Right-hand opening batsman Hashim Amla is a doubtful starter for South Africa’s tie against Bangladesh on Sunday. The Proteas lost the opening game of the ICC World Cup 2019 to England in a poor manner. They were outplayed by the hosts in all the three facets of the game.
The 36-year-old opener took a blow on the grille of his helmet after failing to negotiate a bouncer from Jofra Archer. The English pacer was right on the money and it hit the batter quite hard. After a brief period on the field, assisted by the medical staff, Amla left the ground only to return later to witness the African ship sink. He was unbeaten on 5 at the time the incident took place. He was forced to take strike later on as Proteas were in deep trouble- 167/6.
Proteas sweat over Hashim Amla’s availability
He was eventually out for 12 as South Africa suffered a 104-run defeat in the opening encounter. He was diagnosed with a mild concussion and that is probably the reason why he didn’t participate in the practice session on Saturday. Pacer Dale Steyn, who was ruled out of the first game due to an injury, was seen sweating it hard in the nets. But he is unlikely to play a part in South Africa’s next game against the Bangla Tigers.
Having lost the first game, skipper Faf du Plessis plans to look ahead and not stress much on the past result. “You know, you’re going to play games. You’re going to come up against quality opposition. Today England was better than us in all three facets of the game. They show why they are such a good cricket team, and now we have to look at the league. It’s a league competition”, he said at the press conference.
On the bowling front, the Proteas did well to restrict the hosts to 311 but their faulty middle order was exposed in some fashion. Clearly, they will have to bat out of their skin to win the next two encounters against Mashrafe Mortaza‘s men, followed by the big clash against India.