Australia pacer Mitchell Starc has been ruled out of the third T20I against Sri Lanka after he sustained an injury in his left index finger during the first match of the series in Colombo on Tuesday, Cricket Australia confirmed on Thursday. Jhye Richardson, who had previously replaced Starc in Australia’s side for the second T20I and took 3 for 26 in the three-wicket win in game two on Wednesday, has been named into Australia’s ODI squad as a replacement, in case the left-arm seamer does not recover by then.
Starc suffered a gash to his left index finger during the first T20 in Colombo and required six stitches.
The left-arm pacer will remain with the squad and continue to train but he will need a minimum of seven days, and perhaps longer, for the injury to heal.
“(He) will continue to train with the squad in Sri Lanka and potentially return during the ODI Series. His recovery time is unspecified but anticipated to be a minimum of seven days,” Cricket Australia said in an official statement.
Richardson was in Sri Lanka with the touring Australia A side, which won the first of four unofficial ODIs against Sri Lanka A by seven wickets.
In the second T20I, Kane Richardson’s four-wicket haul backed by Matthew Wade’s crucial unbeaten 26 helped Australia defeat Sri Lanka by three wickets to clinch their three-match T20 series with a game to spare on Wednesday.
For Australia, Kane Richardson and Jhye Richardson bagged four and three wickets respectively to restrict Sri Lanka to 124/9. While Wade smashed crucial 26* runs to guide his team home, Wanindu Hasaranga, for the hosts, scalped four wickets, only conceding 33 runs.
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