Hamstring Injury Rules Temba Bavuma Out Of First Australia T20I

South Africa have suffered an injury blow ahead of the three-match T20I series against Australia with their in-form batsman Temba Bavuma ruled out of the first game due to a hamstring strain. The first match of the series will take place at the Wanderers on Friday.

Temba Bavuma sustained the injury while fielding against England in the third T20I at SuperSport Park on Sunday and will requite seven to 10 days rest. He will remain with the South African squad with a view to playing in the second game on Sunday, in Port Elizabeth.

Missing the right-handed batsman will be a blow for South Africa after the way he batted at the top of the order with Quinton de Kock against England. While South Africa lost the series 2-1, the opening partnership between Temba Bavuma and de Kock was a big positive. The two shared stands of 92, 48 and 84 in the three-match series.

Meanwhile, South Africa have not named a replacement for the opener. Thus, there is still no clarity over who would open the innings alongside de Kock. Jon-Jon Smuts could open the innings and is no stranger to it. He had opened in his first eight T20I innings.

The Proteas have recalled Faf du Plessis, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje for the series. Du Plessis, who stepped down from captaincy on Monday, was rested for the series against England along with Rabada. De Kock will lead the side.

South Africa will be desperate to get back to winning ways. They recently lost the Test and T20I series to England while the ODI series ended in a draw. In all the three-series, the hosts took the lead before failing to capitalise on it.

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