NEWS
Follow UsBen Dwarshuis could bowl only four overs on his ODI debut due to a “suspected pectoral strain” that put the left-arm seamer out of action in the first ODI at Trent Bridge on Thursday (September 19).
Dwarshuis, who had played three T20Is before, became Australia’s 248th player in ODI cricket earlier in the day. He was drafted into the ODI squad at the back of his good English summer as an overseas player in the Hundred and then the T20 Blast.
The 30-year-old sustained the injury while throwing off-balance from the boundary ropes. In the 42nd over, he was seen in the dressing room wearing strapping on his left shoulder. By the next over, Cricket Australia confirmed that Dwarshuis won’t return to the field. Pectoral muscles connect the upper arms and shoulder with the front of the chest.
Dwarshuis picked 1/18 in his only spell of fours, cleaning up Phil Salt for his maiden ODI wicket.
Australia used eight bowlers to cover up for the left-arm seamer. The likes of Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head were used to fill Dwarshuis’ quota. Both the part-time spinners did well to pick 5/73 in 10.4 overs between them. Labuschagne nabbed his ODI career-best bowling figures of 3/39 taking accounting for Ben Duckett, Harry Brook and Jofra Archer.
Consequently, England who were looking set for a big score were bowled out for 315 in 49.4 overs with Head picking the last two wickets.
While things worked out for Australia in the field, they are looking down the barrel in their pace-bowling reserves due to mounting injuries in the camp. Most of their first-choice seamers are unavailable due to a flu caused by a viral disease in the Aussie camp which ruled out Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc from today's game.
Only three days ago, Australia had added the uncapped 19-year-old seamer Mahli Beardman to the squad as an injury cover.
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