HARARE: Australia must overcome the embarrassment of losing to Zimbabwe and the departure of captain Michael Clarke to injury when they take on South Africa in the fifth match of the one-day triangular series here on Tuesday.

Clarke’s hamstring problem flared up during his innings of 68 against Zimbabwe on Sunday, and insult was added to injury when the hosts chased down a target of 210 to pull off one of the great upsets in cricket’s history.

According to Cricket Australia, Clarke flew out of Zimbabwe on Monday to return home for treatment, leaving Australia with a squad of just 13 to pick from for Tuesday’s encounter.

Clarke’s sore left hamstring had kept him out of Australia’s first two games of the series, which also involves South Africa, and it flared up again in the course of his 68 as Australia went down by three wickets on Sunday.

The Australian captain looked uncomfortable for large parts of his innings, but the injury worsened after he tweaked the hamstring completing a second run in the 40th over.

Clarke continued to bat until the 43rd over, when it became clear that his difficulty running between the wickets was hampering Australia’s bid for some much-needed late runs.

“Michael aggravated his left hamstring while batting against Zimbabwe today and will not be able to take any further part in the tri-series,” Australia team physiotherapist David Beakley said on Monday.

“Michael will return to Sydney on Tuesday to undergo scans and further assessment to determine the full extent of the injury.”

Sunday’s three-wicket defeat to Zimbabwe saw Australia slip from No 1 to No 3 on the ICC’s one-day rankings table, below India and South Africa.

It was just the second time ever that Australia had lost to the No 10-ranked nation, following Zimbabwe’s win at Trent Bridge in the 1983 World Cup.

“There’s probably not enough expletives in the English language at the moment for the way I’m feeling,” coach Darren Lehmann said. “We weren’t good enough, and we’ve got to learn really quickly because teams are going to see that and they’re going to react to it.”

Australia’s problems centred largely on spin, with Zimbabwe’s four spinners taking a combined six for 117 in 36 overs as the tourists were limited to 209 for nine.

With Clarke able to bowl just one over in the Zimbabwean innings and Steve Smith not selected, Nathan Lyon was the only spin bowler who posed any threat for Australia.

Although Smith is guaranteed to come back in for the game against South Africa, and strike bowler Mitchell Johnson will also return, Australia will face many of the same challenges against the Proteas if another dry wicket is produced by the Harare Sports Club groundsmen — as seems likely.

Should Australia fail to beat South Africa, it would leave the door open for Zimbabwe to qualify for Saturday’s final when they take on South Africa on Thursday in the last game of the round robin stage.

Teams (from):

AUSTRALIA: Aaron Finch, Phil Hughes, George Bailey (captain), Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Marsh, Brad Haddin, James Faulkner, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Kane Richardson, Ben Cutting.

SOUTH AFRICA: Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, A.B. de Villiers (captain), J.P. Duminy, David Miller, Ryan McLaren, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Morne Morkel, Aaron Phangiso, Wayne Parnell, Kyle Abbott, Rilee Rossouw, Mthokozisi Shezi.

Umpires: Russell Tiffin Zimbabwe) and Aleem Dar (Pakistan).

TV umpire: Jeremiah Matibiri Zimbabwe).

Match referee: Javagal Srinath (India).

Published in Dawn, September 2nd , 2014