Philander well over the injury blues
Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn had very little opportunity to have a decent go at the much vaunted New Zealand batting line-up in the first Test in Durban, as the match fizzled away into a draw due to a water-logged outfield.
That effectively makes this week's second Test, starting on Saturday at SuperSport Park, a once-off shootout following the Kingsmead debacle.
Only four sessions of play were possible at Kingsmead, with the Kiwis stuck on 15/2 in reply to the hosts' first dig of 263.
That would tell you that the visitors suffered two early casualties, with Steyn left to admire his handiwork after nipping out Tom Latham and Martin Guptill cheaply, with figures of 2/3 in six overs.
Similarly, his strike partner Philander bowled pretty tidily, kept the pressure on at the other end with a return of 0/12 in six overs and was just as menacing on a well-grassed Kingsmead surface.
The chances of rain or inclement weather disrupting the second Test are more than slim and Philander and Steyn will be raring to fire on all cylinders.
Philander has been recalled to the Test arena after a frustrating layoff due to an ankle injury, but has had a busy off-season playing for South Africa A during the winter months.
"My rhythm feels good. I had a lot of cricket in the off-season in Zimbabwe and Australia and got some decent overs under my belt," said Philander.
"It's all about the mindset now and how my ankle is going to hold up. But thankfully it's holding up pretty well. I needed to play those couple of games just to get the mental edge back after injury," added the strapping fast bowler.
"One gets scared when these things happen and you are not part of the set-up and a degree of doubt starts setting in. I may have tried to come back a little too quickly after six weeks to two months. But I have had adequate time to strengthen my ankle and I'm really excited to be playing again."
Historically, the SuperSport Park deck traditionally offers a fair deal to the pace bowlers initially and tends to settle down, offering a good contest between bat and ball, but cricket isn't played very frequently on the highveld during the winter months.
"We don't traditionally play here at this time of the year, so I guess we'll have to see what the net sessions are like and tap into some of the locals' knowledge," said Philander.
"Playing at Centurion we have had a good deal of success in the past, but I reckon there should be a fair bit in there for the seamers. I'm looking forward to it," concluded Philander
Play gets underway at 10.00am on Saturday.