New Zealand’s World Cup campaign has seen a bump off late as they stumbled to their second consecutive defeat against Australia, taking a huge hit on their run rate. The team has also been plagued with injuries, with Matt Henry being ruled out of the tournament. Kyle Jamieson has been called up to the side as an injury cover as confirmed by head coach Gary Stead.
New Zealand are in dire need of a frontline fast bowler ahead of their crucial clash against Pakistan, also in contention for a spot in the semi-finals. Matt Henry suffered a hamstring injury during Australia’s 190-run humbling in Pune and had to undergo scans to assess the severity of the injury. This added to the long list of injuries in the New Zealand camp with Lockie Ferguson recovering from an Achilles tendon injury and Kane Williamson having a fractured thumb.
The severity of Matt’s injury, combined with a short turnaround to Pakistan, meant we couldn’t risk being a bowler down for Saturday – Gary Stead
“Matt’s been a world-class performer for us in ODI cricket for the past two World Cup cycles so we’ve got our fingers crossed for the scan results later today,” said Gary Stead
Kyle Jamieson made his international debut for New Zealand in 2020 and has taken 14 wickets in 13 ODIs. The 6 ft 8 inches pacer is also handy with the bat lower down the order. Stead believes that Jamieson has enough match practice to be in the playing 11 straightaway
Kyle’s on his way over as we speak and we look forward to welcoming him back into the group. He’ll likely train with us on Friday with a mind to being available for Saturday’s game – Gary Stead
“Kyle was able to train for two full weeks with us earlier in the tournament and has since played a Plunket Shield match – so we’re confident he’ll be able to hit the ground running,” Stead added.
Consecutive losses to hosts India and neighbors Australia have pushed down New Zealand from third to fourth spot in the World Cup points table. The clash against Pakistan has turned into a must-win game for New Zealand as another loss might jeopardize their semi-final chances.