. We don’t worry about external factors that we’ve got no control over. It is what it is and there is nothing we can do about it.”

On the prospect of playing in the Pro12 or in another international competition, Cronje was optimistic. 

“We can only look forward. We can’t be negative about it,” he said.

“It’s a new venture and there are a lot of positives that can come out of it and that’s what we choose to focus on.

“Whatever circumstance or competition we are in, we’re going to look to be competitive and enjoy our rugby and play for each other.”

And, what has been the secret at the Kings this season?

“It’s a bunch of guys that want to come out and win rugby games. We said at the beginning of the season that we weren’t satisfied with the way we started out the season and it was testament to the character of the side,” Cronje said.

“The character of the team is just phenomenal.”

Cronje and the Kings will play their last Super Rugby match against the Cheetahs in PE this weekend.

Sport24.co.za | Proteas remain optimistic despite setbacks

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Cape Town – The Proteas remain optimistic of a strong comeback in the first Test match against England at Lord’s.

England are firmly in control with a lead of 216 runs with nine wickets remaining after three days, and look set to dangle another challenge of attrition and temperament for the Proteas.

Star batsman in the first innings, Temba Bavuma, says the team will take some confidence from their successes in similar situations in the past. Vernon Philander is expected to bowl on Sunday after receiving a blow to the hand while batting, with x-rays revealing severe bruising and no fracture to the hand.

“England are in a strong position at the moment,” Bavuma said after his top score of 59 in the first innings. “ There is no need to hide behind that. We have found ourselves in positions like this before, I think of Perth last year, so at the back of our minds we know that the possibility is always there. We will try to stay as optimistic as possible.

“ I do believe that there will be an opportunity for us in the game,” he explained. “ It will be a matter of making use of the opportunity when it does come.” 

Bavuma says it was disappointing that a number of the batsmen could not capitalise on their starts, and believes the line-up will be able to adjust their game plans and strategy to counter the deteriorating conditions.

“ It was quite frustrating, not ideal,” he said of the batting. “ If you look at England’s first innings, they had one guy who went big for them, that has been the difference so far. We had a number of guys who got themselves in on that wicket but we weren’t able to make anything of it. We will learn from that in the second innings and whoever manages to get in on that wicket can do something big for the team.”

The attack bowled brilliantly despite being a man down, but will welcome the return of Philander on Sunday, as they look to bowl out as much time as possible in the match.

“ As a team we can take a lot of confidence from our bowling effort in the second innings,” Bavuma explained. “ If you compare that to the first innings, I think the intensity and the skills we were able to bring out was good. If we can come tomorrow and replicated the same skills and intensity that we had in these 50 overs I think it could put an interesting spin on things.”

Alastair Cook (59) and Gary Balance (22) will resume with the score on 119/1.

Sport24.co.za | England on top at Lord’s after Day 2

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Cape Town – Temba Bavuma and Theunis de Bruyn, two of the least experienced men in the Proteas top order, produced a fightback of skill and good temperament to revive their side from a potential collapse on the second day of the first Test against England at Lord’s in London on Friday.

Their stand of 99 for the fifth wicket which was broken 10 minutes before stumps when De Bruyn was dismissed by Jimmy Anderson mirrored the similar stand of 114 for the same wicket between Joe Root and Ben Stokes to launch a similar England revival the previous day.

With Bavuma unbeaten on 48 (102 balls, 8 fours) accompanied by night watchman Kagiso Rabada with Quinton de Kock still to bat, the Proteas finished the day on 214/5, still trailing by 244 runs but it was nevertheless a lot better than they were at 104/4 in the 37th over shortly into the final session of play.

The first task is obviously to avoid the follow on although it is unlikely that Root will explore that option with the pitch already providing substantial assistance to the spinners from the second day and the odd delivery keeping low as well, although admittedly large from the bowler’s rough outside the line of the stumps. England are highly unlikely to want to bat last in this match.

