Ken Borland

It was the most unusual and bittersweet of Test debuts for Khaya Zondo on Monday morning as the second Test between South Africa and Bangladesh resumed at St George’s Park.

The 32-year-old Zondo was brought into the Proteas Test team for the first time on the fourth day of the match as a like-for-like Covid replacement for opening batsman Sarel Erwee.

Erwee and all-rounder Wiaan Mulder were feeling unwell on Monday morning, and tested positive for Covid, meaning they had to be withdrawn from the match. Under the ICC regulations, they are allowed to be fully substituted for the remainder of the game.

That means Glenton Stuurman, who made his Test debut in New Zealand in February, is allowed to bowl in place of Mulder. But because South Africa have already had both their innings in the match, there will no batting for the less fortunate Zondo.

One hopes that Zondo’s Test career does go further and he does not become one of those unlucky cricketers who play just one Test and do not bat or bowl.

The KZN Dolphins batsman has been prolific in first-class cricket this season, averaging 73.50. Having made two centuries in 2020/21, he went a step further this summer, notching his maiden double-century, 203 not out against Western Province at Newlands at the end of October.

The Proteas are always a bit hesitant about what they will find on the opening morning of a Test at Kingsmead and they will go into the first Test against Bangladesh starting in Durban on Thursday with even more uncertainty as a newly relaid pitch will be used for the match.

South Africa have lost seven of their last 10 Tests at Kingsmead, dating back to 2008, with just two wins and a rain-ruined draw against New Zealand in 2016. Their last Test there was the infamous one-wicket loss to Sri Lanka in 2019.

The Proteas have seldom found the sluggish pitch to their liking, their bowlers struggling to drag much life out of it, and their strokeplayers also unsure of themselves. The home side was happy to see a fair covering of grass on the wicket on Wednesday, but it was of a hue that left even KZN Dolphins star Keshav Maharaj confused as to how it might behave.

“It’s difficult to know how the pitch will play because we have not seen this colour of grass here before,” left-arm spinner Maharaj said on Wednesday. “It is a newly relaid surface and it is difficult to read.

“From my point of view, I hope it does spin of course. We’re expecting it to be a good four-day pitch and I’m sure there will be some thought of playing double spinners.

“I’ve never played a match with Simon Harmer, so I will be really excited if he does get the opportunity. He’s been an exceptional performer at domestic and franchise level, and he’s followed that up this season.

“He’s also done well when he played international cricket,” Maharaj said of the off-spinner who took 20 wickets in the five Tests he played up to 2015 before his Kolpak departure, at an average of 29.40.

With some new faces in line to take the place of the players unavailable because they are at the IPL, Maharaj is expecting the Proteas to play with great energy as they look to win their first Test at Kingsmead since 2013, when Jacques Kallis signed off his Test career with a memorable century against India.

“We’ve had a phenomenal year since touring the West Indies. Yes, there have been some lows, and the ODI loss to Bangladesh has hurt, but this is a different unit and hopefully we can carry the confidence from the Test series against India,” Maharaj said.

“This team has come a long way, we make training uncomfortable to try emulate what we will come across in terms of conditions, and we are ready to turn the tide at Kingsmead.

“There’s a new buzz in the camp because there are a lot of youngsters, hopefully those new faces help us start on the front foot because it will be difficult in a two-Test series if we make a slow start,” Maharaj said.

The withdrawal of batsman Zubayr Hamza from both the Proteas ODI and Test squads playing against Bangladesh was explained on Wednesday when the 26-year-old was revealed to have failed an ICC anti-doping test.

Hamza tested positive for Furosemide, a diuretic which can be used to get rid of performance-enhancing drugs. But while any use of prohibited substances is an icky look for a sportsman, Hamza, according to informed sources, is hopeful that he will be able to avoid getting it in the neck from the ICC by proving his ingestion of the substance was inadvertent.

New guidelines issued by the World Anti-Doping Agency last year have also downgraded the severity of diuretics and if their concentration in the body is less than 20ng/ml then no sanction is necessary.

According to Cricket South Africa’s statement released on Wednesday, Hamza has been able to say exactly how the substance entered his body and has accepted a voluntary suspension until he is able to prove the source of his positive test and his inadvertent use of Furosemide, which is also widely used to increase water loss from the body.

The worst-case scenario for prohibited use of Furosemide is a two-year ban, but Hamza’s representatives are believed to be hopeful that his punishment will be nowhere near as severe.

It is, however, another kick in the shins for one of the country’s most promising batsmen, who has only just returned to the national squad after a slump in form.

Kyle Verreynne spent so long worming his way into the Proteas batting line-up and has now scored a Test century and averages 45 in ODIs with four fifties in nine innings, so it is unfortunate that his place is still not secure, depending on the permutations of the bowling attack, as South Africa go into the decisive third ODI against Bangladesh at Centurion on Wednesday.

Verreynne finished off the chase with aplomb in the second ODI at the Wanderers with a polished 58 not out, but the hamstring injury that has ruled Wayne Parnell out of the deciding match means the reserve wicketkeeper and in-form batsman might still miss out at SuperSport Park.

South Africa’s bowlers were not able to make early inroads into the Bangladesh batting in the first ODI at Centurion, as the tourists turned an opening stand of 95 into a record total of 314/7. All-rounder Parnell was brought into the attack at the Wanderers to provide more venom and took a wicket in his second over, before leaving the field in his next over.

But the Proteas also only fielded five bowlers in the second ODI, which left them vulnerable. So Parnell may in effect be replaced on Wednesday by two bowlers, meaning a specialist batsman has to go.

“As we saw at the Wanderers, having just five bowlers can prove costly,” Verreynne conceded on Tuesday, “and if we play a sixth bowler then more often than not it’s me who will miss out.

“I understand that. So it is quite difficult to get a fixed position and cement my spot. It’s about being adaptable and able to bat in any spot. I need to be ready to play in the middle-order or at the top.

“I think I’ve shown that ability, but our batting line-up is very strong. But that hundred in the Test in New Zealand has done wonders for me and I feel more comfortable now at international level,” Verreynne said.

The 24-year-old said the stellar performances of Kagiso Rabada (5/39) and Quinton de Kock (62 off 41) in winning at the Wanderers and levelling the series showed that the IPL players in the squad are still fully focused on winning the series despite their imminent departure for India that will see them miss the Tests in Durban and Gqeberha.

“I don’t think there has ever been any question over their commitment to the Proteas,” Verreynne said.

“Obviously they’re going to miss some international cricket when the IPL is on, but I certainly feel they are fully committed to their duty to the country and their minds are not in any other space.

“In the last ODI, KG and Quinny’s performances were particularly good and they showed their full focus is on making sure we win the ODI series,” Verreynne said.