COLOMBO: South Africa, on the verge of a rare series win in Sri Lanka, are considering playing an extra fast bowler on the Singhalese SC track which is not as conducive to spin as the one in Galle.
South Africa played leg-spinner Imran Tahir and the off-spin of JP Duminy in the first Test which they won by 153 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
“I think it’s unlikely we’re going to go with two frontline spinners in this Test, Galle was probably the ideal venue if we were going to go down that route,” captain Hashim Amla told reporters ahead of today’s second match.
“Traditionally it doesn’t turn as much as early here.
“Over the last few years in this team the fast bowlers have managed to do the job wherever we’ve been in the world.
“In some ways it doesn’t come as a big surprise that Dale (Steyn), Morne (Morkel) and Vern (Vernon Philander) have done it everywhere in the world.
“Coming to this venue, I haven’t had a look at the wicket as yet today, but I’ll see what kind of team we’ll have to go to get the best results,” he said.
Amla hoped his fast bowlers who did the bulk of the bowling at Galle had enough time to recover.
“It was a physically demanding test. From a recovery perspective, we’ve tried to give the guys time to get their bodies in the best nick possible, especially the fast bowlers, whose workload was quite considerable. “We’ve tried to manage the quick turnaround,
South Africa have not won a Test series in Sri Lanka since 2003 under the leadership of Kepler Wessels.
“I don’t think that record is playing on our minds what’s more in our minds is playing good cricket over the next five days,” Amla said.
“We tried to basically forget what happened in the last Test and we managed to play really good cricket there and come up with a victory.
“From a team perspective we’re addressing this game as if we’re coming in on a clean slate,” Amla added.
South Africa are likely to retain Quinton de Kock as wicketkeeper after he came into the team in Galle because AB de Villiers was struggling with a hamstring injury.
Amla backed struggling leg-spinner Tahir to come good, saying he had the qualities to be a match-winning bowler.
The 35-year-old Pakistan-born spinner took just one wicket off 45 overs in the first Test at Galle, raising doubts about his role as an attacking spinner in a side which has traditionally struggled to produce quality slow bowlers.
While his one-day record is commendable, Tahir has failed to translate that success into Test cricket, having taken 37 wickets in 14 Tests at an average of 45.67.
“Imran is a quality performer. I am not concerned about him at all. He has been exceptional in the shorter format of the game,” said Amla.
“Test cricket is a challenging place. He will come good, it will take a few good performances to get his confidence back.
“He is a wonderful bowler. I’d say he is one the most highly skilled leg-spinners in the world.”
Such high praise from the captain is likely to boost Tahir’s morale as he gears up for the second Test.
For Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews, the Galle Test is harder to forget. The famed Sri Lankan batting line-up unravelled against some top-notch fast bowling from Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel.
“We were on that flat wicket (in Galle) and their seamers were the ones who really troubled us. They bowled pretty well,” said Mathews, stressing that his team would have to raise their game to win against the world number two side.
“We’ve got to sharpen our game in every aspect, everything has to improve to be able to compete against them. We’ve got to be on top of our game.”
With the wicket at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground once again expected to be a flat batting track, Mathews is hoping his batsmen will put a winning total on the board this time.
“The wicket here does a bit in the morning session and then it turns out to be a batting paradise. Our batters need to score runs to give the bowlers a chance.”
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