Vernon Philander backs South Africa's batsmen

Vernon Philander has claimed that South Africa's batting lineup will be key to their chances during this summer's Test series with England.

Despite South Africa's much lauded bowling attack, Philander believes that his batting teammates could be the key players.

The seamer said: "It's the team that's going to score the most runs at the end of the day [that will win the series] because both bowling attacks are fantastic.

"We have those batters that can pile on the runs. You look at the batting lineup and there's a lot of guys like AB [de Villiers] and Jacque Kallis that have been playing well of late. Everyone in our lineup knows their role and we bat all the way down from number one to eleven."

Philander has recently begun a spell with English side Somerset.