London, Sep 8: England Twenty20 captain Stuart Broad will lead his side against South Africa without a nail on his right index finger, following a mishap during fielding practice.
England and South Africa will contest No.1 in the world rankings for the third time this summer at Durham today in the opening NatWest T20 international.
Broad also said the absence of Kevin Pietersen would not overshadow the upcoming series with South Africa and the defence of their World Twenty20 title in Sri Lanka.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has not included Pietersen’s name in the list of players who have been given a central contract for the 2012-13 season, The Mirror reports.
The batsman is out of favour following a dispute over the alleged content of text messages he sent to the members of the South Africa squad during the recent Test series, with his future still no clearer despite the retirement of captain Andrew Strauss.
Pietersen, England’s man of the tournament when they won the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean two years ago, did announce his limited overs retirement earlier this season, but then changed his mind and made himself available for all formats again.
© ANI
