No Dane van Niekerk for Commonwealth Games too, Luus to continue as South Africa captain

Dane van Niekerk, South Africa’s regular captain, will miss a second major tournament after failing to recover from an ankle injury in time for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Van Niekerk broke her ankle after slipping and falling at her new home in Gqberha in January, which ruled her out of the ODI World Cup, but returned to training in May. She has not regained full fitness yet and last played competitive cricket at the BBL in November 2021.

Sune Luus will continue to captain in van Niekerk’s absence with experienced campaigner Mignon du Preez returning after being left out of the group that played against Ireland. Marizanne Kapp, Sinalo Jafta and Masabata Klaas are the other players who were not part of the T20Is against Ireland in the current squad, with Tazmin Brits, Raisibe Ntozakhe, Andrie Steyn and Delmi Tucker missing out on the Commonwealth Games.

Tucker, who made her debut against Ireland, joined the squad for their ongoing ODI series against England, which forms part of the ICC Women’s Championship. She was joined by Klaas, who has not played since injuring her shoulder at the fifty-over World Cup in March. Klaas will complete a full-strength pace attack, headlined by Kapp and Shabnim Ismail, along with Ayabonga Khaka, Tumi Sekhukhune and Nadine de Klerk.

Women’s cricket will make its debut at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham later this month. South Africa are grouped with New Zealand, England and Sri Lanka, with two teams from each group progressing to the semi-finals.

Source: ESPN Crickinfo

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