England sweating on Jonny Bairstow’s fitness as batsman injures ankle in Vitality Blast game

It was a bittersweet day for Yorkshire’s Jonny Bairstow on Wednesday as the opener, in the process of playing one of the best T20 knocks of the year, sustained an ankle injury. Opening the batting for Yorkshire in a Vitality Blast fixture against Worcestershire, Baristow took off, getting to his fifty off just 29 balls. 

However, moments after getting to the landmark, the 31-year-old suffered an ankle injury that had to be attended to. Worcestershire, post the injury, thought they could breathe a sigh of relief but that wasn’t to be as deploying Adam Lyth as a runner, Bairstow bludgeoned the bowlers all over the ground to post a stunning 112, his highest score of the season. 

But while Yorkshire ended up convincingly winning the game, by 94 runs, Bairstow’s injury could potentially spell disaster for England, who are set to play Sri Lanka in a three-match T20I series starting June 23. The Three Lions, last week, named a near full strength squad for the fixture, but Bairstow’s ankle injury could potentially render the explosive batsman unavailable for the three-match T20I series.

"His ankle has blown up. Hopefully it's not ligament damage,” ESPNCricinfo quoted Yorkshire coach Andrew Gale as saying.

England are already without the services of Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer, both of whom are recovering from injury, and an injury to Bairstow could severely hinder the Three Lions’ preparation for the World T20. Though Bairstow scored more than half his runs on Wednesday with the help of a runner, the right-hander batted only with his ankle heavily taped.