Ahead of the clash against England, New Zealand suffered a major setback with their best bowler Lockie Ferguson being ruled out of the clash. The hamstring injury has made the physios to give the youngster a rest before the knock-out phase of the tournament.
New Zealand’s pace sensation Lockie Ferguson has been ruled out of the Cricket World Cup match against England at Chester-le-Street today due to a hamstring strain.
Ferguson has 17 wickets so far – the second most in the tournament behind Australia’s Mitchell Starc. He has a tight left hamstring and will miss the match against England as a precaution, New Zealand Cricket Twitter announced.
Lockie Ferguson is New Zealand’s highest wicket-taker:
With 17 Wickets in 7 matches at an average of 18.58, Ferguson is New Zealand’s best bowler at this World Cup. New Zealand has not yet qualified for the semi-finals. They need one point to confirm their spot in the next round. A win over England today would help.
Tim Southee came in for Lockie Ferguson, and Matt Henry replaced Ish Sodhi in the New Zealand playing XI, while England is fielding an unchanged side. Ferguson has a tight left hamstring and will miss today’s match.
Lockie Ferguson has a tight left hamstring and will miss today’s match against England as a precaution. pic.twitter.com/hNctdy8h1x
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) July 3, 2019
The match between New Zealand and England will be an intriguing contest for quite a few reasons. Alongside both the participating teams, Pakistan’s hopes are riding on a New Zealand win today.
If England loses to New Zealand, Pakistan could leapfrog them into the top four. Only, if they get victory over Bangladesh, whose own semi-final hopes ended with a defeat to India on Tuesday that sent Virat Kohli´s men through.
If England win, however, Pakistan would be virtually eliminated. A win over Bangladesh would not be enough unless it is by a huge margin of runs or overs.