South Africa’s opening batsman, Aiden Markram has been ruled out of the ongoing England series owing to a fractured finger.
The 25-year-old, who scored 20 in South Africa’s first innings in the ongoing first Test, picked up the injury on the fourth finger of his left hand on Day 2 while fielding. While he continued to stay on the field, scans revealed he requires a surgery, which means he is ruled out for at least six weeks.
"Aiden sustained a fracture affecting the distal joint of his left ring finger," Dr Shuaib Manjra, Cricket South Africa Chief Medical Officer, said.
#BreakingNews Proteas opening batsman, Aiden Markram has been ruled out of the remainder of the Test series against England after sustaining a fracture to his fourth left finger.The injury will require surgery and will remove him from play for at least six weeks.#SAvENG #Thread pic.twitter.com/zLwfwL4Fhu
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) December 28, 2019
"After consulting with a number of hand specialists yesterday, we arrived at a decision that the best outcome would be achieved through surgical reduction and fixation. This would mean him unfortunately missing the rest of the series against England. We feel for Aiden who worked extremely hard to come through his previous hand fracture sustained in India to be Test match ready."
Markram was considered a doubt for the England Test prior to the game after he fractured his wrist by "lashing out at a solid object" after his second innings dismissal in the second Test against India in Pune back in October. That not only resulted in him missing the third Test in Ranchi, but he also missed the Mzansi Super League.
South Africa scored 284 in the first innings of the Centurion Test courtesy of Quinton de Kock’s 95. A brilliant effort with the ball then allowed the Proteas to restrict the World Cup winners to a pantry 181, with Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada picking four and three wickets respectively.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Marco Longari
