Western Province skipper Deon Fourie has been passed fit and will lead an unchanged side in the Currie Cup Final at Newlands on Saturday.
Fourie has been battling with a neck injury this week and did not train on Wednesday, but was named to lead the defending champions against the Sharks this weekend.
rugby365
Coach Allister Coetzee has named an unchanged team from the one that saw them to a home semifinal victory over the Golden Lions last week as they look to retain their title on home soil.
National skipper Jean De Villiers will start in the No.13 jersey in what will also be his 50th match for Western Province. Juan de Jongh has been named on the bench, as he was the win over the Lions.
“Being at Newlands is fantastic and great, but there are no guarantees,” said Coetzee.
“We have to be even better than last Saturday (in the semifinal) against the Lions. We have to start better and we have to stay in it for 80 minutes. We don’t want to be in a situation in a Final where you take so long to work yourself back and get your dominance back.”
Western Province: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jean de Villiers, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Deon Fourie (Captain), 5 De Kock Steenkamp, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Pat Cilliers, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Frans Malherbe, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Michael Rhodes, 19 Schalk Burger, 20 Nic Groom, 21 Kurt Coleman, 22 Juan de Jongh.
Date: Saturday 26 October 2013
Venue: Newlands, Cape Town
Kick-off: 17:30 SA Time (15:30 GMT)
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Assistant Referees: Christie du Preez, Stefan Breytenbach
TMO: Deon van Blommestein
De Villiers’ lucky escapes
The chances
After Pakistan removed the nightwatchman fairly early, they had an opportunity to open South Africa up but missed it. AB de Villiers prodded at the first ball he faced from Mohammad Irfan – which jagged across him and took the outside edge – to present Adnan Akmal with a chance. The wicketkeeper had to dive full stretch to his right and he managed to get the tips of his gloves on to it but could not curl his fingers around the ball. It would have been a spectacular catch, but it went down as a tough chance and cost Pakistan dearly as de Villiers went on to score a hundred.
The overthrow
Having let de Villiers off, Pakistan were trying to apply some pressure but got it badly wrong. Saeed Ajmal gave him his first boundary when de Villiers drove the ball back to the spinner, who attempted to fling it back to the batsman. Instead of threatening de Villiers, Ajmal went wide of the wicketkeeper on the leg side and threw with such force, the result was four overthrows.
The regret
Yesterday’s hasty use of technology came back to haunt Pakistan when Ajmal had an lbw shout against de Villiers in the 71st over. De Villiers was on 25 when he went on the back foot to play down the leg side and was struck on the pad. The appeal was turned down and replays showed the ball would have gone on to hit middle and leg but Pakistan could not make use of a review. The two they used up in the first five overs yesterday left them without any more until the 80th over and de Villiers survived, a second time.
The body blow
After trying everything they could to end Graeme Smith’s stubborn stay at the crease without success, Pakistan could only try and make him as uncomfortable as possible. Mohammed Irfan saw Smith backing away to the leg side and followed him. The bouncer struck Smith flush on the helmet and he was in immediate pain. He walked towards square leg, dropped his bat and went down on his haunches, removing his helmet. He smiled, as though a little dazed, and waited for the physiotherapist to assess him. While de Villiers appeared worried, Smith seemed to only need a few moments to collect himself before he soldiered on.
The ninth life
De Villiers got away with the previous two chances against him and one more when he reviewed being given out lbw off Ajmal and battled cramp but he could have been certain it was his day when he snuck in to avoid being run-out late in the afternoon session. After cutting Irfan behind point, de Villiers decided to push for the second run. The throw came in to Akmal in time for him to break the stumps but de Villiers’ dive beat that. He had to extend himself to lie fully flat on the ground, arm outstretched with a bat extension on the end. The effort was worth it because de Villiers was just in.
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo’s South Africa correspondent
Pietman, lees hierdie vandag na die dag se spel. Is jy in hierdie land?
It is a curious experience watching cricket in a neutral stadium as a neutral observer. In Dubai today, as South Africa took a probably-decisive grasp on the second Test against a Pakistan team that exacerbated the stranglehold by part-asphyxiating itself, I felt like a one-man Switzerland, without the gold reserves. It is a particularly curious experience when that stadium is well over 99% empty. At the start of play, there were no discernible spectators at all, if you exclude the various staff and the players’ families. When the umpires outnumber the crowd, you know that ticket sales have been sluggish.
Dubai seems to me to be one of the world’s odder places, an architectural and lifestyle fantasy built on literal, economic and metaphorical sand. An unattended Test in a perfect stadium on a lush green outfield in the desert might not be quite a crazy as an uninhabited archipelago of luxury counterfeit islands, or a fully-functioning ski-slope in a notoriously non-snowy part of the world, or a half-mile-high skyscraper in a city with a patently-obvious excess of ground space, but it is still almost rampantly odd.
@ superBul:
Kuk plek daai broer!
Ek land net in Dubai en daai waai ek so vinnig as moontlik.
Arabiere ken nie van krieket nie, eintlik enige sport is vir hulle taboe, teen die geloof en wat nog, dis hoekom hulle sulke dik gatte het.
@ superBul:
Nee, ek is so 450 km van Dubai, op die snelweg.
@ Pietman:
64
Dog jy sou daai afstand ry om blad te skud met twee great spelers. AB en Biff
Toemaar just joking, at least is jy baie nader as ons van die span.
@ superBul:
Ek sou enige tyd ry vir DIT, as daar bier weas!
63 @ Pietman:
LOL. Nou wat van 95% van Suid Afrikaaners dan?
Ons is “lief vir sport”, maar meerste van die land se bevolking is maar ook “dikgatte”.
From Andy Zaltman’s blog on Cricinfo:
“Thanks to Pakistan’s first-day masterclass in batting ineptitude, today’s play had all the tension of a flaccid grey sock in an overcooked casserole, and all the unpredictability of a North Korean military parade.”
Bwahahahaha
de Villiers gone.
AB de Villiers c †Adnan Akmal b Mohammad Irfan 164 (274b 17×4 1×6) SR: 59.85
Smith also gone now.
GC Smith c Younis Khan b Saeed Ajmal 234 (388b 16×4 0x6) SR: 60.30
There is a new stamp with a picture of No 1 on it.
He was furious when he heard it would not stick on an envelope.
Big investigation until they realized the people were spitting on the wrong side.
O donner die Pakis verloor sommer in die eerste boulbeurt n pen.
Skeidsregter Ian Gould is nou seker al so gatvol vir die Pakistanis dit is nou maar wors.
Hulle betwyfel en appeleer al die hele more alles.
Pakistan gaan n moerse pak kry, 2-2 na 1.5ov
Pakistan 99 & 2/2 (1.5 ov)
South Africa 517
Pakistan trail by 416 runs with 8 wickets remaining
@ superBul:
Is reg, moer hulle!
As jy kans het, kyk daai clip van 2001 finaal wat ek op die ‘sold out’-draad gelos het, dit was n grote! Wetie hoe Sharks daar verloor het na so n goeie begin nie…
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