Proteas tick boxes in pink ball warm-up

The Standard Bank Proteas have managed to tick all of the boxes of their pink ball preparation in the drawn two-day tour match against a Cricket Australia XI (CA XI) at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday. The batsmen all managed a decent hit-out during the two batting innings’, while the bowlers ticked over 30 overs in the match and 25 more in an inter-squad bowl after the match to give the squad a solid workout in their first trial of day-night cricket.The fast bowlers looked ominous against a young CA XI batting line-up, combining raw pace and swing bowling skills to skittle the home team out for 103, 312 runs behind South Africa’s first innings score. The wickets were shared amongst the attack, with Dale Steyn (2/9), Vernon Philander (2/13), Kagiso Rabada (2/28), Kyle Abbott (2/16) and Morne Morkel (2/27) showing encouraging pre-series form. Rilee Rossouw top-scored with 77 off 84 balls in the second innings before retiring out, with the rest of the batsmen all having an opportunity under lights before the match was called.The focus moves on to the most relevant part of the series, the traditional red ball cricket and preparation for the first Test starting in Perth in 10 days. The Proteas play a two-day warm-up match against a South Australia Cricket Association (SACA) XI starting on Thursday, and will look to build up their intensity and skills leading up to the Test match.