Rabada leads South African pace attack for World Test final
JOHANNESBURG: Kagiso Rabada will lead a South African pace bowling attack weakened by injury in the World Test Championship final against Australia at Lord's in London from June 11 to 15. Coach Shukri Conrad on Tuesday named a 15-man squad which includes six pace bowlers. But three of South Africa's fastest bowlers missed selection.
Anrich Nortje, Gerald Coetzee and Nandre Burger have all been hit by injuries before and during the championship cycle. Rabada, who recently returned to cricket after serving a ban for recreational drug use, will be backed up by tall left-arm fast bowler Marco Jansen as well as right-arm seamers in Dane Paterson, Lungi Ngidi and all-rounders Wiaan Mulder and Corbin Bosch.
Ngidi missed the home series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan in December and January because of a groin injury but played in the Champions Trophy one-day competition in Pakistan in February and March. 'I'm particularly pleased to welcome Lungi back in the side,' said Conrad. 'He's put in the work and offers us an experienced option with the ball.'
Paterson, 36, is currently playing for English county Middlesex, who are based at Lord's. There are two spinners in the squad, left-armers Keshav Maharaj and Senuran Muthusamy. Maharaj suffered a recurrence of a groin injury in March, which ruled him out of the rest of the South African domestic season, but has been passed fit to play.
South Africa's batsmen have also had injury problems. Captain Temba Bavuma missed the domestic four-day final in April because of a recurrence of an elbow injury, while David Bedingham suffered a fractured toe while batting for Durham in an English county championship match in April.
Conrad said playing in the final would be a 'special moment' for his players. 'Over the past 18 months, we've worked hard to build a competitive red-ball unit, and this achievement reflects that progress. 'A key part of our success has been consistency in selection, and we've stuck with the core group of players who have been part of this WTC cycle. We've selected a balanced squad for the conditions we expect at Lord's.'
South Africa qualified for the final by winning eight of their 12 matches in the championship, including their last seven in a row. Two of their three defeats were against New Zealand in a series which South Africa effectively forfeited because Cricket South Africa gave priority to the SA20 franchise competition.
Seven of the squad are currently involved with the Indian Premier League and three in English county cricket. The players will assemble in England on May 31 ahead of a warm-up match against Zimbabwe in Arundel from June 3 to 6.
Squad: Temba Bavuma (captain), David Bedingham, Corbin Bosch, Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Lungi Ngidi, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne (wkt). – AFP
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