South African batsman Rilee Rossouw was ruled out of the ongoing tri-series in the Caribbean after injuring his shoulder during South Africa’s fixture against Australia at Guyana. The left-hander will return home and will undergo a surgery on his injured shoulder. The South African management named batsman Dean Elger as the replacement for Rossouw.
Rossouw batted at number three for the Proteas in the absence of the experienced Faf Du Plessis. Du Plessis was injured during the IPL but is expected to be fit soon. Calling up Elgar to replace Rossouw is an interesting move, as Elgar has been chosen ahead of David Miller. Miller was the first choice replacement, but due to struggling with extremely poor form, he was ignored by the selectors.
South Africa had a fruitful outing against Australia at Guyana though, as the Proteas easily defended 190 to register a comprehensive win. Skipper AB De Villiers was delighted with his side’s win and praised his unit. “Very happy,” said De Villiers. “You do feel shaky at times. 100 overs is a lot of time. There can be lots of changes in momentum. Behardien was terrific. He ensured we didn’t lose the momentum. We started well with the seamers. I thought that’s the best way to attack. All the spinners did a fantastic job and made my job easy.”
De Villiers had words of appreciation for debutant spinner Tabraiz Shamsi. “He (Shamsi) loves taking wickets, he is always positive. I think he (Shamsi) is gonna get more international wickets. Very good to get that last wicket. Aaron Phangiso bowling a slider and I’m not 100 percent sure, there’s a little bit of time for the next game. But, momentum is on our side and we would like to carry the same for the rest of the series,” De Villiers said.