Jimmy Anderson had felt a tightness in his left side on the last day of the 2nd Test against South Africa in Newlands. He had taken a 5-wicket haul in the first innings of that Test and was roaring to repeat the same performance in the second innings too. But the injury forced him to bowl only 8 overs on the final day. The scans later confirmed the rib injury is more serious than what was expected and thus James Anderson will miss the remaining two Tests in the series.
This is a big blow for the England team, as 37-year old Anderson is their veteran seamer. He is currently the leading wicket-taker for England in this series with 9 wickets in two Tests. He had recently returned from the calf injury due to which he had earlier missed the Ashes series after day one of the 1st Ashes Test. He is also the leading wicket-taker in the world among pacers in Tests.
He bowled only two overs after lunch on the final day of the second Test against South Africa. England had won that Test by 189 runs, leveling the series 1-1.
James Anderson was playing this Test series after a gap of four months. He had missed almost all of the Ashes series due to the calf injury. And now when he had just started showing his magic on the ground, he had to face another unfortunate injury, this time a rib one. Apart from the remaining two Tests against South Africa, he is also likely to miss the two-match Test series in Sri Lanka in March.
“Frustrating to be missing the rest of this series with a broken rib but hopefully will be healed in a few weeks! Will be supporting the boys from home.” Anderson expressed himself on Instagram.
Now, for the remaining two Tests, we may see Jofra Archer coming back into the playing 11. He had missed the second Test due to an elbow injury. Jofra Archer had taken 5-wicket haul in the second inning of the 1st Test.
Mark Wood and Chris Woakes are the other options for England in the pace department.
Somerset pacer Craig Overton will continue to remain in South Africa as a cover for James Anderson. Craig Overton was earlier called in South Africa as some English Players had fallen sick before the first Test.
Related Reading:
- Vitality T20 Blast 2020 Points Table and Match Results
- Vitality T20 Blast 2020 All Teams & Full Squads
- IPL 2020 All Teams, Players, Full Squads, Complete Schedule, Past Winners
- Vitality T20 Blast 2020 Full Match Schedule & Past Winners
- CPL 2020 – Where to watch? (TV / Livestream Options)
- CPL 2020 Points Table, Match Schedule & Results, All Past Winners
Leave a Reply