BRISBANE, Nov 10: South Africa will be seeking a replacement for batsman J.P. Duminy after he was ruled out for the rest of their three-Test series with Australia with a tour-ending injury, coach Gary Kirsten said Saturday.

Duminy ruptured his Achilles tendon while warming down kicking a rugby ball after the end of play at the Gabba on Friday.

The batsman, who was a star of South Africa’s historic 2-1 series victory in Australia four years ago, went for hospital scans after being helped off the ground and will undergo surgery Saturday, team officials said.

Kirsten said Duminy’s injury was a “very unfortunate” mishap.

“He just ran for some training runs which is a standard thing we do with the team and it was literally as benign as making a turn on a run and he snapped his Achilles,” Kirsten told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“He will be out for about six months. It’s been tough for him and the team, but we’ve just got to step up now.”

Kirsten said a replacement from South Africa would be summoned, but as yet he was unsure of who would come to Australia for the remainder of the three-Test series.

Ashwell Prince or fellow left-hander Dean Elgar are in line to come to Australia to replace Duminy. It was Prince’s broken thumb that opened the door for Duminy to star in South Africa’s last tour to Australia.—AFP