De Kock out, Proteas bowl first
The Proteas will field first and AB de Villiers will be the wicket-keeper in the first T20 international against England at Newlands.
|||Cape Town - The Proteas will field first and AB de Villiers will be the wicket-keeper in Friday’s first T20 international against England at Newlands after Quinton de Kock withdrew due to a knee “niggle”.
South African captain Faf du Plessis won the toss under grey skies at Newlands and called correctly, and would not have hesitated to bowl first after intermittent rain fell throughout the day and even delayed the women’s T20 international between South Africa and England at the same venue.
Proteas coach Russell Domingo and his fellow selectors opted for five front-line bowlers once more, which means that specialist batsman Farhaan Behardien misses out on selection.
His inability to clear the boundary ropes probably counted against the Titans finisher, with big-hitters Rilee Rossouw and David Miller lining up at number five and six in the middle-order.
It is believed that De Kock is feeling some pain in one of his knees, and it was decided not to risk him, especially with the ICC World T20 on the horizon next month.
Read: No T20 rest for regulars
De Villiers is an excellent gloveman anyway, and fulfilled that role in South Africa’s last T20 series in India last October, when De Kock was left out. The Proteas won that series 2-0.
De Villiers will also continue to open the batting alongside Hashim Amla, with Du Plessis coming in at number three.
England have stuck with more or less the same team that played in the 3-2 ODI series defeat, but Stuart Broad misses out to Chris Jordan in the bowling line-up.
*Follow @IndyCapeSport on Twitter for live updates of the first T20 international at Newlands, which starts at 6pm.
Teams for Newlands
South Africa: Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers (wk), Faf du Plessis (captain), JP Duminy, Rilee Rossouw, David Miller, David Wiese, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Kyle Abbott, Imran Tahir.
England: Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (captain), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Reece Topley.
ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za
@IndyCapeSport
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