SA vs AUS: Travis Head suffers fracture in left hand, World Cup participation under threat

Australia's opener Travis Head has suffered a fracture in his left hand after getting hit by a vicious short ball from Gerald Coetzee in the fourth ODI of the ongoing series, putting his World Cup participation under serious threat. Head was batting at an individual score of 9 when he missed an attempted pull of Coetzee and the ball struck his left glove.

The southpaw experienced excruciating pain and called for medical attention immediately on the field. The Aussie physiotherapist rushed to the field of play to attend to him and Head decided to carry on with his innings. But only after facing three more deliveries, the South Australian was forced to leave the field as the pain didn't allow him to wield his willow.

He went for an x-ray immediately and the coach of the Australian cricket team Andrew McDonald provided an update after the game, saying that the report had shown a fracture in his hand. As per reports, it is likely that the 29-year-old will undergo more scans to understand the extent of the



injury and it will help him and the team management conclude how much time will it take him to fully recover and get back on the field.

"At this stage, it's a confirmed fracture and how long that timeframe is, we're yet to determine that so fingers crossed clearly with the World Cup fast approaching," McDonald said after the conclusion of the fourth ODI.

"I'm not a medical person, but I think it's a little bit higher up than the actual [index] finger itself. But I don't know the actual terminology. It's in a joint somewhere so I won't go into the medical specifics. But, yeah, a confirmed fracture and to be assessed again tomorrow with another scan," he added.

Chasing 417 to win the game after enduring absolute carnage from Heinrich Klaasen (174 off 83 balls), Australia lost wickets up front to the new ball and ended up losing the game by a staggering margin of 164 runs. The five-match series is now level at 2-2 with the decider to be played on Sunday, September 17 in Johannesburg.