In a two-day tour match against a South Australia Cricket Association (SACA) XI at the Gliderol Stadium, which ended today in a draw, after SACA XI finished on 435/8 at stumps in response to the Proteas’ 489 all out, with Tim Ludeman named as the man-of-the-match following a sterling 167 off 134 balls for the hosts.
However, this match also saw, Proteas left-arm spinner, Keshav Maharaj showing an encouraging performance. The left-arm Spinner finished his 18 overs with figures of 3/59 on a sluggish and flat pitch.
South African Ace Medium Pacer Morne Morkel (2/67) also made a positive return from the injury induced break, and looked to be back to his rhythm. The team had rested Kagiso Rabada and Dale Steyn for the match, with the latter managing the workload of his right shoulder.
Speaking about the match, the left-arm spinner, Maharaj, said, “The scoreboard is not a reflection of what we have worked on.”
Visibly, not very happy with the pitch, he added further, “We went out with plans, the wicket wasn’t conducive, but we wanted to try and execute the plans that we would execute in the Test match to come. I wouldn’t worry too much about what we have seen today, we had a plan in mind and we executed as well as we can.”
Speaking about the preparation of the squad for the Commonwealth Bank Test series, he added, “It’s been a relatively good week. It’s nice to carry some momentum into the matches that are going to follow. The batsmen are looking in good shape, along with the bowlers, we are looking forward to getting to Perth and carrying on with our preparation.”
The Proteas travel to Perth on Saturday for the first match starting on November 3.