Captain Faf du Plessis has confirmed batsman Temba Bavuma will return to South Africa's XI for this week's fourth and final Test against England at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.
Bavuma missed the series opener in Centurion due to injury. He then returned to fitness, but was not selected for the second or third Test in Cape Town or Port Elizabeth, respectively. Bet365 have South Africa and England priced at 4.00 and 1.83, respectively, to win the fourth Test.
In the meantime, he hit a big century in the 4-Day Domestic Series for the Lions. The 180 against the Dolphins at the City Oval in Pietermaritzburg marked the highest score of Bavuma's first-class career.
He will likely return to the XI at the expense of the young Zubayr Hamza. The in-form Rassie van der Dussen, though, will bat in third position in the order – and Bavuma four or five.
What du Plessis said about Bavuma
“I can tell you that Temba is back in the side,” said du Plessis.
“The rest, we are still waiting to see what the weather does. We don't have 100 percent clarity on that yet, but that is the one thing that is definite.”
England lead the series two-one. They lost the first Test at SuperSport Park before winning the second at Newlands and third at St George's Park.
“When you're deep in a series already, the extra time in the nets is not going to make much difference. The challenge for us as a team is how strong we are mentally,” added du Plessis.
“We know where we have been poor in our gameplans. We haven't scored enough runs in our first innings and that's a basic of Test cricket.”
The hosts will be without fast bowler Kagiso Rabada in Johannesburg. He has been suspended by the International Cricket Council after an inappropriate celebration of England batsman Joe Root's dismissal at St George's Park. He will likely be replaced in the XI by left-arm seamer Beuaran Hendricks or all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo.
This will be the veteran Vernon Philander's last Test. He is retiring from international cricket after this series. Philander will then join Somerset on a Kolpak contract in English county cricket.
England, meanwhile, will likely return fast bowler Jofra Archer to the XI. He has recovered from an elbow injury.
