Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
AAP
AAP
Jasper Bruce

'Go for it': Head not afraid ahead of Proteas rematch

Travis Head has challenged the South African bowler who broke his hand to target him again when Australia meets the Proteas in their World Cup semi-final.

Head missed Australia's first five games of the India-based tournament after a delivery from Gerald Coetzee struck his left hand during the fourth ODI of the sides' series in September.

The opener flew home to recover but Australia opted to keep him in the World Cup squad, a decision that paid off when he made 109 runs in a crucial defeat of New Zealand on return.

Since his century against the Black Caps, Head has averaged only seven runs across three knocks, the left-hander falling to right-arm pacemen like Coetzee on each occasion.

Head doubted Coetzee would send extra love his way when the sides met in Kolkata on Thursday, but was unfazed either way.

"Go for it," Head said.

"He's taken the most wickets for them but has missed a couple of games so it'll be interesting to see what kind of make-up they go with.

"I don't think that (the injury) will be in their mind."

With 18 wickets at 19.38, Coetzee is the equal-third highest wicket-taker at the tournament, only slightly ahead of Proteas allrounder Marco Jansen with 17 at 24.41.

Fellow quick Kagiso Rabada has 12 scalps of his own - as many as Australia's most prolific paceman Josh Hazlewood.

"They're a very confident bowling attack," Head said.

"They're a very skilful bowling attack so I don't think I'll be targeted any certain way.

"I think they'll think their skill-set is good enough to get me out. I'll back my skill-set against theirs and we'll see how we go."

Head is holding no grudges against Coetzee ahead of the semi-final.

"I'm sure he didn't mean to hit me in the hand. I reckon it was probably meant to go a little bit higher than that," Head joked.

"But that's all part of the game. I take a relaxed approach to all that sort of stuff with performance, injuries.

"He did me a favour, I got four weeks at home with the family, so got refreshed, come back and hopefully can be refreshed and energised and can perform at the back-end of the tournament.

"It might've been a blessing in disguise."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.