Amla won't commit to van Zyl or Piedt yet

Batsman Stiaan van Zyl and spin bowler Dane Piedt's participation remained in the balance 24 hours prior to the start of South Africa's one-off Test against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Saturday.

Batsman Stiaan van Zyl and spin bowler Dane Piedt's participation remained in the balance 24 hours prior to the start of South Africa's one-off Test against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club.

The Proteas have retained the same squad that secured a one-nil series win over Sri Lanka recently – and might name an unchanged XI for the sole fixture at the Harare Sports Club.

Van Zyl and Piedt, however, will likely be afforded debuts against opposition eight positions South Africa's inferior in the International Cricket Council Test rankings. The left-handed van Zyl could be trialed at three in the batting order, while the burgeoning Piedt would be an adequate replacement for the out-of-form Imran Tahir.

"We have a few games left this season, so it's important for us to find the right formula whilst keeping a winning culture. We do want to keep some momentum, but whether we will play the same XI we are not 100 percent sure yet," said captain Hashim Amla. "We will probably make the decision after practice.

"It is a little bit different to playing top teams, but there is a different type of pressure. You have to respect the game and respect the opposition. This team has done that well over the years. I don't think we will treat it any differently."

Amla heralded the Proteas' willingness to share knowledge and experience with the Zimbabweans, who have named the uncapped the uncapped Cuthbert Musoko, John Nyumbu and Donald Tiripano in a relatively new-look squad, which has also brought a recall for batsman Mark Vermeulen.

"If anybody walks up to our players they will be willing to share their experience and to contribute as much as possible. Just the other day at the nets we had a lot of the net bowlers coming up to Dale Steyn and picking his brain. It's not just in Zimbabwe, anywhere in the world, the quality players in our team are always open to sharing knowledge," he added.

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