Ben Curran, brother of England all-rounder Sam Curran, has been called up to the Zimbabwe T20 World Cup squad to replace Brendan Taylor.
Ben Curran named as Brendan Taylor's replacement
Taylor, who also played the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, was ruled out of the ongoing edition after picking up a hamstring injury in Zimbabwe’s opening game against Oman. He took the field in the game in Colombo and also batted in the chase, scoring 31*, before he retired hurt after injuring his hamstring.
Curran, a top-order batter, has now been named as Taylor’s replacement. The southpaw hasn’t made his T20I debut for Zimbabwe yet, but has played both Tests and ODIs for them. In eight Tests, he has scored 495 runs at 33, with a top score of 121, and 340 at 48.57 in as many ODIs.
He was in top form during the recently concluded Zimbabwe Domestic Twenty20 Competition, scoring 209 runs in eight matches at a strike-rate of 130.62 to finish as the tournament’s third-highest run-getter. His knocks included a crucial 31-ball 48 in the semi-final as the Rhinos finished joint winners of the competition after the final was abandoned due to rain.
Ben’s brother, Sam, meanwhile, has arguably been England’s best player at the T20 World Cup so far. He bowled a superb last over in a thriller against Nepal, defending 10 runs to help England avoid an upset. He then scored an unbeaten 30-ball 43 against the West Indies, but received little help from others as England succumbed to a defeat.
Notably, with Ben’s inclusion, there are now six pairs of brothers featuring in the T20 World Cup. Italy’s Justin and Anthony Mosca, and Ben and Harry Manenti, Harry and Tim Tector, and Ross and Mark Adair, all of Ireland, and Nepal’s Aasif and Aarif Sheikh.
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