The Proteas’ bowlers showed their inexperience and lack of form against a resilient Zimbabwean batting attack as the Zimbabwean took the second International Pro20 to the last over of the match. In the first Pro20 the Proteas’ fielding and bowling was described as sloppy, this time out the bowling at the death was diabolical.

Winning the toss and electing to bat Johan Botha’s men posted a menacing total of 194/6. Again Smith got off to a flying start and played the Zimbabwean bolwers all round the park with ease, he missed out on the opportunity to post a massive score as he top-edged  one off Taylor to be out for 46.

Again Collin Ingram failed, but JP Duminy took his opportunity and scored a personal best of 96* (54b 10×4 4×6). Duminy peppered the parking lot with some massive shots to become the highest scoring International Pro20 player for South Africa – the previous best was Loots Bosman’s 94.

The batting from South Africa was exemplary, unfortunately the same can’t be said about the bowling. Both Theron and more so Parnell folded under pressure towards the end of the inning, Parnell coughed up 19 runs in the penultimate over leaving Zimbabwe with 15 needed from the last over.

Johan Botha had a poor outing with the ball conceding 30 runs from 3 overs, Duminy bowled Botha’s fourth over and went for 17. More worrying was Peterson’s 36 from 4, the problem is the way they bowled, they seemed to lack the ability to vary their bowling and deal with the pressure.

Let me take a moment to mention Chamu Chibhabha who again scored a half century and Brendan Taylor coming back to score 59 after his duck in the first Pro20. Taylor complemented his impressive batting with a good showing with the ball, returning figures of 4o 16r 1w 4.0rr.

There is plenty of work to be done ahead of the World Cup, this game really illustrates the value of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Jacques Kallis all of whom missed the game due to injury.

The new look Proteas Pro20 team faced up to their first challenge of Zimbabwe of Friday night at the OutSurance Oval in Bloemfontein. The pre-match interviews were all about Zimbabwe being the underdog,  coach Allan Butch commented: “every dog has his day” – Zimbabwean cricket is rebuilding at the moment and that day will come soon.

Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat on a pitch that resembled the M1 South. The Zimbabwean batsmen seemed to struggle with the Protea bowlers, managing only 22 runs for 1 wicket in the first five overs.

By the time Zimbabwe had batted out their 20 overs the tag of underdogs was thrown away, Zimbabwe posted 168/4. The South African spin bowlers struggled on a pitch that offered no purchase. Opening batsman, Hamilton Masakadza played a masterful innings of 72 from 63 balls, consisting of six 4’s and two 6’s. Chamu Chibhabha in at three after Taylor was dismissed for a duck went on to score 52 from 32 balls.

The fielding display from the Proteas was poor and the dismal performance was compounded when Morne Morkel turned his ankle over badly, he left the field and would not return for the remainder of the match.

After a good performance with the Bat, the Zimbabweans fell to pieces with the ball, Graeme Smith and Loots Bosman plundered the bowlers knocking up 90 runs from 7 overs. On his way to 58 Smith hit nine 4’s and two 6’s from just 29 deliveries. Smith was out lbw to Cremer. Bosman soon followed as the was dismissed a few balls later trying to hit another big one, out for 33 from 15 deliveries.

Collin Ingram on debut didn’t last long getting out for 3 – JP Duminy and David miller collected the remaining runs to give South Africa the victory by 7 wickets, with 25 balls remaining.

Our boys were sloppy in the field, commanding with the bat, had the Bloemfontein wicket offered something for the spinners Zimbabwe could have come a lot closer. Onto Kimberly for the second Pro20 on Sunday.

On the back of the poor performance of the current Proteas team in the ICC World T20 and the negative media back lash, I though it would be a good idea to select a South African T20 dream team of players who retired before T20 cricket came of age.

As my regular readers will know I love twitter, it gives me the opportunity to discuss cricket events as they happen. I asked my followers who they would include in this team, and this is what came of it, perhaps these guys should be selecting the current T20 team as well:

In batting order:

