South African all-rounder Mulder to miss rest of Sri Lanka Test series due to injury, Breetzke named replacement

Mulder injured his right middle finger while batting in South Africa’s first innings on the second day of the first Test at Kingsmead on Thursday.

South Africa’s Wiaan Mulder receiving medical treatment during the second day of the first Test match against Sri Lanka at the Kingsmead stadium in Durban. | Photo Credit: AFP

South Africa has called up batter Matthew Breetzke as a replacement for Wiaan Mulder after the all-rounder was ruled out of the remainder of the two-Test series against Sri Lanka due to a broken finger.

Mulder injured his right middle finger while batting in South Africa’s first innings on the second day of the first Test at Kingsmead on Thursday.

Despite retiring hurt, Mulder returned to bat for the last wicket before South Africa was dismissed for 191. However, he did not bowl as Sri Lanka was bowled out for its record Test low of 42. Surprisingly, he returned to the crease as No. 3 in South Africa’s second innings during Thursday’s last session, moving up the batting order. He scored 15 runs before being trapped lbw by Prabath Jayasuriya.

The 26-year-old is expected to be sidelined for up to a month.

Breetzke, who made his Test debut against Bangladesh last month, has been named as Mulder’s replacement for the second Test, scheduled to take place from 5 to 9 December at St George’s Park in Gqeberha.