SA-W vs WI-W | Twitter grimaces as unfortunate deflection leaves nasty bruise and swelling on James' face

SportsCafe Desk
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Injuries and promising youngsters are an all-too common pairing in sports, but one involving a 19-year-old on the biggest stage in the most tragic fashion is particularly heartbreaking. Zaida James was the victim in Dubai on Friday as her bowling contribution had to be limited to a single delivery.

The West Indies failed to build around Stefanie Taylor's unbeaten 44 as Nonkululeko Mlaba ran riot with four scalps to restrict the islanders to a paltry 118/6/. In response, Laura Wolvdaart and Tazmin Brits got the Proteas off to a solid start, racking up 43 runs in the powerplay without the loss of a single delivery. However, things were even more dire for the Caribbean side than the scoreboard suggested, as their new-ball operator Zaida James had to be stranded on the sidelines after a horrific injury early in the innings.

Handed the shiny Kookaburra in the second over, the 19-year-old left-arm orthodox bowler went full to Wolvdaart first up who took the opportunity to drive the ball down the ground. James was in position to collect the ball without much ado as it came at chest height off the bounce but much to everyone's horror, the white rock deflected the top of her cupped hands and rattled straight into the youngster's cheekbone. James immediately went down on her knees before the umpire came up to check on her and the physio came sprinting in, while James sat on the pitch holding her face. Even as her teammates tried to calm her down, James was nearly in tears as she walked off the field distraught to let play resume.

Twitterati was quick to send their wishes for speedy recovery to the fledgling youngster.

Brutal

Pretty bad

Retired

Hope so

sad

True

Excellent

All the best

Big game

Cheer for India

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