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Cape Town - Wicketkeeper/batsman Dane Vilas is set to make his debut for South Africa in the second Test against Bangladesh starting in Mirpur on Thursday.
The 30-year-old becomes the 87th Test cap for South Africa and replaces Quinton de Kock in the line-up.
Vilas has played one international match for South Africa, a one-off T20 against India at the Wanderers Stadium in 2012.
His will be the sixth cap awarded in the last 18 months of Test cricket, as the selectors continue to mould a new-look squad in transition.
Proteas captain Hashim Amla admitted to the media on Wednesday afternoon that his team hasn’t played to their full potential and says they will be looking to finish off the tour with an improved performance.
“We are here to win,” Amla said at the pre-match press conference.
“We started well in the first two sessions of the last Test match and kind of drifted a bit in two days after that. Everybody is really excited for this match, we managed to get a few training sessions in although there was rain around; the weather looks good so hopefully we get a full five days in. We haven’t shown our full array as yet and it will be great if we can hit our straps from the start.”
Bangladesh have played 13 matches at the Sher-e Bangla National Cricket Stadium. They have lost 10 and drawn 2, with their only win coming against Zimbabwe last year. Although the Mirpur pitch is expected to offer a bit more bounce to the seamers, Amla believes it will still be important to focus on the basics.
“The most important thing is to assess in the first session how the wicket is playing,” Amla said.
“The gentleman mentioned earlier that the wicket might have a little bit of bounce but things always change. Whenever we do bowl it will be important to assess quickly and try to apply it, we will only know when the game starts.”
