Faf du Plessis hopeful for Aaron Phangiso's return

Phangiso took 10 wickets in his six matches, including two four-wicket hauls, before he was ruled out in January and confirmed by the International Cricket Council after a re-test last week.

Speaking to the media after qualifying for the semi-finals of the inaugural tournament, du Plessis said they still had some questions about the process.

"It's unfortunate, obviously Phangi bowled for a long time with that action. I suppose now the question will now go back to the lead-up to this tournament why wasn't it picked up then, obviously you don't want stuff like that happening in the tournament. 

But he accepts that he needs to work on his action, and is busy with a rehabilitation process now", du Plessis claimed.

West Indian off-spinner Sunil Narine, who missed his team's World Twenty20 title win in 2015 for the same offence, was cleared to resume his career five months later. While South African Johan Botha was thoroughly tested for his bowling in 2009, before being given the green light.

Du Plessis is optimistic that 39-year-old Phangiso will recover from this as well.

“There's been a few guys that's gone through this process and come back to play again. So it'd be really nice, he's great in the dressing room, we love having him there and he's also a really good performer. So we're missing him, but hopefully, we can have him back”, he said. 

In 2016, Phangiso was reported for his bowling action during the Lions' semifinal win over the Warriors in the Momentum One Day Cup but was cleared after follow-up treatment.

He has been replaced by Western Province spinner Kyle Simmonds for the rest of the SA20.