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Zimbabwe won't have to deal with De Villiers just‚ but Steyn's still there

Dale Steyn of South Africa bowls during the 2016 Momentum One Day International Series game between South Africa and Australia at Wanderers Stadium, Pretoria on 2 October 2016.
Dale Steyn of South Africa bowls during the 2016 Momentum One Day International Series game between South Africa and Australia at Wanderers Stadium, Pretoria on 2 October 2016.
Image: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix

Zimbabwe won’t have to deal with AB de Villiers in their tour match against a South African Invitation XI in Paarl that starts on Wednesday‚ but they are likely to have to find a way past Dale Steyn.

De Villiers‚ who hasn’t played a test for almost two years‚ pulled out of the three-day game on Tuesday with a lower back problem.

But Steyn‚ who was sidelined in November last year with shoulder and muscular injuries‚ remains in the mix.

Both are in South Africa’s squad for the four-day‚ day/night test against the Zimbabweans at St George’s Park‚ which starts next Tuesday.

Perhaps because he won’t have to face Steyn with the new ball‚ the prospect of seeing the fast bowler charge in excited Graeme Cremer.

“He brings a lot to cricket in general‚” Zimbabwe’s captain told reporters in Paarl on Tuesday.

“He’s a good guy and he’s one of the better bowlers going around.

“It will be good to have him back‚ not only just for this test match but going forward in his career.

“He is great to watch and we are excited to see him in the three-day game and hopefully in the test.”

Wednesday’s game‚ which is scheduled to start at 3.30pm‚ is Zimbabwe’s first with the pink ball that will be used in the test.

“We’ve had two sessions under lights with the pink ball‚” Cremer said.

“It was good to see how it reacts.

“This three-day game we will look to get all our gameplans and tactics ready.

“At twilight time a little bit more seems to happen with the ball off the wicket‚ and we’ll be careful of that. It will probably swing.”

Zimbabwe have lost all three of the tests they have played in South Africa by an innings‚ and have won only 11 of their 104 tests all told. But Cremer did a decent marketing job for next week’s match nonetheless.

“The game will move that much quicker because it’s only four days‚” he said.

“It will be good to watch and good for the crowd.

“What a lot of the so-called bigger teams will do is bat the other team right out of the game — they can bat as long as they want‚ knowing they’ve got the bowlers to bowl a team out twice.

“The bigger teams will have to score quicker and give the lesser teams more opportunity to get wickets‚ and the game will move quite quickly.”

Squads: SA Invitation XI: Dominic Hendricks (captain)‚ Temba Bavuma‚ Tladi Bokako‚ Michael Cohen‚ Isaac Dikgale‚ Leus du Plooy‚ Dayyaan Galiem‚ Zubayr Hamza‚ Kagiso Rapulana‚ Kelly Smuts‚ Dale Steyn‚ Ricardo Vasconcelos‚ Shaun von Berg‚ Lizaad Williams.

Zimbabweans: Graeme Cremer (captain)‚ Hamilton Masakadza‚ Craig Ervine‚ Brendan Taylor‚ Chamu Chibhabha‚ Regis Chakabva‚ Sikandar Raza‚ Ryan Burl‚ Tendai Chatara‚ Blessing Muzarabani‚ Tendai Chisoro‚ Peter Moor‚ Solomon Mire‚ Kyle Jarvis‚ Chris Mpofu.

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