SA skipper in race against time

PROTEAS captain Temba Bavuma is in a race against time to face Australia in their T20 World Cup opener in Dubai next Saturday.

The 31-year-old is recovering from a hand injury suffered in the limited overs series against Sri Lanka in September and was due yesterday to have his first net session since the incident.

Asked if he will be fit and ready to go for South Africa’s opener against Australia next Saturday, Bavuma says: “I had a good training session [on Thursday] and my hand is improving – it’s getting stronger and I’m more comfortable with it.

“[Today] will be my first time in a net session, and then I’ll get a better indication of how far I progressed.

“I’m not playing in the warm up games, but I’m feeling good and taking it day by day.”

South Africa face Afghanistan on Monday and Pakistan on Wednesday in their warm-up matches ahead of the Australia clash.

While the Proteas are still warming up, the first round of the competition will start on Sunday when Oman and Papua New Guinea lock horns at 12pm.

Their first round match will be followed by Bangladesh and Scotland at 4pm, as eight teams split in two groups (Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands and Sri Lanka in Group A and Bangladesh, Oman, Papua New Guinea and Scotland in Group B) will battle for four remaining places in the Super 12s throughout the week.

The top two teams of each group will advance to the Super 12s.