Ryan Rickleton will come in for Rassie van der Dussen in the third and final Test against England at the Oval on Thursday at (12pm).
Van der Dussen suffered a broken finger as England repaid South Africa for the innings and 12-run first Test defeat, with an innings and 85-run humbling at Old Trafford to set up the decider.
With their middle-order struggling so far in the series, captain Dean Elgar is convinced that the left-handed Rickleton, 26, can staan Van der Dussen’s skoene vol.
He says of Rickleton, who has only played in two Tests to date: “ I’m confident in his ability -to step up]
“This is his time to shine.”
Elgar hints that Rickleton won’t be the only change to the team, saying: “It’s been quite a few days off and we had a lot of thinking and tough decisions are being made.
“I’m sure there will be one or two two extra changes that we will enforce for the next Test, but I’m confident in the guys that will be given an opportunity.
“This is a big Test, everyone is raring to go.”
Rain is predicted at the Oval on Friday and Saturday, but despite the wet weather Elgar is confident that there will be a winner at the end of the contest.
He says: “There’s definitely gonna be a winner in this Test, no doubt. Weather, we can’t control that, but I’m pretty confident there will be a victor and someone losing this Test.
“It’s pretty much like a World Cup final for us, that’s how I’m viewing it and we’re going in with the result in mind and we’ve got to give our best effort for that.
“We can’t control the weather, but I’m pretty confident there will be a result for this game.”
dudley.castens@inl.co.za