South Africa’s Mulder ruled out of Sri Lanka Tests remainder

DURBAN: South Africa’s all-rounder Wiaan Mulder has been ruled out of the ongoing two-match series against Sri Lanka due to a fractured finger.

According to the details, Mulder fractured his middle finger amid his brief knock in the first innings of the ongoing Test.

The all-rounder sustained the injury on the first delivery of the 27th over when Lahiru Kumara got one to nip back into Mulder, whose fingers jammed into the bat handle while defending.

He received medical attention on the field and faced two more deliveries before retiring hurt. The right-handed batter, however, returned to bat when South Africa lost their ninth wicket and faced five more deliveries.

He remained unbeaten with a 12-ball nine, which included a six off Dhananjaya de Silva.

Wiaan Mulder was taken for scans in the lunch break where it was confirmed that he has fractured his right middle finger, which ruled him out of the series remainder.

The home side has announced Matthew Breetzke as his replacement.

Despite the injury blow, South Africa are in control of the ongoing first Test as they have set Sri Lanka a massive target of 516.

The hosts had a dismal start to the fixture as they were bowled out for a mere 191 in the first innings before right-arm pacer Marco Jansen wreaked havoc.

Jansen returned career-best bowling figures of 7/13 to help Proteas book Sri Lanka on just 42 – their lowest total in men’s Tests.

Tristan Stubbs and skipper Temba Bavuma strengthened South Africa’s command on the fixture by scoring dominant centuries.

Notably, the series is crucial for both Sri Lanka and South Africa as the two teams are still in contention for a spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, scheduled to be played in June.