Wayne Parnell ruled out of Australia series with rib injury

South African all-rounder Wayne Parnell has been ruled out of the Australia series with a rib injury. While this would be a massive blow to the home side, they are already 2-0 up in the series. Parnell was particularly impressive in the second ODI at the Wanderers in Johannesburg where he claimed three wickets and conceded just the 46 runs.

The 27-year old also has impressed with the bat with some important runs scored towards the end of the innings. However, in spite of this, Parnell is almost exclusively used for his bowling attributes including a slower delivery that has troubled the best of the batsmen. He is the second casualty of the series after skipper AB de Villiers was ruled out after inadvertently failing a fitness test.

The South Africans have been in an impressive run of form of late where they have clinched two wins on the trot against the best team in the world at the moment – Australia. Skipper Faf du Plessis has been in tremendous touch as well with some impressive batting which includes a century in the first ODI at Centurion.

However, despite this, the South African side has been clouded with controversy following the axing of former skipper Hashim Amla. Du Plessis found himself answering for some of the incidents regarding the axing in spite of the massive win margins in the first two ODIs.

Another issue the Proteas are currently addressing is the pace bowling battery. Dale Steyn isn’t getting any younger while the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Andile Phehlukwayo have a long way to go in terms of assessing their exploits in ODI cricket.

South Africa will play their next two ODIs on 9th and 12th of October at St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth and Newlands, Cape Town respectively.

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