De Kock okay with the mix

Proteas captain Quinton de Kock ( below) has been deprived of some key players that could have made a difference in the T20 series against England that has now been lost, but he is adamant that the players who have come in are good enough to have got the job done and he is not looking for any excuses.

The Proteas have been without the services of two key all-rounders in Andile Phehlukwayo, who is in Covid quarantine, and Dwaine Pretorius, who strained his hamstring just before the series started.

Phehlukwayo’s Dolphins teammate David Miller is also still in quarantine and the experienced finisher’s absence has also been felt.

“We don’t have all the options we’d like but we just have to deal with it and hope for the best in the last T20 on Tuesday night (tonight). Andile and David aren’t up to scratch yet but they will be ready for the ODIs. It has been difficult not having a specialist all-rounder, although George Linde has done well. But unfortunately Dwaine got injured at just the wrong time with Andile in quarantine, and it’s not as easy as just flying someone in because they also have to quarantine.

“I know everyone is talking about the sixth bowler, but we haven’t really needed one – in both games it was just one over that did the damage. And that was largely down to the situation, England had to have a go and they really played it well. Jonny Bairstow played an unbelievable knock and was hitting wide yorkers that were just one centimetre off to the boundary. It would be nice to have all those guys available, but the other guys coming in can do the job as well,” De Kock said.

The likes of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje have both excelled at the IPL and De Kock said not much needs to change as South Africa go after a face-saving win at Newlands tonight.