Patience from Steven Pope and passion from Vasbert Drakes and Dumisa
Makalima kept Border's heads above water on the first day of the Supersport
Series final against Western Province at Newlands on Wednesday.
Having batted shakily for most of the day, the visitors had recovered to 247
for seven when bad light forced the close 4.2 overs early.
It was soon clear why HD Ackerman had asked Border to bat after winning the
toss as swing, movement off the seam and good bounce made batting, before
lunch, at least, an exercise in uncertainty.
For the first half-hour Craig Sugden and Piet Botha put bat to ball only
when required. Then Sugden misjudged a short-pitched delivery from Roger
Telemachus and top-edged it to fine leg.
Ten balls later Telemachus struck again and Border were 15 for two after
Botha stopped on a pull shot, sending the ball looping to short backward
square leg where Lloyd Ferreira crashed into Andrew Puttick before
completing what should have been a simple catch.
Pope and Wayne Wiblin set about repairing the damage caused in a first hour
that cost those two wickets and yielded just 19 runs.
Telemachus' fine first spell of six overs was worth two for seven, and
Ackerman brought left-arm spinner Claude Henderson into the attack as early
as the 16th over in an attempt to dislodge the potentially dangerous Wiblin.
Wiblin smacked an out-of-sorts Alan Dawson through the covers to register
the first boundary of the match in the 17th over, and more positive play
from both batsmen served Border well.
However, 20 minutes before lunch their good work was undone when Wiblin
embarked on a wild slash to Henderson and, instead of depositing the ball
somewhere over the mid-wicket boundary, as he aimed to do, he skied it to
extra cover and Border were 48 for three.
The circumspect Pope and Pieter Strydom took Border to lunch on 53 without
further loss, and they accumulated runs without fuss until midway through
the second session when Strydom drove hard at Dawson to be superbly caught
by Neil Johnson diving to his left at slip.
Strydom's 28 was part of a fourth-wicket stand of 56, and Pope and Laden
Gamiet added 43 before the latter drove wide of his body at the fourth ball
after tea, bowled by Johnson, and was caught behind.
Three balls after that Border were reduced to 150 for six when Ian Mitchell
attempted to cut Henderson and the ball rebounded off wicketkeeper Thami
Tsolekile's gloves before being palmed up and held by Johnson at slip, who
had initially moved in the wrong direction.
Again, Border seemed on their way down. But the patient Pope was still
there - until ten minutes after the final drinks break when he dragged Dawson
from outside off on to his leg stump.
Pope's brave innings was worth 58 and he was at the crease for
four-and-a-half hours, and his departure must surely have caused Province to
think the end of the innings was near.
Not so. Makalima overcame initial looseness to play with discipline and
flair for his unbeaten 40, while Drakes was West Indianness personified in
scoring 46 not out off 59 balls with six fours and a six. Together they put
on 75 for the unbroken eighth wicket.
Things went less well for the home side. Having bowled just nine overs with
the original ball, Telemachus proceeded to waste the new one; and while
Henderson's two for 60 off 30.4 overs makes impressive reading, he was for
the most part ineffectual and at times erratic.
The match could come into its own on Thursday, when Province's powerful
batting line-up takes on the potent Border attack on a pitch that will have
dried into a fine surface for run-scoring.