SL vs SA | Temba Bavuma ruled out of the white-ball series against Sri Lanka

09/03/2021

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South Africa skipper, Temba Bavuma has been ruled out of the white-ball series against Sri Lanka after sustaining a fracture in the right thumb. Keshav Maharaj will take over his role as captain to lead the Proteas against Sri Lanka in ODIs and the selectors will decide on the T20I captain later.

Bavuma was trying to avoid a fielder’s throw-in when he got hit on his finger during the 26th over while South Africa was chasing the 301-run target set by Sri Lanka. The Proteas captain retired hurt after sustaining the injury in the first ODI in Colombo which his team lost by 14 runs after managing 286 runs for the loss of six wickets in the alloted quota of 50 overs.

Cricket South Africa has announced that Keshav Maharaj will take over the captaincy from Bavuma for the remaining ODI matches in the series. However, South Africa has not yet decided on the T20I captain against Sri Lanka.

Earlier in the match, Sri Lanka's Avishka Fernando (118) contributed to the team with his brilliant century. Charith Asalanka in the end played crucial innings and scored 72 runs off 62 deliveries to guide Sri Lanka to a great total in the first ODI. The South Africa batsmen in reply had a great start as Aiden Markram scored 96 off 90 balls, who fell four runs away from his century. Rassie van der Dussen and Heinrich Klaasen fought well but their effort went in vain as the hosts fell short of the target.

After taking a 1-0 lead, Sri Lanka will next face South Africa on Saturday, September 4.