Keeping it simple brings Philander fame
Posted on
December 15, 2011 by
Ken
Vernon Philander continued to make one of the most famous introductions into test cricket at Centurion on Thursday as he completed his third five-wicket haul in his first three tests for South Africa.
Thanks to Philander’s five for 53, South Africa bowled Sri Lanka out for just 180 on the first day of the first test, the 26-year-old continuing in the same vein as his debut series against Australia last month, when he took 14 wickets in two tests.
The seamer is the first South African to take three five-wicket hauls in his first three tests.
Philander is not altogether new to South Africa’s national team, having played seven ODIs and seven Pro20 matches between 2007 and 2008, but he was considered ill-equipped mentally and physically for the rigours of international cricket and dropped.
Since then, Philander has taken 151 first-class wickets at an average of just 17.80 to suggest his omission was ill-judged.
“I just try to keep it as simple as possible. There was a bit of assistance there today and I tried to exploit it,” Philander told a news conference after the first day’s play at Centurion on Thursday.
“For me, I just tried to bowl as if it was a flat pitch. Sometimes you get on a greentop and you think you should bowl bouncer, bouncer, yorker and then bowl the middle stump out. But the assistance is there, why try to bowl any differently?”
Philander, who was educated at Ravensmead Secondary School in Cape Town, came through South Africa’s powerful junior cricket programme, representing Western Province Schools for three years (2001-2003) and SA Schools in 2002 and 2003.
He is also a hard-hitting lower-order batsman who has scored two first-class centuries and averages 27.13 with the bat. Philander is also in talks with Somerset to represent them at the start of next summer.
“It’s not finalised yet, but the talks are in final stages. It will be nice to experience their wickets before South Africa tour England next year,” he said.
South Africa ended the first day of the test on 90 for one, just 90 runs behind, however Philander believes they still have work to do in order to take charge of the game.
“Tomorrow morning there’ll still be something in the pitch and a lot depends on the overhead conditions. Obviously we hope the sun is out so it flattens the pitch. We still need to bat well and get through that initial patch,” Philander said.
The Sri Lankans, according to wicketkeeper/batsman Kaushal Silva, are rueing the pre-tea collapse that saw them lose their last six wickets for 24 runs in 5.1 overs.
“It was a hard task for us after losing the toss, especially with the kind of bowlers South Africa have and the pitch, but we did okay in the first two hours. It was only after the water break in the second session, when we lost three wickets in quick succession, that the game really turned.
“The way Jayawardena and Samaraweera were batting, we were planning a score of 250-300 which would have been competitive,” Silva, who was the first-ball victim of a contentious caught behind decision on review, said.