World Cup 2019: South Africa suffers another injury scare before Windies clash

South Africa just cannot concentrate fully on the ongoing World Cup. Every time they gear up for any game, they receive setbacks in one way or another. Even before the start of the tournament, they lost Anrich Nortje to injury while Dale Steyn could not play the opener before being ruled out.

Hashim Amla and Lungi Ngidi then suffered injuries in the first and second game respectively. And in the latest setback, South Africa are looking set to miss the services of their middle-order batsman Rassie van der for the upcoming game against West Indies. South Africa need to win the upcoming game at any cost to keep their slim hopes of progressing ahead alive.

The Proteas are standing on the verge of elimination after suffering their opening three games. However, they could found it tough to beat West Indies in absence of Van der Dussen. He had strained a groin muscle during Wednesday’s defeat to India in Southampton and had not not returned to the field after leaving. The severity of the injury will be gauged during Saturday and Sunday’s training sessions.

The Proteas will be desperately hoping that the injury is not serious as Van der Dussen has looked in fine form. In three games so far, he has scored 50, 41 and 22. With South Africa’s batting looking weak at the moment, missing Van der Dussen will be a big blow. But in case the batsman fails to recover, Aiden Markram looks set to return to the playing eleven.

Other injury concerns

Rassie van der Dussen is not the only concern for South Africa as fast-bowler Lungi Ngidi is not either. The right-arm pacer had 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, the Proteas have received some much-needed boost too as their captain Faf du Plessis has been declared fit to play. Du Plessis had received a blow on his hand by a short delivery during the game against India.