Bavuma again proved himself the man for the crisis which has been the hallmark of his entire career.

Earlier the Proteas dismissed England for 458 with all the wickets being shared by the three frontline seamers and De Kock taking four catches.

The Proteas got the second day off to the start they needed when Morkel claimed two wickets in three balls in the fourth over of the morning including the key one of Root for 190 (234 balls, 27 fours and a six). It also put an end to the sixth wicket partnership of 177 with Ali.

Unfortunately, they then made a critical error of judgment when they did not use one of their two available referrals when Philander had an lbw appeal against Broad turned down. The TV replays gave it three red lights and the reprieved Broad, on 4 at the time, went on to become the fourth batsman in the innings to reach 50 as he rode his luck in a spirited performance.

Morkel and Philander both bowled in the opening 10 overs of the day but it was Rabada who signalled that the end of the innings was in sight when he also claimed two wickets in three balls, one of them being Moeen Ali for 87 (147 balls, 8 fours and a six).

England went on to add 101 to their overnight total inside 19 overs and Broad’s innings (57 not out off 47 balls, 8 fours and 2 sixes) enabled England to post a challenging total of 458 instead of getting them out for below 400.

Elgar and Kuhn got through a testing 4 overs before lunch but the good start the Proteas wanted was not forthcoming when Broad struck in his first over after lunch when he dismissed the debutant with a good delivery that held its line down the slope to find the outside edge.

Elgar and Amla then started building a solid foundation with their second-wicket stand of 72 before the latter misjudged the turn down the slope from Ali to be trapped leg before wicket. Nevertheless, the Proteas made 86/2 in the session which gave them at least a half share of it, Elgar having reached his seventh career half-century (90 balls, 8 fours).

England appeared to have taken decisive control shortly after tea when Broad and Ali got rid of Elgar and Duminy in quick succession. Ali’s dismissal of Elgar was his 100th Test wicket to complete a notable double after he scored his 2 000th run earlier in the match.

However, De Bruyn and Bavuma got the Proteas innings back on to something approaching an even keel with a 99-run partnership that mirrored the similar job Root and Stokes had done for England the previous day.

De Bruyn (48 off 85 balls, 6 fours) fell to Anderson just before the close with the Proteas still trailing by more than 150 runs.

Sport24.co.za | Captain Courageous Root flays Proteas

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Cape Town – Joe Root celebrated his debut performance as England’s Test match captain with his 12th career century on the opening day of the first Test match against the Proteas at Lord’s in London on Thursday.

It was also his second century against South Africa and the higher of his two, beating the 110 he made at the Bidvest Wanderers Stadium last year.

England finished the day on 357/5 with Root unbeaten on 184 (227 balls, 26 fours and a six). His performance spearheaded an England fightback after the Proteas had picked up four wickets in the morning session after losing the toss in good batting conditions, thanks in the main to Vernon Philander who picked up three of the wickets.

The England fightback was led by a partnership of 114 between Root and Ben Stokes for the fifth wicket and another century stand between Root and Moeen Ali for the sixth.

A lot of South Africa’s problems were of their own making as they missed two chances in the field by the time Root had made 16 and also later dismissed Stokes and Root with deliveries that were disallowed as no balls.

The opening session was well-nigh perfect for the Proteas apart from two expensive lives given to Root. He was on 5 with the total on 31/2 when Rabada surprised him with a short ball that the England captain top-edged to fine leg. Aiden Markram, briefly on the field as a substitute for Philander, came too far infield and the ball dropped over his head for a one bounce boundary.

Rabada, on 16, was unlucky again when Duminy couldn’t get his hands to a chance Root offered in the gulley.

In spite of these chances created Rabada bowled too many deliveries wide of the stumps as he struggled to come to terms with the Lord’s slope from the Nursery Ground end but, apart from three no balls from Philander and Morkel, in the first three overs it was largely a well-disciplined bowling performance from the three seamers supported by three tight overs from Maharaj immediately before lunch.

