Parnell recovers, Duminy injured

Times Media - February 6, 2014

TELFORD VICE, Johannesburg

Wayne Parnell recovered from an injury but JP Duminy sustained another on the second day of SA’s practice match against a Composite XI at the Wanderers yesterday.

Parnell turned an ankle while bowling on Tuesday, and was apparently not going to bowl again in the match. However, he sent down six overs yesterday and seemed in no discomfort.

Duminy retired with a wrist problem after facing 19 balls for his 10 not out. He is expected to recover in time to play in the first test against Australia in Centurion on Wednesday.

But the properly good news for SA was the seamless batting of Faf du Plessis, the heir apparent of Jacques Kallis’ No. 4 spot in the test order. Du Plessis scored 67 not out. More importantly, he batted for almost two-and-a-half hours and faced 105 balls.

The progress Du Plessis showed from Tuesday, when his 36 took 83 balls and more than two hours, albeit in the more challenging conditions caused by a damp pitch, was marked.

SA needed Vernon Philander’s 58 not out to reach 300 in their first innings, and they had slipped to 147/5 at stumps yesterday.

The chief concerns will be over Alviro Petersen, who made 14 and nought, and Hashim Amla, who was out for one and 15. They faced 54 and 33 balls in the match respectively, which does not compare favourably with Du Plessis’ 188 nor Graeme Smith’s 95.

All of SA’s bowlers had decent workouts in dismissing the Composite XI for 135. Between them, Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander bowled 23.5 of the 53.5 overs and seemed in sound running order. Rory Kleinveldt also looked in good nick in his 10 overs.

But the star was Robin Peterson, who took two wickets before he had conceded a run on Tuesday and finished with 3/9 from eight overs.

Allan Donald was heartened by what he saw from Steyn, who has spent the past five weeks resting to recoup from a fractured rib.

“For a guy who hasn’t bowled a ball for a month, I’m happy with that,” Donald said. That SA needed Steyn firing on all cylinders at Centurion was non-negotiable.

“We can’t afford for him to ease back into it,” Donald said. “Graeme (Smith) wants him to be at full tile from the start.”

Michael Clarke got South Africans’ attention last week when he said Australia’s attack was the best in the game. However, Donald said Australia’s 5-0 thumping of England was compelling evidence in support of Clarke’s claim.

“Michael Clarke has every right to say he rates his attack No. 1 in the world because what a hell of a performance in those five tests.”

But the magnanimity was not mutual, what with David Warner suggesting Philander was only as good as the pitch he bowled on.

“I would have like to see him bowl at Adelaide in that second test (last season) when he apparently hurt his back (and was ruled out) and was bowling in the nets three days later,” Warner smirked. “On a flat wicket, who knows? But on a good wicket he’s very tough and will be challenging. We know that, we’ve seen the amount of dismissals he gets.

“If it becomes flat we’ve got to make the most of it and try to get on top of him, but if it’s green and seaming we’ve got to try and respect him as much as we can.”