Bavuma suffers fractured finger

CAPE TOWN: South Africa batsman Temba Bavuma has suffered a fractured ring finger while playing for the Cape Cobras in the Momentum One-Day Cup last Wednesday, and is expected to be ruled out roughly for three to four weeks.

Bavuma is part of the South Africa Test squad but hasn’t featured in either of the first two games against India. Despite his unavailability for the final game - at Wanderers from January 24 - he will remain with the squad and a replacement for him will not be named. AB de Villiers’s return to Tests had put Bavuma’s Test spot in a quandary. New coach Ottis Gibson’s preference for a six-batsman setup (including wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock) for the future is a departure from the times of Russell Domingo, who chose to play seven batters, and has kept Bavuma on the sidelines in the ongoing series.