Basson takes 11 wickets on debut to steal spotlight from Proteas

In an opening round of the newly named First Class Series, that featured a number of likely Proteas Test starters, it was the DP World Lions’ 18-year-old left-arm fast bowling prospect JJ Basson who made the biggest impression.

Temba Bavuma, with whom Basson shared the change-room over the past four days should certainly not forget him, after a stunning display in his first match as a professional, in which he claimed figures of 11/99.

Had other members of the Lions attack, which included two more debutants, been able to show the same control of line and length, they may have started their defence of this title with a win. Ultimately, they settled for a draw with Boland, whose opener Ruan Terblanche made a resolute 66 not out in their second innings.

Despite centuries for Ryan Rickelton and Boland’s Lehan Botha, this match will be remembered as Basson’s as he showed he was capable of making the transition from under-19 level to first class cricket.

Almost 1.9m tall, he has a high arm action, which allows him to extract bounce from the surface, and his excellent control of line and length caused discomfort for Boland’s right-handed batters, while his ability to swing the ball late into the left-handers also proved difficult to deal with.

His two most notable scalps were Gavin Kaplan, last season’s leading run-scorer, who bagged a pair courtesy of Basson. In the first innings he nicked off to second slip and on Sunday he was trapped lbw.

Neil Brand, one of the the most experienced batters on the domestic circuit, who is known for his resolute defence and powers of concentration, was twice undone by the late movement Basson is able to find. In the first innings he was bowled and in the second a similar delivery trapped him lbw.

The Lions will have to carefully manage their young charge. In the short-term he has to finish writing his matric exams and once that’s done, the number of overs he bowls and matches he plays will be closely monitored.

In the other three Division One matches; the North West Dragons claimed 135-run victory over the newly promoted Free State Knights in Bloemfontein with the Dragons’ new signing Daryn Dupavillon taking 3/33 in the second innings, while the veteran left-arm seamer Alfie Mothoa finished with 3/34.

The match between Western Province and the Warriors was badly impacted by rain at Newlands and ended in a draw. The Titans completed a dominant win in two-half days over the Dolphins on Saturday, by an innings and 60 runs. Marco Jansen finished with match figures of 7/100.

*Cricket SA confirmed on Sunday that Ottneil Baartman was ruled out of the One-Day series against Australia after sustaining a hamstring injury while bowling for the Dolphins at SuperSport Park.

Duan Jansen, twin brother of Marco, was called up to the squad. The ODI squad will convene in Durban on September 19, ahead of the first match of that series on September 24 at Kingsmead.