1. Gary Kirsten (batsman) – Suggested by @SACricketBlog
2. Daryl Cullinan (batsman) – Suggested by @MrTruckBox
3. Jonty Rhodes (batsman) – Suggested by @StdBankCricket
4. 4. Hansie Cronje (all rounder) – Suggested by @Slbry
5. Lance Klusner (all rounder) – Suggested by @Spursgirl
6. Dave Callaghan (all rounder) – Suggested by @MrTruckBox
7. Dave Richardson (Keeper) – Suggested by @StdBankCricket
8. Richard Snell (all rounder) – Suggested by @SACricketBlog
9. Pat Symcox (spin bowler) – Suggested by @PhillipGibb
10. Brian McMillan (all rounder) – Suggested by @SnowGooseSA
11. Meyrick Pringle (pace bowler) – Suggested by @Leeontwitta
12. Fanie de Villiers (pace power) – Suggested by @SanjeebCNNIBN
13. Clive Rice (all rounder) – Suggested by @GarryThomson
14. Adrain Kuiper (batsman) – Suggested by @SACricketBlog

Not a bad squad at all, it’s got some big hitters in Klusner, Callaghan, Snell and Kuiper. We’ve got our spin bowler in Symcox and in T20 cricket the key to bowling is taking the pace off the ball, can you imagine how successful Hansie Cronje and Brian McMillan would have been as a bowlers in T20?

And of course Hansie would be our captain.

Some players who missed out on our team; Clive Eksteen, Nic Pothas, Peter Kirsten and Allan Donald. Who would you have included in our T20 Squad?

ICC World T20 Results:

-Sri Lanka v New Zealnd – Group B – New Zealand won by 2 wickets

-West Indies v Ireland – Group D – West Indies won by 70 runs

-Afghanistan v India – Group C – India won by 7 wickets

-Bangladesh v Pakistan – Group A – Pakistan won by 21 runs

-India v South Africa – Group C – India won by 14 runs

-Australia v Pakistan – Group A – Australia won by 34 runs

-Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe – Group B – Sri Lanka won by 14 runs (D/L)

-West Indies v England – Group D – West Indies won by 8 wickets (D/L)

-New Zealand v Zimbabwe – Group B – New Zealand won by 7 runs (D/L)

-England v Ireland – Group D – No result due to rain

-Australia v Bangladesh – Group A – Australia won by 27 runs

-Afghanistan v South Africa – Group C – South Africa won by 59 runs

T20 Super 8 results:

-England v Pakistan – England won by 6 wickets

-South Africa v New Zealand – South Africa won by 13 runs

-Australia v India – Australia thumped India by 49 runs

-West Indies v Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka murdered the West Indies by 57 runs

-Pakistan v New Zealand – New Zealand won a last ball thriller by 1 run

-England v South Africa – England won by 39 runs

-West Indies v India – West Indies won by 14 runs

-Pakistan v South Africa – Pakistan won by 11 runs

-England v New Zealand – England won by 3 wickets

-Sri Lanka v India – Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets

-West Indies v Australia – Australia won by 6 wickets

-England v Sri Lanka – Semifinal – England won by 7 wickets

-Australia v Pakistan – Semifinal – Australia won by 3 wickets

-England v Australia – Final – England won by 7 wickets

The Standard Bank Pro20 has seemed to have come and gone so quickly, it’s already time for the final tonight. The Warriors and Lions have out played the Cape Cobras and Titans respectively, both teams winning their semi-finals without having to play the third leg of semi’s.

The Warriors have played well this year, they have the MTN40 trophy in the cabinet and only lost one game in the Pro20 series to the Titans. The return of Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and Wayne Parnell will add to the confidence of the Warriors team.

The Lions on the other hand have beaten the Titans three times this year, which I feel is significant as I believed the Titans to be the favorites to win the title. The Lions also beat the Titans with all the proteas’ players back so the return of the Warriors’ national stars probably won’t affect them too much.  If the Lions stand a chance this evening then it’s going to be Alviro Petersen and Vaughn van Jaarsveld who need to step up when the pressure is on.

It’s rock star cricket at its best, and one thing is for sure, Pro20 cricket is unpredictable, the head say Warriors and heart, Lions.

The Standard Bank Pro20 game between the Cape Cobras and Eagles last Wednesday evening produced the catch of the series. Reeza Hendricks took this amazing catch to dismiss Andrew Puttick.

The Eagles went on to win the game by 8 wickets, thanks to an unbeaten 85 runs from their captain Morne van Wyk.

This video was sent in by: @Boundary_Rider via Twitter

2010 Standard Bank Pro20 Log was last updated:22th February 2010

In this weeks Pro20 update, we have a captain falling, opening batsmen scoring runs and the IPL muscling in on domestic cricket in South Africa.

