Injured McLaren to miss rest of tri-series

South Africa allrounder Ryan McLaren has been ruled out of the remainder of the tri-series in Zimbabwe after suffering a hairline fracture on his right forearm. He picked up the injury while batting against Australia on Tuesday and will return to South Africa on Thursday morning.

"Ryan was taken for X-rays this afternoon after complaining of severe pain following a blow to his right forearm yesterday," South Africa team manager Dr Mohammed Moosajee said. "The scans revealed a hairline fracture to the bone in the right forearm, which rules him out of action for the next three weeks."

McLaren was hit on the arm by a short and quick delivery from Mitchell Johnson in the 29th over which is likely to have caused the injury. Earlier this year, too, McLaren was hit on the head by a bouncer from Johnson in the Centurion Test which had ruled him out of the second Test.

South Africa will now need a replacement for McLaren for their last league match, against Zimbabwe on Thursday. Their options lie in Kyle Abbott, Wayne Parnell and Mthokozisi Shezi. McLaren played all three matches in the series and picked up six wickets, and scored 30 runs in two innings.