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Depleted South Africa wary of Ireland
- Updated: September 24, 2016
Summer time and the start is easy. Or so it would seem for South Africa.
The season proper kicks off on Sunday with a fixture against Ireland, a team South Africa have played only four times in the past and beaten on every occasion. What could possibly go wrong? Faf du Plessis, the stand-in captain, knows what.
“When you play a small nation, you’ve got everything to lose and they’ve got everything to gain,” he said. “They can play the perfect match and if you make a couple of mistakes, they beat you and that’s never something you want to do as a big nation.”
Without regular captain AB de Villiers, who is injured, regular opener Hashim Amla, who is awaiting the birth of his third child, and regulars in the bowling attack like Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Kyle Abbott, South Africa could be vulnerable. This means they may take the field with three debutants. They will definitely have one in Temba Bavuma, who has been asked to open the batting as South Africa look to develop him in that role for the future.
Not only is it a position that is fairly unknown to him, but it is also a …
