SL vs SA: Temba Bavuma ruled out of the series, Maharaj named stand-in captain

The injury concerns have often kept the players at bay for achieving greatness in any sport. The latest to succumb to the injury is the South Africa limited-overs captain Temba Bavuma, who has been ruled out of the series against Sri Lanka due to a fractured thumb injury. The spinner Keshav Maharaj will lead the side for the next 2 ODIs.

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Bavuma sustained the injury while batting in the 1st ODI match at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. During the 26th over, he tried to avoid the fielder’s throw but unfortunately its struck the batter’s thumb. He was soon retired hurt after the relentless pain in the next 2 overs. The scans have shown a fracture and the captain is out for an indefinite period.

Temba’s injury injury Halted momentum: Markram

The top scorer of the South Africa team, Aiden Markram in the 1st ODI Aiden Markram spoke on the loss against Sri Lanka. After the South Africa team got a good start with Malan and Markram, at no.3 came captain Temba Bavuma. The captain stitched a fine partnership with Markram of around 100 runs before getting retired hurt due to the injury. This caused a shift in momentum shift while the South Africa team tried to chase down the score.

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“The partnership was definitely gaining some momentum, it was very unfortunate to lose him to something so freakish. It was certainly a momentum-halting moment in the game.” Markram said.

Sri Lanka win the 1st ODI by 14 runs

The home team. Sri Lanka continued their fine momentum in the limited-overs series and started off with a win in the 1st ODI against South Africa. The opener Avishka Fernando scored a century, while Asalanka and Dhananjaya De Silva provided valuable contributions in the middle-order. The best bowler for the team was Akila Dhananjaya with 2 wickets, while Hasarange kept optimum pressure.

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