Proteas bet Morné Morkel is fighting fit
Selectors gamble as the bowler returns from injury to face New Zealand in first Test in Dunedin
Dunedin — You could see it in Morné Morkel’s assurance as he walked out to the middle at University Oval in Dunedin on Monday‚ while Faf du Plessis confirmed it on Tuesday. "Morné’s back into the mix‚" Du Plessis said. That means SA will let fly with Morkel‚ Vernon Philander‚ Kagiso Rabada and left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj in the first Test against New Zealand on Wednesday. Their batting line-up remains unchanged. Morkel has been plagued by a lingering back injury and played his last Test against England in January 2016. Since then‚ and besides T20 stints in India and the Caribbean‚ he has played only six matches and only one of those was a first-class game. But SA were willing to gamble on the beanpole bazooka coming good in Dunedin. "If he’s not going to be able to play now, then we’ll never know if we don’t take that chance‚" Du Plessis said. "I’ve said to him over the last six months‚ every time that he’s bowled in the nets‚ it felt to me like he was bowling at his best. And I...
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