The South African cricket team suffered a blow ahead of their tour of New Zealand when new batting star Keegan Petersen was ruled out after testing positive for Covid-19.
Cricket South Africa announced Petersen’s forced withdrawal on Wednesday, less than 12 hours before the team’s departure on Wednesday evening. Petersen, 28, was named player of the series after South Africa’s 2-1 series win against India last month.
Playing in only his second series, Petersen filled the key number three batting position for South Africa and topped the run-scorers with 276 runs at an average of 46.00 with his top score of 82 coming in a crucial run chase in the third Test.
Petersen will be replaced by Zubayr Hamza, 26, who played the most recent of his five Tests against England in 2019/20. South Africa will play two Test matches against New Zealand. Both will be at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch, starting on February 17 and 25.
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