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SA vs SL – Gerald Coetzee picks up groin niggle and could be a doubt for second Sri Lanka Test

Gerald Coetzee could be a doubt for the second Test against Sri Lanka after picking up a groin niggle during the first Test in Durban, which South Africa won by 233 runs on Saturday.

Coetzee bowled in the morning session, beginning proceedings with Kagiso Rabada, but stopped after a three-over spell. His second spell of the morning was off just two overs, as Dhananjaya de Silva and Dinesh Chandimal staged a spirited fightback for Sri Lanka after they had started the day five down and looking at a bigger defeat than they eventually suffered. Coetzee didn’t bowl again after that in the session, but did bowl three overs after lunch, sending back Chandimal caught and bowled.

Shukri Conrad, the South Africa coach, said after the day’s play that Coetzee had spoken to him at lunch and told him he “felt a groin niggle”, and went back after the break “strapped up”. Coetzee, who picked up four wickets in Durban, will undergo scans tomorrow.

That will be something fro South Africa to worry about ahead of the second Test, since Wiaan Mulder, the fast-bowling allrounder, is also injured – fractured right middle finger – and has already been ruled out of the second Test, to be played from December 5 in Gqeberha.

“Not a big break between,” captain Temba Bavuma said in the presentation ceremony. “Wiaan is out of the series, we have to find a replacement. Gerald Coetzee, the medical team will have do to their best.”

Two of South Africa’s three quicks that played the Durban Test – Rabada and Player-of-the-Match Marco Jansen – are fit for the second Test, and Dane Paterson is the other quick in the squad. South Africa might struggle to find another fast bowler to fit into the squad, though, with Nandre Burger out for the summer with a lower back stress fracture, and Lungi Ngidi out till January.

Matthew Breetzke, the top-order batter, was named Mulder’s replacement earlier. “We will more than likely add another player to our group,” Conrad said.

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