Duffin returns to face Bangladesh

Terrance Duffin is back to bolster Zimbabwe's top order © AFP

Terrance Duffin will return to the Zimbabwe side for the ODI series against Bangladesh after recovering from surgery on torn ligaments in his left hand.

He was struck by a bouncer from Makhaya Ntini during Zimbabwe's brief tour of South Africa in September last year and was ruled out of the trip to Bangladesh in December.

The specialist who operated on his hand recently gave Duffin the green light to resume playing. He trained with the rest of Zimbabwe squad in Bulawayo last week and batted in a practice match in Harare on Wednesday.

Duffin is set to open the batting with Vusumuzi Sibanda after a full strength Zimbabwe side, disguised as Zimbabwe A, was whitewashed in their recent series against South Africa A. The batting was of major concern with only one batsman, Elton Chigumbura, passing 50 during the whole series.

However, his return to action could be hampered by the weather. It started raining heavily in Harare on Wednesday night, forcing the Zimbabweans to abandon their practice match at Harare Sports Club and instead turned to net practice this morning.

The first of four ODIs starts on Sunday. The series will be sponsored by Croco Motors, who have put up 100 million Zimbabwe dollars for the tour.