(REUTERS) – South Africa captain Faf du Plessis and pace spearhead Dale Steyn are nursing hamstring injuries and are doubtful for their World Twenty20 opener against Sri Lanka tomorrow.
Both players skipped Wednesday’s final warm-up game against Pakistan and a final decision on their availability would be taken tomorrow afternoon before the match.“Steyn has been assessed as having mildly aggravated his previous hamstring strain sustained during the Test match against Australia two weeks ago,” a Cricket South Africa said.
“He will continue to receive treatment from the physiotherapist to give him the best chance of recovery for the opening match.
“du Plessis remains a 50-50 chance for the opening match following his hamstring strain. The medical team is cautious of rushing him too soon because of the explosive nature of T20 cricket and the back-to-back schedule of fixtures.
“He will continue to receive extensive treatment and rehab to give him the best chance of regaining full fitness for the opening match.”
If du Plessis fails to regain fitness, AB de Villiers is likely to lead the Proteas who travelled to Chittagong yesterday afternoon and will have a final net session today.
Even without Steyn, South Africa dismissed Pakistan in the warm-up match for 71 with Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Beuran Hendricks and Wayne Parnell claiming two wickets apiece to set up their eight-wicket victory at Fatullah with six overs to spare.
“Our bowlers have bowled intelligently and have mixed up the pace well,” coach Russell Domingo said.
“That is always going to be important in these conditions. We have heard that the wicket in Chittagong is different to the one in Dhaka so we will need to assess the wicket once we get there.”