Hashim Amla rested for third ODI against Zimbabwe

South Africa's key batsman, Hashim Amla, has been rested for the third ODI to be played against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo on Thursday. South Africa have already won the ODI series by winning the first two games of the three-match series.

Amla though, will play in the tri-series that involves Australia, besides the hosts, Zimbabwe. The tri-series starts on August 27. With Amla being rested, it opens the door for Rilee Rossouw to play for South Africa in the third ODI.

SuperSport reported that AB de Villiers agreed with the decision to give Amla a rest. He said, "He has played a lot of cricket and scored a lot of runs, so it will be a good opportunity for him to take some time off for one game and get him back here for the tri-series nice and fresh."

De Villiers, also heaped praise on South Africa's bench strength by saying, "It wasn't a bad batting performance considering that our top order didn't score a lot of runs. The fact that Wayne Parnell and some of the middle order and tail chipped in a lot was pleasing. It shows that there is a lot of depth in the batting order."