South Africa Cricket team have added Aiden Markram, JP Duminy and Hashim Amla in the squad for the last two one-day internationals of the five-match series against Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, the hosts have already wrapped up the series, with a 71-run win in a rain-hit match in Durban on Sunday (March 10) to take a 3-0 lead in the series.
The veteran opener Hashim Amla returns to the squad after missing the first three fixtures. The selectors decided to give Amla some rest ahead of the ICC World Cup. Also, they wanted to see their reserve players ahead of the showpiece tournament in England and Wales. On the other hand, Aiden Markram has performed superbly in the domestic ODIs to pave his way to the national side. He has scored two big hundreds and a half-century for the Titans to impress the selectors.
Duminy regain fitness in time
On the other hand, JP Duminy, who has been out of international cricket since October 2018, has recovered in time to play some international cricket ahead of the World Cup. The veteran all-rounder even notched up a couple of half-centuries for Cape Cobras to test himself ahead of the world cup. Speaking about the combinations for the pinnacle tournament, selector Linda Zondi noted that they are trying to attain experience.
He also hailed JP Duminy for making a stunning comeback from injury. Linda also revealed their intentions clear that they are likely to try all their combinations in the last two games ahead of the World Cup.
“Experience is always a key factor in major tournaments such as the ICC Men’s World Cup,” said Linda Zondi, Cricket South Africa National Selection Panel Convener “It is great to see how well JP has regained his best form after being out of action for so long. JP, Aiden and Dwaine Pretorius have all made significant contributions to their franchises in recent matches.
“We will use the final two matches in the ODI series to continue to examine all the options that are available to us as far as the World Cup squad is concerned,” he added.
Meanwhile, South Africa have left out Reeza Hendricks and Wiaan Mulder from the squad as they have failed to make any impact in the first three games.