South Africa has added 19-year-old pacer Kwena Maphaka to its squad for the upcoming three-match One-Day International series against Australia, which begins on Tuesday in Cairns.
Maphaka joins the 17-member squad on the back of an impressive performance in the three-match T20I series against the Aussies, during which the left-arm fast bowler picked nine wickets to emerge as the leading wicket-taker.
Maphaka last played an ODI in December last year and could add to his two one-day caps. Meanwhile, Dewald Brevis, who was in scorching form during the recently concluded T20Is against Australia, is likely to make his ODI debut on Tuesday.
Brevis was the leading run-scorer in the T20I series with a haul of 180 runs in just three matches, which included an unbeaten 125 in the second match—the highest individual score by a South African in the shortest format.
Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma admitted he was looking forward to seeing how Brevis adjusts to the one-day format.
“It’s always exciting when you see the young faces. Obviously, the big talk has been on Brevis, (he’s been) putting up his hand and showing what he is capable of. (I’m) excited to see what he can also bring within the one-day stuff,” he said.
Bavuma is returning to competitive cricket for the first time since leading South Africa to victory in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia in June, during which he sustained a hamstring injury.
The skipper said he was ‘feeling good’ ahead of his return and confirmed he would be batting at No. 3 in the ODI series opener, behind opening batters Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton.
SOUTH AFRICA SQUAD
Temba Bavuma (c), Corbin Bosch, Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis, Nandre Burger, Tony de Zorzi, Aiden Markram, Kwena Maphaka, Senuran Muthusamy, Keshav Maharaj, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Prenelan Subrayen.
The postAUS vs SA: South Africa adds Maphaka to squad for ODI series against Australia appeared first on Sportstar