Despite his muscle tightness, Philander picked up five wickets on day three

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

South Africa’s team manager Mohammed Moosajee has confirmed that the pace duo of Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander will bowl on day four after both of them succumbed to muscle tightness yesterday.

South Africa are already without wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock, who sprained his ankle, and batsman Faf du Plessis, who has abdominal cramps.

“The outfield has been quite heavy so it was just about taking them off, ice baths, getting them on the physio’s bench,
Moosajee said. “It’s very individualised. It’s about body being conditioned to bowling those kind of overs. The intensity of bowling a side also affects you. The reality is we haven’t played Test cricket for about five months.”

In fact, during the fourth day, South Africa used so many substitutes that bowling coach Allan Donald even changed into his whites for a potential Test comeback.

When asked about whether Donald would have really come on as a substitute fielder, Moosajee, with a wry smile on his face, said: “If he had to get there, we wouldn’t have been able to get the ball out of his hand.”

However, on a more serious note, Moosajee stated that du Plessis will need to undergo further tests to find out the cause of his illness.

“We took him to hospital to rule out things like appendicitis but some test results were inconclusive,” Moosajee said. “We might have to run more tests. He has been resting and is on medication.”