Vernon Philander has been called up to the ODI side.
SOUTH Africa, in a strong position to wrap up the one-day international series as they head for Bloemfontein on Tuesday, have made three enforced changes to their squad for the remaining three games against Sri Lanka.
The South Africans lead the five-match series 2-0 after their five-wicket win in East London on Saturday.
With Hashim Amla being grant paternity leave – his wife is expecting their first baby – the national selectors have brought in Alviro Petersen to partner the out-of-touch Graeme Smith at the top of the batting.
And the selectors have rested Jacques Kallis for the last three matches of the contest, and brought in Colin Ingram of the Warriors in his place. They have also added Vernon Philander, who had an astonishing debut in the recent Test series.
“Both Petersen and Philander showed excellent form in the recent Test series, and they have also represented the Proteas in the ODI format before so I don’t anticipate them having any problems adapting to 50-overs cricket,” said convener of selectors Andrew Hudson.
“Ingram has also been in top form in domestic cricket, and was a member of the squad that went to the World Cup last year after making a century on debut against Zimbabwe.
“Though we are sad to lose players such as Amla and Kallis, I see this as an opportunity to try out our options. There are still places up for grabs in our ODI squad, and I must say I am excited to see the talent coming through our development pipeline.”
Petersen has played 14 ODIs, making his debut against Zimbabwe in 2006. His last was against the West Indies in 2010.
Philander made his ODI debut against Ireland at Belfast in 2007, where he took his best figures of 4/12. He has played seven ODIs.
Ingram’s ODI debut was against Zimbabwe in 2010. He has played 12 games for SA and averages 41.55, with two centuries. His last game in the SA strip was against Ireland at the 2011 World Cup.
Skipper AB de Villiers, though happy with the outcome of the game at the weekend, said he was not overly worried at the lack of runs from former captain Graeme Smith.
“He cannot always give us a thousand runs, but he’s vastly experienced and I know he will make a contribution sooner rather than later. While we will miss Hashim, I do believe the selectors have come up with players who will carry on from where he left off.”
Meanwhile, according to Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan, their inability to rotate the strike after losing two quick wickets, and their lack of runs up front, were their two biggest problems.
“We were slow off the mark – to have just 58 runs after 20 overs is just not good enough in a one-day international. We have never been a team that battles to get off to a good start, but SA bowed superbly to keep the run rate down,” he said.
Now they have an uphill battle before Tuesday’s game – a must-win match to keep their hopes alive in the series.
“We are under pressure, there’s no doubting that,” said Dilshan. “We have just not performed with the bat the way we are used to – especially the experienced men in the team. We need to come up with a better plan to counter SA. The moment is now – in Bloemfontein and Kimberley – to show what we are made of. We need to buckle down and get some big scores on the board. We owe it to our fans back home.”
*Off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake will replace the injured Ajantha Mendis in Sri Lanka’s squad for the remainder of the ODI series. Mendis had a recurrence of his back problem before the second match in East London.
“Ajantha Mendis will return to Sri Lanka from SA due to injury, and will not be available for the remainder of the series. Sachithra Senanayake will leave for SA immediately,” Sri Lanka Cricket said.
SOUTH AFRICA
AB de Villiers (capt), Johan Botha, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Colin Ingram, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Graeme Smith, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe. – The Mercury
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