The Sydney Thunder have some hope Daniel Sams wrist injury won't add to the pain of Monday night's six-wicket loss to the Hobart Hurricanes
Thunder face nervous wait on Sams injury scare
The Sydney Thunder are hopeful star allrounder Daniel Sams has avoided a serious wrist injury after being hurt in Monday's KFC BBL loss to Hobart.
Sams was in clear pain after he fell awkwardly and had his body weight go down on his right wrist while trying to field a ball off his own bowling.
He finished his over and bowled one more, before leaving the field and not returning in the six-wicket lost.
Daniel Sams hits the deck pretty hard here, but thankfully he seems to be okay and continues bowling š pic.twitter.com/9QwUJqPKHkā KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) January 18, 2021
His injury scare capped a sour night for the Thunder, who suffered their fourth loss in five games and now suddenly find themselves fighting for their place in the finals.
"He was a bit sore actually," captain Callum Ferguson said of Sams.
"We'll assess him. I'll get inside and check on him and make sure everything's okay.
"The fact he was able to bowl again is a real positive looking forward for sure."
The Thunder are refusing to panic about their drop in form, confident in the fact they have not been blown off the park in any of their losses.
But any absence of Sams would hurt them.
Their losing run began when he was concussed and unable to bowl against Brisbane, and he missed the next two matches.
After taking 30 wickets last summer and making his Australia Twenty20 debut in December, Sams has backed it up again with strong form this season.
While he has taken 10 wickets with the ball at 22.90, his batting has stepped up this season with 199 runs at 49.75 and an impressive strike-rate of 191.
Thunder coach Shane Bond said Sams had discovered a real sense of confidence in his ability.
"There's a real difference to last year ā obviously Dan had a great year, particularly with the ball ā but he struggled mightily with the bat," Bond said.
"The way he's batted this year has been unbelievable, and we know he always had it in him.
"I think he's found that confidence, and it's perhaps a combination of bowling success last year, getting selected for the Australian team ... (and) going to the IPL.
"I think when you know what you're capable of, you're capable of having success. It does build an inner confidence."