Hero CPL teams confirm changes for closing stages of tournament

With a number of South African internationals set to complete their Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) stints, the tournament organisers have confirmed a list of three replacement players for the remainder of the tournament.

Barbados Tridents duo AB de Villiers and Wayne Parnell, as well as Dale Steyn of the Jamaica Tallawahs, have been recalled by Cricket South Africa to fulfil a contractual obligation to attend the annual Cricket South Africa/South African Cricketers Association Awards ceremony, which takes place in Johannesburg.

Both de Villiers and Parnell made a winning contribution to the Tridents in their last game on Sunday night when they helped the home side defeat the St. Lucia Zouks by 25 runs. The duo will be replaced by Pakistan’s Ahmed Shehzad and Proteas fast bowler Marchant de Lange, respectively.

Shehzad is expected to link up with the Tridents squad ahead of their next game against Jamaica Tallawahs in Sabina Park on Wednesday and de Lange will be available from the St. Lucia leg.

Steyn, meanwhile, will feature in the Tallawahs’ final two home matches against Trinbago Knight Riders (Monday) and the Tridents (Wednesday) before being replaced by his compatriot Dane Paterson, who will be making his Hero CPL bow.

Shehzad, 24, previously played for the Tallawahs and is an experienced top order batsman having represented his country in 11 Tests, 75 One-Day Internationals and 44 T20 Internationals. In 140 T20 matches overall, the Lahore man has a strike rate of 126.05 and averages 29.13.

Capped four times at Test level for South Africa to date, 25-year-old de Lange previously featured for Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Hero CPL. He also has four ODIs and six T20 international games under his belt, and has claimed 53 wickets in 44 T20 first-class games to date.

Fast bowler Paterson, meanwhile, will link up with the Tallawahs later this week ahead of the St. Lucia leg of matches and he could come into the frame for the opening game of the Central Broward Stadium, Florida leg of matches.

Paterson, 27, has claimed 245 first-class wickets and boasts strong figures in the shortest format of the game, having taken 33 wickets at an economy rate of 6.79 in 32 games to date. (www.cplt20.com)

Photo caption: Marchant de Lange previously played for the Guyana Amazon Warriors