Perera out of remainder of South Africa ODIs with hamstring injury

Perera sustained an injury in his left hamstring while fielding during the rain-affected 3rd ODI. © Getty
A day after conceding the ongoing ODI series to South Africa, Sri Lanka suffered a massive setback with batsman Kusal Perera being ruled out of the remainder of the series.

Perera sustained an injury in his left hamstring while fielding during the rain-affected 3rd ODI on Sunday (March 10) that the visitors lost by 71 runs on DLS method. As a result of the injury, Perera did not bat in Sri Lanka's unsuccessful chase.

Sri Lanka Cricket have decided against naming a replacement. However, it remains to be seen if Perera can recover in time for the three-match T20I series that follows, the squad for which is yet to be announced.

Perera was the chief architect of Sri Lanka's Durban heist, hitting an unbeaten 153 in the fourth innings to help the visitors win the thrilling Test series opener by just one wicket. Sri Lanka went on to win the second Test as well and register a historic series sweep. Since then, though, Perera hasn't quite enjoyed the same success with the bat in the limited-overs format.

Sri Lanka have lost all three one-dayers on the bounce to concede the series 0-3 to the hosts. The fourth and fifth games of the dead rubber are due to be played in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town respectively, before the T20I series kicks off on March 19.