Cape Town – South Africa’s place in the inaugural ATP World Team Cup, which will be staged in Australia in January, is secure – come hell or high water.

This assurance has been given by South African-born Tennis Australia CEO, Craig Tiley, who will supplement his role of Australian Open tournament director by handling the new, 10-day, 24-nation team event on behalf of the ATP as well.

Although South Africa has secured one of the 19 places already settled for the event that will be staged in top Australian cities by virtue of Kevin Anderson’s current 18th world ranking, South Africa’s top player will be out of action for six months while undergoing a rehabilitation programme plagued by injuries before the Team Cup is staged – this after competing with limited success in only five tournaments in 2019.

Anderson’s ranking will plummet by the time the Team Cup begins to something in the vicinity of 100 and doubts have surfaced over his very participation and match-fitness level.

But Tiley has confirmed South Africa’s entry will remain secure in all circumstances, although less comforting is the fact that included in imposing opening round opponents are a Serbian team headed by current world No 1 Novak Djokovic, backed up by world number 29, Dusan Lajovic, and a French combination that will include the already named Gael Monfils and Benoit Paire as the front-runners.

“At this point Kevin is a confirmed starter for the Team Cup,” says Tiley, “no matter what his ranking might be at the time that South Africa’s group will be staged in Brisbane. If he is not fit enough to compete – and we are confident at this stage he will participate – he can still be replaced by another player to link up with Lloyd Harris as the singles pair – and South Africa’s qualification will not be affected.”

The six countries who head their respective groups, as well as the two best-placed second teams, will qualify for the ATP World Cup quarter-finals, which culminate with semi-finals and a final to decide the eventual winners.

Tiley believes the team format in which icons Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, as well as other world top 10 players like Daniil Medvedev, Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev are all scheduled to participate, will prove highly successful and popular among Australian fans and also act as an ideal warm-up for the Australian Open, the opening grand slam event of 2020, which follows almost immediately.

Birmingham – Essex captain Simon Harmer produced a match-winning cameo with the bat to lead his team to victory over Worcestershire on the final ball of Saturday’s T20 Blast final.

All-rounder Harmer took three for 16 including the key wicket of Moeen Ali as Essex restricted defending champions Worcestershire to 145/9 after winning the toss and bowling at Edgbaston.

Essex’s title ambitions looked in tatters when Moeen dismissed Ryan ten Doeschate and Dan Lawrence in quick succession to leave them 82/5 in the 14th over.

But Ravi Bopara, who made 36 off 22 balls, revived their hopes to leave Essex requiring 12 off the final over.

They managed just six from the first four balls against Wayne Parnell before Harmer smacked his compatriot for successive boundaries to propel Essex to a thrilling win.

County Championship leaders Essex will look to complete a double when they host second-placed Somerset in the final round of first-class matches next week.

Worcestershire, who beat Sussex to lift the title in 2018, returned to the final following a dramatic one-run victory over Nottinghamshire in Saturday’s first semi-final.

Ben Duckett, who made an unbeaten 49, needed just a single from the final ball to level the scores and give Nottinghamshire victory by virtue of losing fewer wickets, but he missed a heave across the line off Parnell.

Essex defeated Derbyshire by 34 runs in the other semi-final.

Cape Town – Temba Bavuma believes that India are beatable in their backyard following the Proteas’ seven-wicket loss in the second T20 at Mohali on on Wednesday.

Bavuma, who made his T20 debut in that match, scored 49 off 43 balls – including 3 fours and a six.

The 29-year-old put on a crucial second-wicket partnership of 57 with skipper Quinton de Kock, but the Proteas could only manage 149/5 in their 20 overs.

Bavuma said that the Proteas were not outplayed despite India chasing down the target with an over to spare.

“I don’t think we were completely outplayed … there are a lot of positives that we can take from that game going forward,” Bavuma told reporters.

“It’s very hard to play a perfect 20 overs cricket. I think as much as they had a good two to three overs, myself and Quinton were still able to build that partnership and get us to a good position.

“From the 12th to 16th overs that’s where we lost the game and if we were able to keep up the intensity there we wouldn’t have ended on 150.”

READ | Proteas v India, 2nd T20: 5 talking points

Bavuma admitted that South Africa’s batting performance had let them down.

“They (India) are a formidable team but I don’t think they are an unbeatable side,” said Bavuma.

“Our batting is where we let ourselves down and a quality side like this is going to make us pay.”

The Proteas are trailing the series 1-0, with the final T20 match scheduled for Sunday in Bangalore (15:30 SA time).

Fernando Alonso might have won two Formula championships, but the Spaniard found the going tough in his first race in Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Hilux at the Litchenburg 400 in the North West. 

Their first rally-raid race is part of the Spaniard’s evaluation program for Toyota Gazoo as he looks to gain a seat for the 2020 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. 

Alonso and co-driver Marc Coma, who has won the Dakar Rally five times in the bike category, qualified third fastest in the FIA class on the Friday just 32 seconds off pole position. 

Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa are the reigning Dakar champions, after Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel won the race in Peru earlier in 2019. 

                                               Image: Motorpress

Saturday’s race day proved challenging for the new pair as a soft rollover stumped their race after only 27km. According to the team the windscreen of the Hilux was broken and the pair lost time to remove the glass before continuing.

Alonso and Coma wore motocross goggles to keep the dust at bay and completed the 190km loop and posted competitive split times throughout the remainder of the loop. 

After the Hilux was repaired at the DSP, race organisers allowed Alonso and Coma to start the second loop 15 minutes ahead of the field to gain quality mileage.

The second loop proved to be challenging as well, after a guinea fowl struck the windscreen five kilometres into the stage, resulted in a second broken windscreen for the crew.