This last weekends Pro20 results:

Friday 5th, Cape Cobras beat the Highveld Lions by 42 runs

Sunday 7th, Titans beat the Cape Cobras by 17 runs (D/L shortened game)

Sunday 7th, Warriors beat the Dolphins by 23 runs

note: So far in the Standard Bank Pro20 the team batting first has won every game

Neil McKenzie gets the sack

News of the day is that Highveld Lions captain Neil McKenzie has been relieved of his duties as captain, but will stay on as a senior player in the team. McKenzie has been the captain of the Lions since 2004, and truth be told the Lions have not done well for a long time now. The Lions have announced that Alviro Petersen will captain the team upon his return from India, in the mean time wicket keeper Thami Tsolekile will lead the team. I would suggest that the newly appoint coach of The Lions, Dave Nosworthy, is building a new team and new leadership from within.

IPL Muscles in on domestic cricket

Earlier in the year Shane Warne mentioned that this was going to be a massive year for him, and he now seems to have shown his hand, it was announced that the IPL team The Rajasthan Royals that Warne captained, had struck a deal where the following teams; Hampshire, Cape Cobras and Trinidad and Tobago along with a yet-to-be-confirmed Australia state team, would form an international Twenty20 (Pro20) brand. Each team will now play under the Royals name.

I’m not too keen on this idea, why does one of South Africa’s leading domestic teams need to be influenced by and IPL team? This move seems to cement the notion of big money taking over cricket, it’s now on our door step, the IPL is having a direct influence on our domestic game. More to follow on this story….

Gulam Bodi gets player of the week

Titans opening batsman is my choice for Pro20 player of the week. Bodi hit an impressive 88* runs of just 44 balls in his innings against The Cobras at SuperSport park. His innings included six 6′s and seven 4′s. Bodi would have had the chance to have made is maiden Pro20 century had it not been for a reduced innings due to rain.

Change of Venue:

Cricket South Africa has announced that the Standard Bank Pro20 match between the Nashua Titans and the bizhub Highveld Lions, due to be played on Wednesday, 10 February 2010, has been moved from Willowmoore Park in Benoni, to SuperSport Park in Centurion, because of a waterlogged field. This is great news for the Titans, Willowmore Park is a grave yard for Titans cricket.

The Titans hosted the defending Standard Bank Pro20 champions The Cobras on Sunday afternoon at SuperSport Park. Before the game started there were rain clouds all around the stadium, having shared the points with the Dolphins the week before due to rain, the Titans could not afford another non-result due to the weather.

The Cobras won the toss and elected to bowl, which I found strange due to the chance the game could be affected due to rain, I’d always choose to bat under those circumstances. The Cobras premier bowler Charl Langeveldt opened the bowling, and was immediately hit for consecutive boundaries. This set the tone, the Titans batsmen put on 53 runs from 5 overs before lightening and then rain stopped play.

After the rain interval the game was reduced to 12 overs, which only gave the batsmen license to go for the big shots, and it was Bodi that came off. In his innings Gulam Bodi scored 88 runs from just 44 balls which included six 6’s and seven 4’s. The Titans ended their shortened inning on 136/1.

Needing 11.3 runs per over, The Cobras were under pressure from the first over. Andrew Puttick got them off to a flyer, before he was out caught and bowled by Basheeru-Deen Walters for just 9 runs. The ever powerful Herschelle Gibbs came in at three, and rocked the party. Gibbs hit 6’s all over the park before he got bogged down by the bowling of Titans captain Pierre Jouburt and Roelof van der Merwe. The two bowlers stopped the flow of runs and the pressure told. Gibbs was out caught by a brilliant Albie Morkel catch two short of his half century. The fall of his wicket was the beginning of the end, the game was already in the bag by the time Morkel bowled the penultimate over, taking two wickets.

In the end the Titans won comfortably ensuring that their Standard Bank Pro20 hopes stayed alive. The Cobras on the other hand have some thinking to do, their bowling was poor which resulted in massive pressure on their batsmen.

vs

In the MTN40 series the Titans only lost two games, the last game in the league stage and the semi-final, both to the Dolphins. The Titans have had an extremely successful season so far and would have been bitterly disappointed with the way in which they ended of the MTN40 campaign.

The Standard Bank Pro20 gives the Titans the opportunity to right the wrongs, of the recent past. Being one of the most successful franchises in domestic cricket, the Titans are one of the favorites to win the series, and their fans will be expecting a strong fight back.

On the other had the Dolphins will really have to pick themselves up to compete with the Titans. They’ve had a poor season, losing four games on the trot at one stage, just last week they took a hiding from the Warriors in the MTN40 final, conceding 299 runs.

It will be a long Pro20 series for the Dolphins if they can’t muster up a victory at home in the first game.