Philander led the attack superbly, taking 2/17 in a five-over opening spell that accounted for both the opening batsmen, and then got rid of Bairstow in a three-over burst before lunch to have a combined analysis of 3/26 in 8 overs.

Root apart, the England batsmen displayed very tentative footwork against Philander and he was able to cash in.

Morkel chimed in with the fairly predictable wicket of Balance who continues to bat from deep in his crease, making himself a prime candidate for a leg before wicket decision and that turned out to be the case.

It left England on 82/4 at lunch in 25 overs which gave the first session comfortably to the Proteas after Elgar had lost his first toss at captain.

The Proteas gave Heino Kuhn his maiden Test cap and persisted with their normal strategy of playing seven specialist batsmen.

England counter-attacked effectively in the second session as Root and Stokes added exactly 100 in the session from the 27 overs bowled without a wicket going down. By the tea break they had shared a stand of 106 in 29.3 overs and had largely undone the damage that had been inflicted in the first session.

Stokes, apart from hitting Maharaj for a six, batted with commendable restraint and it was reflected in the way the two batsmen dove-tailed with Root hitting his 28th half-century off 89 balls with 7 fours and Stokes reaching the same mark off 94 balls, also with 7 fours in addition to his one six.

The Proteas lost a wonderful opportunity to break the stand when Morkel bowled Stokes on 44 with a delivery that was a big no ball and was adjudicated without going to the third umpire.

The Proteas did not bowl as well as they had done in the morning session. Their lines were a pit too straight and both batsmen cashed in with most of the boundaries coming through the leg-side.

England finished the session on 182/4 with Root just 21 runs away from his 12th Test match century.

Rabada finally broke the partnership in the third over of the final session when the temptation of a short ball proved too much for Stokes (56 off 108 balls, 8 fours and a six) after a partnership of 114.

The day’s play had reached a critical stage as England posted their 200 followed by Root’s century (150 balls, 15 fours). It was his 12th Test century overall and his second against South Africa.

Any thought that the Proteas had of making a major breakthrough and restricting England to a total in the region of 300 was quickly snuffed out by Root and Moeen who posted a century partnership for the sixth wicket off only 108 balls.

Their ugly no ball problem raised its head again when Root was given his third life this time by Maharaj who overstepped the mark after Quinton de Kock had stumped him on 149.

Moeen went on to reach his 50 off 81 balls with four fours just before the second new ball became available.

Sport24.co.za | ‘Fearless’ Rabada has plans for England

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Cape Town – Proteas fast bowler Kagiso Rabada says he has plans in order to dismantle England ahead of the four-match Test series starting on Thursday at Lord’s.

The Proteas head into the Test series on the back foot after consecutive poor performances in the ICC Champions Trophy, ODI and T20 series in England.

However, Rabada remains positive that the team can bounce back and hopefully seal a third consecutive Test series win.

The Proteas paceman is keen to get out onto the field at Lord’s after taking 4/39 in the final ODI in May.

The 22-year-old will be playing his first Test match at the ‘Home of Cricket’ and says he will looking forward to walk through the historic Long Room.

“Yes, it is (a big deal playing at Lord’s),” Rabada told the Daily Mail website.

“When you’re young and watching TV, you see the guys walk through the Long Room and people clapping – it’s very traditional. And now it’s nice to be among it.”

Rabada, who is ranked seventh on the Test bowler rankings, believes that the Proteas will be able to maintain their 14-year unbeaten Test series triumph in England.

“I’ve learned to be fearless. If you don’t do well, so be it,” added Rabada.

“I’ve got my plans in order. It’s not going to be an easy Test. England are a quality team, playing in their backyard. The guys are up for it.”

Play starts on Thursday at 12:00 SA time.

Sport24.co.za | Faf to be ‘No 1 couch fan’

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Cape Town – He may not be a part of the team, but Proteas Test captain Faf du Plessis says he will be South Africa’s number one fan when they take on England in the first Test at Lord’s from Thursday. 