They finished the 190-kilometre loop while taking turns to hold the broken windscreen in place between driving and navigating and finished 16th overall. 

The race was won by former Dakar winner Giniel de Villiers and navigator Dennis Murphy while Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa teammates Henk and navigator Brett Cummings finished second, claiming the 2019 South African Cross Country Series title with one round remaining.

                                               Image: Motorpress

Alonso and Coma’s next test is the Rally of Morocco between October 3-9. To prepare for the challenging sand dunes of the Moroccan desert, Alonso jetted off to Qatar to learn the ropes of dune driving with Nasser Al-Attiyah. 

The Rally of Morocco will be a stern test for Alonso and Coma and features a cloverleaf layout with five competitive stages all starting and ending near the city of Fes.

Race distance is 2500km of which 1868 kilometres will be timed special stages, featuring a mixture of rough gravel tracks, sand dune crossings and tricky navigation.

                                               Image: Motorpress

Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa team principal Glyn Hall gives his impression of Alonso and Coma’s first race in the Hilux: 

“We certainly proved this weekend that Fernando has the speed and Marc has the ability to co-drive in the Hilux. Despite the ups and downs, this weekend was an invaluable experience for the crew. We are fast-tracking one of the best racing drivers the world has ever seen into a discipline he has never experienced before.”

“With just five months to prepare for one of the toughest races in motorsport, we have an incredible task ahead of us. In the Prologue, we saw that Fernando can keep up with the best drivers in South Africa, who are as good as they come in the world. Competing at this level in terms of speed, and with such a steep learning curve, we expected small setbacks along the way.”

“This is exactly the kind of experience they need to have so it doesn’t come as a surprise if it happens during the big race. The determination shown by Fernando and Marc today is nothing short of impressive. The crew got back in the car and completed the first loop without a windscreen in the dust, and again in the second loop while holding the window up for most of the stage.”

                                               Image: Motorpress

Alonso said: ‘Every time we go in the car we learn something and we get more and more familiar with the Hilux. Unfortunately, today was a little bit of a nightmare for us.

“In the morning, we rolled over a little bit and broke the windscreen which affected our visibility so we had to remove it. We drove the rest of the loop with goggles on, in the dust behind all the cars. For the second loop the organisers allowed us to start in front, to have a clear view.”

The Spaniard said: “After a few kilometres, we hit a bird and the windscreen broke again. Then it was nearly 200km with one hand on the windscreen and the other on the steering wheel. It wasn’t the best day for us, but we were able to get more kilometres in the Hilux and it’s good to experience these things before we get to more important races.”

                                               Image: Motorpress

Five-time Dakar Rally winner Coma gave his impression of the race: “Today was a pretty tough day for us after a really good day yesterday. We started the race smooth but rolled the car at one point but we managed to finish the loop.

“Then we started the second loop with a new windscreen to get more experience in the Hilux. After just a few kilometres, we hit a bird and it broke the windscreen.”

The Spaniard said: “The wind and dust started to come inside the car, making it very difficult to drive to the end. It really wasn’t easy to hold the windscreen in place while navigating at the same time.”

“With Fernando, we managed the situation together and got to the end of the race. Even with all the challenges we faced today, we still managed to get a lot of valuable kilometres under our belt and we know that all of this is part of the experience we are gaining.”

Cape Town – The Proteas will play their first match since the 2019 World Cup when they face India in the first of three T20Is in Dharamshala on Sunday. 

With a new coach – or interim team director, if you prefer – in Enoch Nkwe, a new-look backroom team, a new structure and a new skipper in Quinton de Kock, it is the dawn of a new era for South African cricket. 

The disappointments of the World Cup under Ottis Gibson and Faf du Plessis, where the Proteas finished 7th, are now firmly in the past.

The task over the next few weeks is for this side to get back on its feet as soon as possible and earn back the faith of a South African cricketing public that is far from convinced things will get better anytime soon. 

The Proteas will play three T20Is and then three Test matches in India in what is the most daunting of opening assignments for Nkwe. 

Du Plessis is not in the squad for the T20s, but he is set to return and lead in the Test series while he remains part of the long-term T20 plans with next year’s World Cup in Australia in mind. 

The 14-man squad for the T20Is does include a number of familiar, experienced faces, but there is certainly the feeling of starting fresh with the likes of Du Plessis, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy and Imran Tahir all missing. 

“It’s really exciting and there are a lot of things to look forward to,” senior batsman David Miller said on Saturday. 

“It is a young side, but there are a lot of guys who have played a lot of cricket, so the guys are experienced in each department.

“It’s just a great stepping-stone. We come here to win, and we are looking forward to making a mark.”

Miller acknowledged that the side’s performance at the World Cup was disappointing. 

“What happened at the World Cup is something to learn from. We did a few things wrong and it never came our way,” he said.

“There is a new phasing in South African cricket at the moment and it’s exciting times.

“We’ve been training really hard for the last 10 days and I think everyone is really eager to get the games going and test ourselves.”

On De Kock taking over the captaincy, Miller said he would be there to offer support in any way he could. 

“He’s been around for many years and he’s got an incredible cricket brain. It’s exciting times … a new skipper, new players and fresh faces,” he said.

Play on Sunday starts at 15:30 (SA time). 

Proteas T20I squad v India:

Quinton de Kock (Titans, captain), Rassie van der Dussen (Lions, vice-captain), Temba Bavuma (Lions), Junior Dala (Titans), Bjorn Fortuin (Lions), Beuran Hendricks (Lions), Reeza Hendricks (Lions), David Miller (Dolphins), Anrich Nortje (Warriors), Andile Phehlukwayo (Dolphins), Dwaine Pretorius (Lions), Kagiso Rabada (Lions), Tabraiz Shamsi (Titans), George Linde (Cape Cobras)