Proteas hit by new Steyn injury scare
● Fast bowler leaves field mid-over in county match
Dale Steyn‚ who took the new ball for Hampshire in the first innings of their match against Nottinghamshire at the Rose Bowl on Sunday‚ was nowhere to be seen in Notts’ second dig on Tuesday.
Steyn injured a groin while bowling his 11th over on Monday.
He left the field immediately and “was assessed by our physio team”‚ a Hampshire spokesperson said.
South Africa’s team management said on Tuesday afternoon that “Dale went for a scan this morning” and that they were still awaiting those results.
Fourteen overs into Notts’ second innings there was no sign of Steyn‚ and Hampshire had sent four other bowlers into the fray.
Well might there be undue interest in the state of Steyn’s groin.
At 35 and approaching the end of an unforgettable career‚ his experience and sheer presence could be key to SA at next year’s World Cup.
But‚ having broken his bowling shoulder twice and torn a ligament off his heel since November 2016‚ there are fears that Steyn appears to be wearing out his body in the cause of prolonging the career of the finest fast bowler of the age.
So every tweak and twang is going to attract more attention than it might have had it happened to someone younger or who has not had a horror run of injuries in recent years.
Yes‚ Steyn is that important to the national team’s cause – even if a new arsenal of quality quicks has been blooded.
That he has also caught‚ but not passed‚ Shaun Pollock’s South Africa record of 421 Test wickets is neither here nor there.
What matters is what he can continue to bring to the team effort‚ hence the intense concern over his fitness.
Meanwhile, Hazratullah Zazai smashed a blistering 74 as Afghanistan beat Ireland by 16 runs in the opening T20 international at Bready Cricket Club near Derry on Monday.
The tourists posted 160/7 batting first after rain had reduced the match to 18 overs a side.
Ireland fell short on 144/9, as star spinners Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman took five wickets between them.
Afghanistan will take a 1-0 lead into Wednesday’s second match of the three-game series.
“Zazai, that was his second game, we didn’t know much about him,” Irish captain Gary Wilson said.
“He seemed to hit to all parts.”
Opening batsman Zazai was playing just his second international match and first since December 2016, but the 20-year-old struck six sixes in a magnificent 33-ball innings. –