India vs New Zealand 2019: Martin Guptill Suffers Injury, Will Miss the Wellington ODI
Feb 2, 2019 at 9:30 AM
New Zealand Cricket team opener Martin Guptill will miss the fifth and the final ODI against Indian National Cricket team at Wellington after suffering a back injury during the training session on the eve of the game. Meanwhile, the Kiwis have already lost the five-match series, with defeats in the first three games.
The Black Caps, however, bounced back in the last game to pull one back in the series. Trent Boult inspired his side with a five-wicket haul to bowl out India for a mere 92 runs with supports from Colin de Grandhomme. Martin Guptill started the chase on blistering note smashing Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a six and three boundaries in the first over of the inning only to get out in the fourth delivery. Henry Nicholls then partnered Ross Taylor to cruise to the victory line.
The New Zealand batsman has failed to put runs on the board and as a result, the host side has struggled to put runs on the board. Martin Guptill now has 47 runs from four games with the highest score of 15 runs. He would have been desperate to get some runs but an untimely injury halted his preparation ahead of the ICC World Cup.
The 32-year-old opener aggravated his lower back while throwing at fielding practice at the Basin Reserve on Saturday. He was struggling in pain while Black Caps physiotherapist Vijay Vallabh and security manager Terry Minish assisted him off the ground.
Colin Munro to join the squad
New Zealand Cricket, soon issued a statement saying that they will Martin Guptill’s injury on Sunday morning before taking a call on his availability. However, he is likely to regain his fitness prior to the start of the T20I series. The apex body also recalled out of form batsman Colin Munro in place of Guptill.
He will now join the squad again after the management decided to release him to play the Twenty20 Super Smash match for the Aces against the Knights on Saturday. Munro will now join Henry Nicholls at the top to go out to bat for New Zealand during Sunday’s clash.