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Steve Smith is hopeful of recovering from his finger injury in a few weeks after a compound dislocation during the WTC final.
Steve Smith has revealed he might be able to return to action in two weeks (Picture Credit: AFP)
Australian star Steve Smith is optimistic that he’d be able to recover from his sickening finger injury he suffered during the World Test Championship (WTC) final against South Africa in ‘a couple of weeks’.
Smith suffered a compound dislocation in his little finger on Day 3 of the summit clash while fielding in the slips against Temba Bavuma off Mitchell Starc’s bowling. The batter got a thick edge outside off but Smith couldn’t get under it (low carry on the Lord’s pitch played a role) and was hurt badly. He was immediately taken to the hospital and played no further part in the match, which Australia lost by five wickets.
“I will be in a splint for eight weeks now and I may be able to play with it in a couple of weeks. It will depend on my functionality and what I am able to do, so it was probably the best result I could have hoped for,” Smith was quoted as saying by the ICC.
“I was standing pretty close with the helmet on and as we saw throughout the game, a lot of nicks went short of first and second slip. The plan was to stand pretty close and I lost sight of it with the angle that Mitchell Starc was bowling and it kind of went inside Bavuma’s hip and I didn’t quite see it until really late and it kind of dipped on me a little bit late too as well. It was tricky, it didn’t go in my hand very well and fortunately there is no break there and it just split the skin and dislocated it which made me feel pretty ill at that stage,” Smith said.
Australia would be encouraged by the news, given they now head to the West Indies for a three-Test series that starts on June 25. While Smith might miss the first game, he could be fit for the second from July 3.
Meanwhile, Bavuma went on to score a resolute fifty despite carrying a hamstring injury and effectively batting on one leg. Aiden Markram hit a century on the other end, and the Proteas sealed the win in the first session. It added another bitter injury memory to Smith’s pile of a mixed bag at Lord’s.
“I have a love/hate relationship with this place now,” he said. I have had some good memories here and some not so good ones as well. Getting hit in the head by Jofra (Archer) in 2019 and now having my digit knocked off out here yesterday as well. But it’s a wonderful place to play cricket and I have enjoyed it here and it was a real good game of cricket again,” he added.
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A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses, features, live scores, results, stats and everything that’s cricket from all over the globe. Follow @cricketnext
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