Maphaka earns maiden test call-up
It was only a matter of time before Kwena Maphaka pulled on the test whites for South Africa.
The Lions‘ left-arm fast bowler, a grade 12 learner from St Stithians College, has been handed a maiden test call-up for the second test against Sri Lanka in Gqeberha.
Maphaka cracked the nod in place of the injured Gerald Coetzee, who suffered a groin strain on the fourth day of the first test at Kingsmead in Durban, which South Africa won by 233 runs.
Maphaka’s inclusion comes in the same year as his record-breaking T20 debut, which saw him become the youngest South African player to don the green and gold at the age of 18 years and 137 days to improve the record previously held by fellow St Stithians‘ old boy, Kagiso Rabada, the long-time spearhead of the Proteas’ test bowling line-up, who debuted at the age of 19.
Maphaka doesn’t have a lot of red-ball experience. That’s an understatement. He has, in fact, played only one first-class game for the Lions, against the Warriors, at The Wanderers. He must have, however, impressed the red-ball coach, Shukri Conrad, and the selectors enough, with returns of 3/24 in the first innings and 3/54 in the second innings to help the Lions to a comfortable 200-run victory.
Conrad is no stranger when it comes to guiding youngsters out of their comfort zone. Although the young quick might be on drinks duty only during the second test, to get a feel for the test set-up, the possibility exists that he could make his test debut in a partnership with Saints’ Old Boy, Rabada.
The second test starts on 5 December and will be played at St George’s Park in Gqerberha, where test victories have been hard to come by for the hosts.
South Africa’s last test victory at the venue was back in 2022 when they thumped Bangladesh with 322 runs. Before that, they tasted success four years earlier in the “Sandpapergate” series against Australia, winning by six wickets.
