ACS Overseas First-Class Annual 2009

South Africa in 2008/09 The 2008/09 season in South Africa consisted of 80 matches. It should be noted, however, that the final of the ICC Inter-Continental Cup, which took place at Port Elizabeth at the end of October, is treated as belonging to the 2008 season. This match will be found on page 39. In addition, three matches in the South African Airways Provincial Challenge took place in Namibia and are not counted in the South African total: these matches are on pages 642-644. Two Tests were played against Bangladesh and three Tests against Australia (who played one other first-class match); in addition, Sri Lanka ‘A’ played four matches. South Africa recorded two crushing innings victories against Bangladesh; then, after crossing the Indian Ocean to inflict Australia’s first home series defeat against any opposition since 1992/93 (see Australian section), they returned home only to lose to the same opponents by the same two-one margin. Domestically, the main tournament was the SuperSport Series, consisting of 30 matches in which six large regional franchises played on a home-and-away basis. Titans, who went through the season undefeated, were SuperSport champions for 2008/09, with Eagles second. In addition, 14 teams representing the traditional provincial areas contested the South African Airways Provincial Three-Day Challenge. They were divided into two round-robin leagues of seven, with a final between the two league winners: 43 matches in total (including Namibia’s three home matches). North West won Pool B by a substantial margin but were well beaten in the final by Griqualand West, winners of the closely-contested Pool A. Note that, in the Provincial Challenge, the first innings was subject to a limit of 170 overs, with no more than 85 overs for the team batting first. In the final (which was allocated four days), this restriction did not apply. SuperSport Series 2008/09: Final table P W L D BatBP BowBP Adj Pts 10 0 0 1 Titans 10 5 0 5 37.10 31 0 118.10 2 Eagles 10 5 4 1 23.94 36 0 109.94 3 Warriors 10 3 3 4 31.48 30 0 91.48 4 Lions 10 2 2 6 33.90 24 0 77.90 5 Cape Cobras 10 1 4 5 31.02 29 0 70.02 6 Dolphins 10 0 3 7 29.88 31 -4 56.88 The SuperSport teams are franchises drawing players from the traditional provinces as follows: Cape Cobras from Western Province and Boland; Dolphins from KwaZulu-Natal; Eagles from Free State and Griqualand West; Lions from Gauteng and North West; Titans from Northerns and Easterns; Warriors from Eastern Province and Border. 383