Ngidi to miss India clash due to hamstring injury

South Africa will miss the services of Lungi Ngidi in their third World Cup fixture against India on June 5 after the young pace bowler picked up a hamstring injury against Bangladesh at The Oval.

Ngidi, who went for 34 runs in his four overs on Sunday, limped off the field with hamstring trouble after the end of the seventh over against Bangladesh in the match which saw Proteas lose by 21 runs.

It was later confirmed that he would not take the ball again for the rest of the game and had been ruled out of the match.

Team manager Mohammed Moosajee confirmed that Ngidi would be forced to miss South Africa's clash against India. "He was assessed and clinically we felt that he had a left hamstring strain," the ICC website quoted Moosajee as saying. "We decided not to let him go out there and bowl any further in this match.

"So currently, it probably means that he'll be out for about a week to 10 days, but we'll have scans done tomorrow. The plan will be probably to get him ready for the West Indies match."

The development came as Faf du Plessis and team were already dealing with poor form and injury issues.

However, South Africa should be able to call upon Dale Steyn in his place, with his recovery from a shoulder injury on track while Hashim Amla, who sustained a blow to the head against England and was forced to sit out against Bangladesh, is also expected to return to the side for the all important clash against Virat Kohli's men.

--IANS

aak/in