I Australia opener Travis Head had a confirmed fracture in his left hand which puts his availability for the the World Cup in deep jeopardy. He was struck by a Gerald Coetzee short delivery in the fourth ODI against South Africa at SuperSport Park on Friday.
Head was on nine, facing his eighth delivery, when he was struck on the left glove attempting a pull off Coetzee. He received onfield treatment from the Australian medical staff before continuing to bat but only faced three more deliveries before retiring hurt in clear discomfort. He was sent to hospital for an Xray and Australia coach Andrew McDonald confirmed after the match that the Xray had shown a fracture.
He will have further scans on Saturday with more information on the severity of his injury and a timeline for his recovery to be determined. Head did return to the ground at the end of the match but had his left hand in a splint.
"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 post-match.
"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."
Australia's chase of 417 suffered early dents when they were reduced to 22 for 2, but Head made a strong start. After he was struck, he received treatment on the field and opted to continue, and seemed more than able to when he whipped Marco Jansen over deep backward square for six. He toe-ended the next ball just short of Kagiso Rabada at mid-off, taking the injured hand off the bat while playing the stroke. He immediately removed his glove at the non-striker's to asses his hand again.
The next ball he faced at the start of the next over he made room to cut but Coetzee followed him and cramped him as he tried to flay it through the offside. He immediately winced in severe pain after playing the stroke and walked straight to the dressing room, informing stand-in South Africa captain Aiden Markram and the umpires that he could not continue as he walked off. Australia were 53 for 2 in the ninth over at the time and ended up being bowled out for 252 with Head not returning to bat when the ninth wicket fell.
