Lions quick Kwena Maphaka awaits scan after hamstring twinge

Kwena Maphaka’s season has started with a slight pause. The 19-year-old fast bowler, named in South Africa’s makeshift T20 squad for next week’s match in Namibia and pencilled in for the white-ball trip to Pakistan later in the month, left the field at Newlands with a sore hamstring and will head for precautionary scans.

It happened during the Lions’ four-day fixture against Western Province. Maphaka managed only 5.5 overs in the first innings before feeling discomfort. An initial scan showed “no major damage” – the wording from team medical staff – so he came back, took the new ball in the second innings and promptly bagged 3 for 26. The Lions went on to win by an innings and 134 runs, which soothed nerves but didn’t erase them. An MRI early this week should confirm whether the hamstring is merely tight or something more troublesome.

The timing matters. South Africa’s senior side is thin on fast-bowling depth after a bruising winter, and Maphaka has already been earmarked for a busy stretch: the Namibia T20 on 11 October, a multi-format tour of Pakistan straight afterwards, and – if all goes well – a trip to India in December. Coaches like what they see, but several have also suggested he could use a longer run of domestic four-day cricket. Six first-class matches (two of them Tests) is not a hefty sample size.

Even so, the numbers look tidy. Alongside the early Test exposure, he owns three ODI caps and 13 T20I appearances, plus a contract with Durban’s Super Giants for the upcoming SA20. Not bad for someone who was finishing school this time two years ago.

The Namibia match itself is a one-off. Cricket Namibia will christen its new ground in Windhoek on Saturday, and South Africa agreed to send a side. Because the Test squad will already be in Rawalpindi, the group travelling north reads more like a South African A team. Donovan Ferreira leads, Quinton de Kock returns from his short-lived ODI retirement, and the selectors have mixed emerging talent with the odd familiar face.

Whether Maphaka boards that flight hinges on the MRI. If he misses out, the Lions are likely to press for him to remain in Johannesburg and build overs in the CSA 4-Day Series instead – an argument that seems sensible given how quickly the international calendar fills up once the festive period rolls around.

South Africa’s management has been at pains to stress there is no panic. A minor twinge can feel worse than it really is, especially early in the season. Yet with so few experienced quicks fully fit, every niggle draws attention. For now the message from those close to the player is straightforward: wait for the scan, then plan accordingly.

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