Ngidi out with hamstring injury; Mokoena called up for Australia ODIs
Lungi Ngidi bowled just 16.3 overs in Titans' game against Dolphins • Associated Press
Ngidi suffered a right hamstring injury in the domestic first-class season-opening game between Titans and Dolphins last week and scans on Wednesday confirmed he would need a period of rehabilitation. Ngidi is the third seamer after Kagiso Rabada and Ottneil Baartman to be ruled out of the series.
Last week, Ngidi bowled eight overs in Dolphins' first innings and 8.3 in the second, fewer than fellow frontline quicks Marco Jansen and Beyers Swanepoel, who bowled 26 and 20.3 overs respectively.
Ngidi was also off the field for periods of time but returned and was present at the end of the match. By then, Baartman, playing for Dolphins, had become unable to bat after he also tweaked a hamstring.
Nqobani Mokoena, the 20-year-old quick who received his first ODI cap during South Africa's tour of Namibia, has been included in the ODI squad in Ngidi's place.
Mokoena is currently playing for Dolphins in the first-class competition against Western Province and bowled 19 overs on day one, with returns of 1 for 78. He will now be withdrawn from that match to join the South Africa squad in preparation for the ODIs. The pace attack will be led by Jansen, whose twin Duan is also in the squad alongwith Corbin Bosch, Gerald Coetzee and Kwena Maphaka the other fast-bowling options.
More concerningly for South Africa, a call on Ngidi's availability for the three-Test series against Australia, which starts on October 9, will only be taken closer to the start of that contest. They are also sweating on the availability of Rabada, who injured a hamstring in winter training and has not played any cricket since the IPL in May.
Firdose Moonda is Cricinfo's senior correspondent for Africa and women's cricket
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