Proteas bowling coach showers praise on Vernon Philander

All-rounder Vernon Philander has been a crown jewel for the Proteas, in the recently concluded second Test between South Africa and England at Trent Bridge. Showering praise on the feisty cricketer, bowling coach of the South African team, Charl Langeveldt called him “the guy that normally steps up” in the team. The third Test between England and South Africa is set to start on Thursday, July 27.

The 32-year old all-rounder is famed for both his ability to contribute significantly to the team’s total with his batting as well as his impeccable skill of moving the ball both ways at a sharp pace. Ever since his initiation into the Test team in 2011, Philander has slowly and steadily bettered his game and is currently regarded as one of the “valuable” assets for the Proteas. After his brilliant performance in the second Test against England, with both the bat and the ball, Philander’s also been elevated to the 9th ranking on the ICC Test bowling charts.

Coach lauds Philander for his performance

Proteas bowling coach, Charl Langeveldt was all praises for right-arm pacer as he told the reporters in London on Monday, “Vern is always ready. When we need to go to a guy and say that we need to bring the run-rate down and we need someone to hold up the end – he is the guy that normally steps up for me. In that sense, people don’t realise his value (to the team). In the bowling attack where we need two strike bowlers with an option of a third one – he holds us together.”

South Africa had to face a thrashing defeat in the first Test against England at Lord’s, as they lost the game by a huge margin of 211 runs. However, in the second match, Vernon Philander stepped on the gas pedal and performed to the best of his ability in both batting and bowling departments, to get his team over the line.

He scored important knocks of 54 and 42 with the bat and picked up five wickets, with best bowling figures of 3/24 England were able to put up a meagre total of 133 in their second innings. Subsequently, he was also awarded the Man of the Match award for his impressive show of skill and technique.