SA vs ENG 2019-20: Finger Injury Rules Aiden Markram Out of England Test Series

South Africa batsman Aiden Markram would not take any further part in the ongoing Test series against England because of his fractured finger. The opener suffered the injury on the Day 2 of the Boxing Day Test in Centurion. He will require surgery for it. For this, he will be out of the action for at least six weeks.

Aiden Markram out of the action

“Aiden sustained a fracture affecting the distal joint of his left ring finger,” Dr Shuaib Manjra, Cricket South Africa Chief Medical Officer, was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz. “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,” he further added.

Aiden Markram recently missed the Ranchi Test on their tour of India after hitting at a solid object and fracturing his right wrist in Pune during the Test series. The 25-year-old talented right-hand batsman has played 19 Tests for South Africa so far.

In the game, England won the toss and opted to field first. Put into bat, James Anderson cleaned up their opener Dean Elgar for a golden duck. Markam scored 20 whereas Zubayr Hamza scored 39. However, it was their wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock who stood up and scored 95 off 128 with 14 fours. Stuart Broad and Sam Curran’s 4-wicket haul each bowled them out for 284.

On the other hand, England didn’t get a good start where both the openers fell very cheaply. Joe Denly scored a half-century while Ben Stokes scored 35. Vernon Philander’s 4-wicket haul, Kagiso Rabada’s three-fer and Anrich Nortje’s 2 wickets bundled England within 181 on board.

In South Africa’s second innings, Markram fell for 2. Rassie van der Dussen scored a fifty whereas Anrich Nortje and Quinton de Kock are trying to rebuild the innings in the middle. They are playing at 170 for 5 (at the time of writing).