Du Plessis will miss the match because he is in South Africa with his wife, Imari, as she recovers after the birth of the couple’s first child. 

Imari gave birth to a baby girl on Thursday last week, but it was reported to be a ‘difficult’ birth and Du Plessis decided to stay in the country for longer than anticipated as a result. 

He is expected to be in England by the time the second Test gets underway at Trent Bridge on July 14, but Dean Elgar will captain the side at Lord’s. 

Du Plessis took to Twitter on Monday to voice his disappointment at not being able to play in the Lord’s Test, but he did have an encouraging message of support for his team-mates. 

Theunis de Bruyn is expected to slot into the middle order in Du Plessis’s absence. 

Sport24.co.za | Richards uncertain about SA’s transformation plan

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London – South Africa great Barry Richards has questioned whether the current policy of racial transformation will end with “merit selection”.

The policy is designed to cope with the legacy of apartheid, when largely only white players such as Richards, the outstanding opening batsman of the 1970s, were allowed to play for official South Africa sides.

But the policy and its implementation have proved contentious amid suggestions that players have not always been chosen on merit and that some white cricketers, knowing their chances were in some way restricted, have instead chosen to pursue financially more lucrative careers with English county sides.

However, while transformation has seen the likes of Andile Phehlukwayo and Temba Bavuma possibly get their international chances earlier than expected, both have justified their selections in terms of performance.

Richards, speaking ahead of next week’s first Test between England and South Africa at Lord’s, accepted it was a contentious issue.

“It’s a difficult one,” said Richards at an event staged by series sponsors Investec.

“South Africa has come from a history of what we know,” added Richards, whose own Test career was limited to just four matches because of the apartheid-induced sports boycott of South Africa.

As of last August, Cricket South Africa defined the policy as one where national teams should include on average and across all formats, six players of colour, of which two must be black African.

The target at domestic level is a stricter six players of colour per side per match, of which three must be black African.

But for many years the issue was not so well defined and Richards said: “I don’t think they (CSA) make it clear enough to the fans and then you have people on social media having a go at each other.”

Richards’s globe-trotting career saw him play for a multi-racial Rest of the World side when South Africa’s 1970 tour of England was cancelled and open for Hampshire alongside West Indies great Gordon Greenidge.

“From day one, when I came to play county cricket and I first met Garry Sobers, people like that, picking a team was on merit, I’ve always been of that opinion,” said Richards.

“Whether you can do that in the South African context… I think we’re now we’re far enough along the line to say we can pick it (the South Africa team) on merit. Where it’s causing a problem is a little further down the line.

“Then you’ve got this transformation policy where an Indian player like Hashim (Amla) becomes different from a black player like (Kagiso) Rabada in terms of team selection. It’s a machination of politics and sport, it’s always been a mix but never been a great mix.

“The transformation policy, I can see what they are trying to achieve, but whether they achieve the end goal of a merit selection remains to be seen.”

There are several South African players who have effectively called time on their international careers in order to be classed as ‘home’ selections by counties under the so-called ‘Kolpak’ rule.

Hampshire alone have two in fast bowler Kyle Abbott and top-order batsmen Rilee Rossouw.

Neither they nor any of the other current ‘Kolpaks’ have specifically listed transformation as a reason for their decision but there are many who believe it played a part, just as South Africa-born batsman Kevin Pietersen said it was a factor in his move to represent England.

“You can understand, if you are a fringe player, Kyle Abbott is 29, not an automatic selection, ‘what do I do?’ ‘Should I go the Kolpak route?’,” said Richards. “There are 17 rand to the pound, it’s a temptation. I’m surprised more haven’t gone that route.”

He added: “But the Kolpak players, your back-up players are very important. If those guys are saying we don’t like it because we might not be part of the set-up, that’s something else you’ve got to factor into how you implement transformation.

“It’s a problem and I’m not sure they (CSA) quite know what the solution is just yet.”