There comes a huge blow for New Zealand as their ace fast bowler Matt Henry has been ruled out of the ODI World Cup 2023 due to a hamstring injury. Matt Henry sustained a hamstring injury during a fixture against South Africa in Pune. The injury is a grade two lower tear injury & will need two to four weeks to recover completely. This means Henry will stay available for the rest of the tournament & NZC has named Kyle Jamieson as his replacement.
New Zealand Head Coach, Gary Stead expressed deep sympathy for Henry’s condition. He further emphasized the crucial role Jamieson played in New Zealand’s ODI squad over the years. Henry had consistently been ranked among the top 10 ODI bowlers by the ICC after displaying his exceptional talent & skill. Additionally, Stead praised Henry’s positive team spirit stating that the team would miss his personality & wealth of experience.
Henry’s injury has added to the likes of Kane Williamson (thumb), Mark Chapman (calf), Lockie Ferguson (Achilles) and James Neesham (wrist). This means the Black Caps have just 11 fit players in the squad.
Matt Henry’s absence will be felt by New Zealand as he had a good time in the ongoing World Cup 2023. Henry has scalped 11 wickets at 28.63 at an economy rate of 5.79 in seven matches. He kickstarted the tournament with back-to-back three-wicket hauls against England and Netherlands. However, in their recent fixtures against Australia & South Africa, he proved to be expensive with the ball. But his presence added more power to New Zealand’s bowling order.
Kyle Jamieson to come in as Matt Henry’s Replacement
To fill the void created by the absence of Matt Henry, New Zealand Cricket has called up Jamieson to the squad. The prolific pacer had undergone back surgery in February & is now completely fit to make a return to the squad. He has accompanied the New Zealand squad as a backup option for the tournament which facilitated his seamless integration within the team. Jamieson reached Bengaluru on Thursday & is set to train along with the team on Friday in order to feature in their upcoming fixture against Pakistan.
Stead applauded Jamieson’s skills & his ability to be a threat with the ball for the opponents. The coach also highlighted an added advantage of Jamieson’s prior training with the team during the initial stages of the tournament as it will help Jamieson top be match return even without playing in the initial fixtures of World Cup 2023.
Black Caps currently occupies the fourth spot on the ODI World Cup 2023 Points table & have two round-robin league stage fixtures to be played in Bengaluru. These two fixtures will be played against Pakistan on Saturday & Sri Lanka on the following Thursday. New Zealand has great hopes for Kyle Jamieson as they expect him to accept the challenge & fill the void created by Hnery’s absence with a coveted Trophy at stake.
Also read, Siraj, Shami’s spell takes India to CWC 2023 Semi-final
