Sri Lanka vs South Africa: Visitors announce two captains for remainder of the tour

The five-match ODI series between Sri Lanka and South Africa is currently underway and the visiting team has already taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series. The fourth match is a mere dead rubber and will be played tomorrow at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. After a pretty disappointing Test series, the Proteas would be more or less satisfied by their show in the limited-overs fixtures.

In the meantime, all is not well in the South African camp as Faf du Plessis, their ODI and T20I skipper, has been ruled out of the remainder of the Lankan tour owing to a shoulder injury. As per ICC’s official website, Quinton de Kock has been announced as the captain for the remaining two ODIs while JP Duminy will lead the team in the one-off T20I in Colombo on August 14.

Du Plessis needs six weeks to recover

Du Plessis developed the injury while attempting a catch during Sri Lanka’s run chase of 364 runs in the third ODI in Pallekele. Moreover, Dr Mohammed Moosajee, South Africa’s team manager, mentioned that du Plessis will need to undergo rehabilitation for at least six weeks to attain full fitness. Earlier this year, he suffered a finger injury and then couldn’t play most of the limited-overs series against India.

Aiden Markram captained the team against India in the absence of du Plessis and became the second youngest cricketer to captain the national team. He led the team in five matches, but couldn’t help the Proteas to a series win. Du Plessis was one of South Africa’s most consistent batsman in the ongoing tour. He commenced his tour with a 75 against Sri Lanka Board XI.

The 34-year-old then played a couple of useful knocks in the two-match Test series in Galle and Colombo respectively. The Pretoria-born batsman also scored 47 and 49 runs in the first two ODIs. For the time being, the onus will be on de Kock and Duminy to ensure that the Proteas end their Lankan campaign on a positive note.

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