Proteas bowlers get good work out in tour match
The South Africa bowlers were given the perfect workout on the first day of their two-day warm-up match against a Board President's XI in Mumbai on Friday.
The overs were distributed amongst all of the bowlers in the squad, with seamers Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander showing impressive early-series form with movement off the deck and through the air.
Steyn finished with figures of three for in 13 overs and Philander with two for 37 in 12 overs. The outing was also a valuable experience for wicket-keeper batsman, Dane Vilas, who took three catches in tricky keeping conditions and had good exposure of the way the SG ball will play in the sub-continent conditions.
Vilas said: "The bowlers wanted to get a good run and to get some overs under their belt. Bowling with the white ball is a lot different to the red.
"It's also good for the guys joining up with the squad to take a few balls and to get a run around. A match situation is a lot different to practice so it's been very good.
"It was quite difficult at a stage. It was tough when Morne (Morkel) and KG (Rabada) were hitting the deck, they are guys who don't normally swing it like Dale or Vernon.
"It was difficult when the lacquer started coming off the ball after the 15th over but it was good to experience those sort of conditions."
The Proteas play the first Test against India in Mohali, starting on 5 November.
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