In an unfortunate event, Dane van Niekerk is ruled out of The Hundred 2023. The Oval Invincibles captain sustained a fracture on her right thumb as said by the Invincibles on their Instagram page.
“I am very sad to be ruled out of the tournament,” said van Niekerk (via bbc.co.uk)
The former White Ferns skipper, Suzie Bates will lead the side for the remaining matches of the defending champions. She led the team on four occasions last year and against Northern Superchargers in this year’s edition. Bates and van Niekerk together pioneered the side in their title defence in the 2022 where Bates was second in the list of the most runs with her 232 runs from just 7 innings.
The South African all-rounder suffered the injury during the contest against Manchester Originals where she scored a quick-fire 42 off just 23 deliveries.
RULED OUT 😮
Unfortunate end to Dane Van Niekerk's outing at The Hundred 2023 due to a thumb injury. She won't participate further. #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/hg4BCVkab5
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) August 13, 2023
“I felt like I was hitting my stride in the game against the Originals so to get injured in the same match is incredibly frustrating” added the Invincibles skipper (via bbc.co.uk)
Who could possibly replace Dane Van Niekerk? Click here to know.
The Invincibles are having an average season with only one win from their four matches while one of them was abandoned due to rain and this news is a major setback for them, they are placed sixth in the points table.
Though the Invincibles officials are yet to announce a replacement player but Dane van Niekerk will stay with the team and while expressing her thankfulness, she said – “I’ll stay with the group to offer Suzie and the team all the support I can, I am very grateful to everyone that offered me their kind wishes after I missed the Superchargers game – it means a great amount.” (via ESPN)
The former South African captain was a major contributor to the Invincible’s first title in 2021. She was the player of the tournament in that season as she accumulated 259 runs and was the highest run-getter. She also picked 8 wickets. While in the 2022 edition, she played only three matches and managed only 21 runs.
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