JOHANNESBURG – As he absorbed the Knights’ status as champions of South Africa’s premier first class competition, their skipper Theunis de Bruyn, pointed to a 10-run, 10th wicket partnership in a match his side lost, as being a moment that encapsulated the spirit of his team.
In a tightly fought competition, such as the Sunfoil Series was the season, one point, even one run can take on enormous importance and that was the case for the Knights last week in Paarl where a 10th wicket partnership between Akhona Kula and Tshepo Ntuli – who each played just two matches in the competition and didn’t feature in the final round here against the Highveld Lions – created belief in their dressing-room.
“We were 143/9 and got to 153 to get that extra point,” said De Bruyn about a batting bonus point that proved vital in helping them annex the four day title for the first time since 2007/08 when the franchise still went by the name, Eagles.
The Knights had come into the final round of the competition, trailing the Titans by 2.38 points. However a prodigious batting performance in their first innings, in which they scored 443, racking up 6.70 batting points in the process, saw them overhaul the Titans, who collapsed alarmingly in their game against the Warriors in Benoni.
Having got that huge first innings total, the Knights then relied on their potent bowling unit, to rip out the Lions for just 87. De Bruyn enforced the follow-on and despite a century from former Knights player Reeza Hendricks, the unit of Marchant de Lange, Duanne Olivier and Shadley van Schalkwyk, proved too much for the Lions to keep out. The visitors emerged victorious by an innings and 121 runs.
“The whole attack bowled as a unit,” said De Bruyn, who moved from the Titans at the end of last season to take up residence in Bloemfontein.
“Duanne claimed (52) wickets, but add Shadley into that attack, and (Mbulelo) Budaza came through when he had to play... what worked well was that it was relentless from both sides.”
Olivier and Marchant De Lange – another Titans recruit – were easily the best new ball pair in the competition and as a number of champion teams have shown in this competition in recent season, the key to winning, is having a strong combination with the new ball.
“When this bowling unit was switched on they dominated batting units in South Africa. The way they’ve bowled and respected each other and not been selfish about who wants the most wickets, that was impressive,” said De Bruyn.
It would be remiss to leave out the contributions of the batsmen, De Bruyn foremost among them. After a somewhat low-key season last summer, this season he’s back in top form, recently earning a call up to the national T20 team.
De Bruyn’s aggregate of 751 runs is third highest in the competition, though he may yet be overtaken when the other two matches conclude on Sunday.
Rudi Second, was magnificent in the second half of the competition, scoring two of his three centuries in the last four matches and finishing with an aggregate of 684 runs.
“Just the work he’s put in from a technical perspective has been phenomenal. He’s a wicket-keeper who bats at 4 and 5.”
“We set high standards for ourselves,” said De Bruyn. “We didn’t do well in the T20, but we backed ourselves from the start in this competition. We’re very fortunate to be in this position. It’s been a roller-coaster ride, I truly believe we deserve this trophy.”