Hardus Viljoen is hoping to win a call up to South Africa’s ODI squad © Getty Images
South Africa’s selectors will name additional bowlers for the ODI squad to take on England on Sunday, with Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander unavailable, but Wayne Parnell will not be in contention after an injury forced him out of Saturday’s tour match.
While Philander was not in the original group as he continues to recover from an ankle ligament tear sustained in warm-ups ahead of the Bangalore Test in November, Steyn was named but has since failed to regain fitness after a shoulder problem.
That leaves South Africa to pick an attack from Morne Morkel, Kagiso Rabada Kyle Abbott and Chris Morris but with Morkel and Rabada certain to sit out some of the series, they will need to beef up their resources. Parnell could have won a recall but he has now been ruled out of South Africa A’s fixture with England, which means Hardus Viljoen, David Wiese and Marchant de Lange are vying for a spot.
Viljoen made his Test debut at the Wanderers against England and hopes that a strong showing in the warm-up match in Kimberley will earn him an ODI cap.
“Making my Test debut for South Africa was a dream come true but I don’t want to stop there,” Viljoen said. “It’s obviously a big change up from red-ball to white-ball cricket but the basics remain the same, a good ball is still a good ball. We are really motivated as a side to put up a good performance against England and hopefully everything else will take care of itself.”
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo’s South Africa correspondent
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo