Bulawayo: South Africa have decided to rest batsman Hashim Amla for the dead rubber ODI against Zimbabwe on Thursday, having wrapped up the series with heavy wins in the first and second games.
Amla, who led the Test team to 1-0 series win in Sri Lanka recently, in his first assignment as captain after the retirement of Graeme Smith, has now been given a few days off before the team competes in the tri-series next week, also featuring Australia. Amla scored unbeaten 122 in the first ODI against Zimbabwe and 15 on Tuesday.
“He has played a lot of cricket and scored a lot of runs, so it will be a good opportunity for him to take some time off for one game and get him back here for the tri-series nice and fresh,” said South Africa’s ODI captain AB de Villiers.
This now opened up a chance for the likes of Rilee Rossouw, Mthokozisi Shezi and Marchant de Lange, who are yet to receive game time in the series.
Reflecting on South Africa’s 61-run win in the second ODI at Bulawayo’s Queens Sport Club, de Villiers said: “It wasn’t a bad batting performance considering that our top order didn’t score a lot of runs. The fact that Wayne Parnell and some of the middle order and tail chipped in a lot was pleasing. It shows that there is a lot of depth in the batting order.”
