South Africa to play Imran Tahir in Brisbane Test

Leg-spinner Imran Tahir was awful in the three-day tour match against Australia A. He took only two wickets for 157 runs off 40 overs. Despite his lacklustre show in the practice game, South Africa are likely to play him in the opening Test at Brisbane.

Assistant coach, Russell Domingo described that with Jacques Kallis in the side, it would not be easy to go with four specialist pacers. As a result, Rory Kleinveldt, who performed decently in the warm-up game, is highly unlikely to miss out on selection
for the opening encounter.

"To be honest with you, the balance of the side with Kallis being there as the fourth seamer, whether you play four or five (fast bowlers) isn’t really going to be that important. I think we’ll always look to have a spinner in the side. Gone are the days
when a South African team goes without a spinner," Domingo told reporters.

"(Kleinveldt) bowled really well.  He’s been very impressive in domestic cricket for a while and he’s been superb in our preparation this week," he added.

The imminent series is extremely crucial for the Proteas. They beat Australia at home earlier this year to capture the first place on the ICC Test rankings. The Aussies are aiming to take revenge of that defeat, fully determined to play well.

The South African camp is pleased with the preparations. The classy right-hander, Hashim Amla expressed satisfaction at Tahir’s bowling, despite his limited success against Australia A.

"Imran got a long bowl which is exactly what we wanted," said batsman Hashim Amla.

On the other hand, Australia are facing a few injury issues. All-rounder, Shane Watosn has ruled out of the opening Test due to fitness concerns.

The first game of the 4-Test series is scheduled to be played from November 9^th to November 13^th. The second game is due to be played at Adelaide, followed by the third game at Perth.

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Posted by Rana Nasir Ghafoor on Nov 5 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry