The Proteas are gathering in Cape Town on Wednesday ahead of next week’s West Indies T20I series, and coach Shuki Conrad will be sitting down with his medical team for some serious discussions after Lungi Ngidi joined the growing injury concerns ahead of next month’s ICC T20 World Cup.
The seam bowler’s knee was heavily strapped during the Pretoria Capitals’ warm-ups ahead of their Betway SA20 Qualifier 1 against Sunrisers Eastern Cape at Kingsmead.
After being asked to field, Ngidi took the new ball but was only able to deliver two overs before he hobbled off to seek the comfort of the dugout.
While the Proteas await a prognosis on Ngidi from the Capitals camp, they will also be watching closely to see whether David Miller will take the field for Paarl Royals in the SA20 Eliminator on Thursday evening at Centurion.
Miller hurt his groin whilst fielding on Monday at Boland Park and did not come out to bat. The veteran middle-order has travelled with the Royals to Centurion, but there remains uncertainty surrounding his fitness.
“I think we’re just taking it day by day and we’ll see how he pulls up. I don’t know the exact prognosis but he is here with us,” Royals allrounder Daniel Lawrence said.
“We’re unsure of whether he’ll be playing tomorrow (Thursday) night or not.”
Joburg Super Kings allrounder Donovan Ferreira is still under an injury cloud after hurting his shoulder last week.
Ferreira has already been replaced as stand-in captain at JSK for the playoffs, reaffirming the severity of the injury.
Equally, top-order batter Tony de Zorzi has missed the entire SA20 after straining his hamstring on the preceding tour, and will in likelihood have to pass a fitness test before he can return to play.
Conrad is set to name his Proteas T20I squad for the three-match West Indies series on Thursday. It will in likelihood only be picked from MI Cape Town and Durban’s Super Giants as they are no longer part of the competition.
