Tait back with a vengeance
12/01/2009 7:29 AM
David Warner was not the only positive for Australia on Sunday night as Shaun Tait made his return to international cricket against South Africa.
Playing his first game for Australia in nearly a year, Tait, though overshadowed by Warner's heroics, showed he was still one of the fastest bowlers in the world in a spell which impressed captain Ricky Ponting.
Tait was intimidating in his first over, regularly reaching the mid 150km/h mark.
His pace was too much for AB de Villiers, who fell onto his wickets after being struck on the hip by Tait.
"The first ball he bowled to (Jacques) Kallis was 152(km/h), bouncing right on the button," Ponting said.
"Any batsman, that's probably the last delivery you want first-up."
"Someone like that setting the scene at the top of the bowling innings for us was backing up what Dave did with the bat so we started both our innings really well."
Ponting said David Hussey's effort to take 3-25 during the middle stages was another positive for the home side.
De Villiers has a 'badly bruised hip', according to team management.
"We can only really assess it in the morning but we seem to think he can recover quite quickly," a Proteas spokesperson said.