Australia announce playing XI for the penultimate Test
Updated - 09 Jan 2019, 06:55 PM
Ahead of the third Test in Cape Town, skipper for Australia Steven Smith has relied on the same playing XI which they fielded in the Port Elizabeth Test.
The four-match Test series is concurrently levelled at one-each. After going down in the first Test at Durban, the hosts Proteas made a strong return to make the competition pretty interesting.
Australia won the first Test by 118 runs, whereas, the Proteas clinched the second Test by six wickets after the rollicking show with the red-ball from Rabada.
The minor injury scare, however, brought some respite in the Kangaroos camp after speedster Mitchell Starc and all-rounder Mitchell Marsh were declared fit for the game.
“I think they’ll be OK. They feel really good so no concerns there.” Smith said regarding the duo at Newlands.
The left-arm paceman Starc was suffering from a sore calf. Meanwhile, Marsh regained fitness after nursing a groin strain.
Both were training hard in nets, to deliver for the team.
“They both had a really good hit out yesterday. Obviously, we had 10 days between Test matches, which is a good break for them,” Smith mainatined.
It would be third time in a row that Australian skipper Steven Smith would field the same team.
The South African line-up could witness a couple of changes against Australia in Port Elizabeth.
According to the tradition, the home team will announce their team at the toss.
However, the ban of two-Test fixtures for Kagiso Rabada was overturned by Judicial Commissionerner Michael Heron. With this, the Proteas would be confident enough following the win as well in the second Test in their den.
On the other side, South African skipper Faf du Plessis reiterated they have 13 players to consider. However, promising Lungi Ngidi is suffering from injured toe as Temba Bavuma has returned after finger split.
“We’ve got 13 in mind. We’ve got Temba (Bavuma), who’s ready to go again, so it’s between him and Theunis (de Bruyn) and then also a decision between Morne (Morkel) and Lungi, which one we think will be better for the conditions,” du Plessis said.
Concluding, du Plessis remarked Morne Morkel had been a great asset for the Proteas. He added the lanky-pacer could bowl long spells. He believes a spinner would be enough while eyeing on three premium pacers in particular.
Here’s the newsfeed:
BCCI extends Star’s contract to broadcast India vs England women’s ODI
Tagged:
Playing XI South Africa national cricket team Third Test
