Allan Donald is a doubtful starter for Saturday's VB Series match against Australia in Brisbane after sustaining a finger injury during Tuesday's victory over New Zealand. An X-ray revealed that Donald had chipped a bone in the middle finger of his right hand. "I wouldn't say his finger is very good and I wouldn't say his chances look good of playing," said South Africa's physio Craig Smith. "Sunday is a better chance because of the extra day, but it's too early to say."

Mark Boucher, South Africa's wicketkeeper, was less confident that the break would repair in time for Donald to play at the weekend. "It doesn't really look good," he said. "I've seen how it looks and I know about finger injuries."

Unless it is more serious than initially thought, the injury is not a major blow to the South Africans who have won both their opening games and were considering resting the physically brittle Donald anyway.

But there was better news concerning Jacques Kallis, who missed Tuesday's match with an ankle injury. "We've been able to keep his swelling down, and Jacques is desperate to get out on the field," Smith said. "Things went well for him today and it's positive, but it's still a bit sore."

South Africa's captain, Shaun Pollock, was happy to have got off to a good start in the tournament and said that it was the perfect antidote to their poor performances in the Test series. "We're not worried about the Tests now," he said. "We've put that behind us and we're being as positive as we can be. We're not looking too far ahead. It's a big weekend and if we can do well then we can set ourselves up nicely for the rest of the tournament."

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