De Lange praised for seizing his opportunity
Posted on
December 26, 2011 by
Ken
Veteran South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis on Monday praised debutant fast bowler Marchant de Lange for seizing his opportunity on the first day of the second test against Sri Lanka at Kingsmead.
De Lange claimed four for 60 to reduce Sri Lanka to 289 for seven at stumps, having earned his first cap due to a knee injury that ruled out Vernon Philander, who took 24 wickets in his first three tests against Australia and Sri Lanka.
“Marchant did well, he was on the button from ball one. The injury to Vernon was unfortunate, but that opens the door for someone else. The opportunity was there for Marchant and he took it. It’s nice to have another 145km/h bowler around,” Kallis told a news conference after the end of play.
The 21-year-old De Lange hails from the quiet sub-tropical town of Tzaneen in the far north of South Africa and has played just 14 other first-class matches.
Sri Lanka coach Geoff Marsh was pleased with a more solid batting display by his team, who were dismissed for just 180 and 150 in the first test at Centurion.
“We kept being all out for less than 200 in our first innings, it happened against Australia, Pakistan and here. It was something we had to address, the batsmen had to work on their technique, how they approached their innings and their thinking out in the middle. They all have very good records, so we should be getting 300+,” Marsh said.
“But the batsmen have been working really hard and focusing on all aspects of batting. One guy went on to get a big score today and we’re around 300, which is where we have to be to be competitive. It was a bit of a breakthrough today.”
Thilan Samaraweera scored 86 not out as he and debutant Dinesh Chandimal (58) put on 111 for the sixth wicket.
“I’m really pleased with Thilan, he’s played well on this tour and it’s great to have a quality player like him on board.
“And Dinesh has done very well for us in one-day cricket, he’s worked really hard and he can come in and give us some oomph at number seven. He has all the shots and he’s not afraid of playing them. I hope it’s the start of a good career,” Marsh said.