Pieter Malan to make South Africa debut, Bavuma axed from squad

Opening batsman Pieter Malan will get his first taste of Test cricket against England at Newlands in the absence of Aiden Markram.

South Africa batsman Pieter Malan

Pieter Malan will make his South Africa debut in the second Test against England, while Temba Bavuma has been dropped from the squad and challenged to score a "weight of runs" to earn a recall.

Malan will open the batting with Dean Elgar at Newlands after Aiden Markram was ruled out of the rest of the four-match series with a broken finger.

That is the only change to a Proteas side that won the first Test at Centurion, where Bavuma missed out on a 40th appearance in the longest format.

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South Africa captain Faf du Plessis says his fellow batsman must pile on the runs to have any chance of forcing his way back into the team, with Rassie van der Dussen keeping his place.

Du Plessis said: "Temba is on board. Something we are trying to achieve as a batting unit is to raise our standards a little bit higher, push our performances from a runs point of view. He is on board with the process to try and get guys to score big runs.

"If you're not finding yourself starting now, it's about weight of runs. Temba was injured before the start of the series but it was a talking point even before the series - whose positions do we need to make sure there is more competition for?

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"It's about finding guys that are knocking on the door all the time to push us to a level where we can take this batting line-up to win games of cricket consistently.

"Temba will be the first to say that his performance over the last while wasn't where it needed to be. Weight of runs would be the way back into the team, like it would for anyone."

Du Plessis says Van der Dussen earned another opportunity after making a half-century on his debut in the first Test.

"We feel it's the right thing to do to stick with Rassie," the skipper added ahead of the second Test, which starts on Friday.

"As a player, you feel like you get a bit confidence when you get an extended run - runs or no runs. Luckily he scored some runs in the first Test.

"A big part of international cricket is the mental aspect of belonging. Rassie has got a real composure to him and a presence when he bats. He ticks all the right boxes."