Perth: Australia have been dealt with another blow after an ODI series loss against Pakistan at home.
Cooper Connolly, the young Australian player, has been ruled out of the T20I series against Pakistan after scans revealed that he had fractured his left hand. Connolly was struck by a bowl from Mohammad Hasnain here where both the teams played the series decider.
On the second ball of the 17th over, Connolly attempted to pull shot off a delivery from Hasnain, but the ball struck his glove instead. After facing one more delivery, Connolly called for the physio. He was subsequently deemed unfit to continue and left the field for further scans to assess the extent of his injury.
After the match ended, a Cricket Australia spokesperson confirmed that Connolly had suffered a fracture on the fourth metacarpal and has subsequently been ruled out of the Pakistan T20I series. Australia are yet to name a replacement for the T20Is.
The youngster’s injury compounds Australia's troubles, following their first home ODI series loss to Pakistan in 22 years.
Australia faced challenges from Pakistan in all three matches. They narrowly secured victory in the first game, thanks to Pat Cummins’ crucial knock of 32 off 31 balls. In the second match, Australia, batting first, collapsed to a mere 163, undone by Haris Rauf’s impressive five-wicket haul.
In the third match, key Australian Test players were rested in preparation for the upcoming ICC World Test Championship series against India, leaving a young Australian side under the leadership of Josh Inglis.
The fortunes for the Australian side didn’t improve, as they struggled against Pakistan's pacers and managed only 140 runs batting first in Perth.
"Pretty disappointing to be honest, I think after the first three-quarters of the first game, we've been totally outplayed, the batters just didn't get the runs on the board in the last couple of games.” said the new stand-in captain Josh Inglis.
Inglis experienced a bittersweet moment in Perth, captaining Australia for the first time on his home ground but witnessing a historic defeat.
“It was nice to be captaining in front of my home fans here in Perth, but the result was a disappointment," he added.