Philander ready for Pakistan

South Africa seamer Vernon Philander is ready for the series against Pakistan recovering from the hamstring injury that ruled him out of the final home Test against New Zealand.

Batsman Dean Elgar has kept his place in the absence of the injured JP Duminy, with Robin Peterson again the only specialist spinner in the 13-man party - and fast bowler Rory Kleinvedlt and the left-handed Jacques Rudolph retained.

"We have given a full vote of confidence to the squad of 13 that did duty in the recent series against New Zealand. Rory and Jacques will again provide the bowling and batting cover if necessary. At the moment there are no injury concerns," said convener of selectors Andrew Hudson.

"We are very happy with the job that Rory did against New Zealand when Vernon dropped out, while Jacques provides us with a lot of experience as the cover batsman. We have quite a few inexperienced batsmen in our top order and we feel that a bit of extra experience will be useful should the need arise."

South Africa secured the number one Test ranking in England last year, and later defended their title in Australia. They have since whitewashed New Zealand two-nil - and will face Pakistan in three matches. The series opener gets underway in Johannesburg on 1 February. Cape Town and Centurion will host fixtures two and three respectively.

SQUAD:

Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Jacques Kallis, Rory Kleinveldt, Morne Morkel, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Jacques Rudolph, Dale Steyn.

Posted in: cricket news, South Africa