GEORGE DOBELL IN SYDNEY: The England batter limped off with groin pain during Sri Lanka's innings and did not feature in the chase, despite the team losing six wickets in reply
Dawid Malan's availability for the remainder of the men's T20 World Cup is in doubt after he was forced off the field in Sydney.
England qualified for the semi-final of the tournament, to be played at Adelaide on Thursday (November 10), with a nervy victory over Sri Lanka. But just a little of the gloss may have been taken off the victory by concerns over Malan's fitness. The final is to be played in Melbourne on November 13.
Malan, who has been previously rated the ICC's No.1 batter in men's T20I cricket, suffered groin pain while attempting to field a ball in the 15th over of the Sri Lanka innings. He limped off the field and subsequently did not bat despite England losing six wickets in their reply.
While the England camp stressed it was too early to give any indication of his fitness for the rest of the tournament - he will be assessed over the next 24 hours - there will be a concern at his obvious discomfort and the fact that groin injuries can take some time to heal.
Phil Salt, yet to feature in the tournament, is the natural replacement in the top order (Paul Kane/Getty Images)
"It's too early to tell, but fingers crossed he'll pull up well," Jos Buttler, the England captain, told the BBC. "He would have batted if he needed to. Running would have been difficult but he would have gone out there."
Should Malan be unavailable, Phil Salt is the most likely beneficiary. He has been batting well in training and has an excellent strike rate (164.33) in T20I cricket, albeit it in a limited sample size of 11 matches. Liam Dawson, who is a travelling reserve, could also be called into the squad.
The England ODI squad also arrive in Australia on November 9. While that would be realistically too late for the semi-final, it does present the intriguing possibility that Jason Roy, James Vince or Sam Billings could yet win a call-up to the T20I squad should England reach the final.
Mark Wood was also obliged to leave the field after bowling just one over in the Sri Lanka innings. He was not suffering from any injury, though; he merely required an urgent toilet break. He returned to claim three wickets.
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