Maphaka ruled out despite initial 'clean scan'

Kwena Maphaka walked a few steps to the crease and bowled. Then he jogged to the crease and bowled. Then he loped. Then he chugged. Then he ran hard. And bowled each time.

This happened on a practice pitch at Newlands during Lunch on Saturday, the third day of Western Province's first-class match against the Lions.

Maphaka had bowled only 5.5 of the 45 overs the Lions had needed to dismiss WP for 193 in the first innings on Thursday. He felt a twinge in a hamstring and left the field, and was able to put his feet up as the Lions batted for almost 12 hours before declaring at 552 for 9.

Would he bowl in the second innings?

The Maphaka messaging was mixed. "He's out," someone in the WP camp said. "He's fine," the Lions said.

Having come through his lunchtime test apparently unscathed, Maphaka shared the new ball with Beyers Swanepoel. He looked like he always does and bowled 10 overs, taking three wickets - all in what became the last seven overs of the match. The Lions won by an innings and 134 runs with a day to spare.

All seemed well, but Maphaka was sent for an MRI scan on Monday. Just to make sure all was indeed well. It wasn't.

On Wednesday, a CSA release said Maphaka had been ruled out with a strained hamstring: "Subsequent scans and medical assessments revealed a grade 1-2 injury, and he will undergo rehabilitation over the next four weeks."

Maphaka will miss the T20I South Africa will play against Namibia in Windhoek on Saturday as well as the six white-ball internationals the South Africans will play in Pakistan from October 28 to November 8. He was not in the squad for the Tests in Lahore and Rawalpindi from Sunday to October 24. Ottneil Baartman will replace Maphaka in Windhoek and in the three T20Is in Pakistan. Lizaad Williams will be on board for the three ODIs.

Why, you might think, did the Lions risk bowling Maphaka in the second innings considering he was already hurt by then? Because they believed he wasn't injured. Clearly, neither did he.

"He had a scan during the first innings which came back clear," Jono Leaf-Wright, the Lions chief executive, told Cricbuzz on Thursday. "The physio and medical team managed him and got him ready to bowl in the second innings."

With Russell Domingo as their head coach and Hashim Amla and Allan Donald in the batting and bowling roles, the Lions have more managerial experience in their dressing-room than most teams. Doubtless the decision that Maphaka should bowl in the second innings was made sensibly. It was, after all, informed by medical opinion. But even doctors get things wrong.

In hindsight, that annoyingly perfect science, maybe Maphaka should have sat out Saturday's play. He was instrumental in rushing his team to victory, but that success has come at a hefty price.

He's only 19, so he will play many more matches for South Africa than his current record of two Tests, three ODIs and 13 T20Is. That's part of the point - if he is going to have a long international career he will need to be carefully managed. Otherwise today's twinge becomes tomorrow's injury.