Philander continues impressive test introduction
Keeping it simple in seamer-friendly conditions again paid dividends
for South Africa's Vernon Philander who continued his impressive impact
in tests with another five-wicket haul on Thursday.
The 26-year-old rocked Sri Lanka with figures of five for 53 on the
opening day of the first test - his third five-wicket haul in his first
three tests.
Philander took 14 wickets in two tests in his debut series against
Australia last month and produced another impressive display as Sri
Lanka were skittled for just 180 at Centurion.
"I just try to keep it as simple as possible. There was a bit of
assistance there today and I tried to exploit it," Philander told a news
conference.
"For me, I just tried to bowl as if it was a flat pitch. Sometimes
you get on a greentop and you think you should bowl bouncer, bouncer,
yorker and then bowl the middle stump out.
But the assistance is there, why try to bowl any differently?"
Philander is not new to South Africa's national team, having played
seven ODIs and seven Pro20 matches between 2007 and 2008, but he was
considered ill-equipped mentally and physically for the rigours of
international cricket and dropped.
Since then, Philander has taken 151 first-class wickets at an average
of just 17.80 to suggest his omission was ill-judged.
He is also a hard-hitting lower-order batsman who has scored two
first-class centuries and averages 27.13 with the bat.
South Africa trail Sri Lanka by just 90 runs after reaching 90 for
the loss of just captain Graeme Smith at the close, but Philander
believes the hosts still have work to do in order to take charge of the
game.
"Tomorrow morning there'll still be something in the pitch and a lot
depends on the overhead conditions. Obviously we hope the sun is out so
it flattens the pitch. We still need to bat well and get through that
initial patch," he said. CENTURION, Friday, Reuters |