Another injury for South Africa before West Indies clash

South Africa had another injury scare ahead of their match against West Indies at The Rose Bowl, Southampton on Monday (June 10). Middle-order batsman Rassie Van Der Dussen strained a groin muscle and may miss the upcoming match.

Even before the start of the ICC World Cup 2019, they lost Anrich Nortje, while Dale Steyn was ruled out due to a recurring knee injury. Hashim Amla and Lungi Ngidi suffered injuries in the first and second games respectively.

The Proteas are on the verge of elimination, after losing in their three opening matches, and need to win the game against the Windies at any cost to keep their hopes of progressing in the tournament.

Also read: India-Australia face-off to be largely a clash of bowlers

However, it will be tough to beat the West Indies in absence of a middle-order batsman. Van Der Dussen strained a groin muscle and was declared retired hurt during Wednesday (June 5) defeat to India in Southampton. The severity of the injury will be gauged based on his performance at the training sessions.

South Africa is in desperate need of Van Der Dussen and hope that the injury is not serious as he looked in good form in the previous matches. In three games so far, he has scored 50, 41 and 22. With their batting looking weak at the moment, missing Van der Dussen will be a big blow. If he fails to recover, Aiden Markram will return to the playing eleven.

Other injury setbacks

South Africa have more injured bowlers than fit ones. Fast bowler Ngidi is one of them. The right-arm pacer sustained a hamstring injury against Bangladesh and was not chosen for the encounter with India. His recovery, too, will be monitored through the weekend. Meanwhile, captain Faf du Plessis received a blow to his hand by a short delivery during the game against India but has been declared fit to play against West Indies.