Boland retained in Australia’s team, South Africa will try to level the series

Australia has retained last year’s ‘Boxing Day’ Test match hero Scott Boland in the squad for the second Test cricket match against South Africa to be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground from Monday. Boland, who made his Test debut in December last year, has been preferred over Josh Hazlewood. Hazlewood is currently recovering from a hamstring injury. Captain Pat Cummins confirmed that Australia will take the field with the same XI that won the first Test in Brisbane by six wickets inside two days.

Cummins said, “We gave Josh a full chance but he himself felt that it was not right to return now and so he distanced himself from the selection.” Boland has so far taken 25 wickets in five Tests at an average of 10.36. are taken Last year, he took six wickets for seven runs on his Test debut here to help Australia retain the Ashes. Boland was named man of the match in that match. Australia will look to win the home Test series for the first time since 2005-06 against South Africa by winning the second Test here.

South Africa, on the other hand, would be eyeing to level the series. The third and final Test match will be played in Sydney from January 4. Veteran opener David Warner will become the 14th cricketer to play 100 Test matches for Australia. The left-handed batsman will look to get back to form in this particular match. He has not scored a century in Test cricket in January 2020. South African captain Dean Elgar confirmed that there would be at least one change in the squad but did not specify which players would be dropped. The first Test match in Brisbane lasted only two days after which the International Cricket Council rated Gaba’s wicket as below average. Elgar is confident that the Melbourne Cricket Ground wicket will be better and help the batsmen as well.