NZ vs ENG: Injury blow for Black Caps as Adam Milne gets ruled out of ODI series

Adam Milne, New Zealand pacer, has been ruled out of the remainder of the ODI series against England due to a low-grade hamstring injury. The second ODI of the four-game series will be contested at the Rose Bowl Cricket Ground in Southampton on September 10.

The 31-year-old suffered hamstring stiffness while training in Cardiff before the first game which was played September 8. A later scan revealed that he had to undergo rehabilitation. He will be staying in England with the squad to work on his healing process because he has also been selected for the ODI squad for the Bangladesh tour.

Ben Lister, a left-armer, will now join the squad in Southampton as a replacement for Milne. The 27-year-old is currently in England, where he has signed with Kent County Cricket Club to play for the rest of the County Championship games in the ongoing season.

With the compressed nature of the schedule, New Zealand coach Gary Stead stated that having backup in the team was extremely important. He is optimistic that Lister, along with the other veteran players, will contribute to the team's success.

"We have short turnarounds between these matches and want to try and look after the players as much as possible with the upcoming schedule. With Ben already here in England it meant we could have him join the squad at short notice without the recovery time of a bowler joining from New Zealand mid-series. Ben impressed us in the UAE and warm-up matches in England and will continue to learn being around some senior players in the touring group,” Stead was quoted as saying by New Zealand Cricket.

New Zealand beat England by eight wickets, take 1-0 lead

Tom Latham-led New Zealand outplayed England by eight wickets in the opening ODI to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series. Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, captain Jos Buttler, and Liam Livingstone all hit fifty for the hosts. However, Blackcaps’ Rachin Ravindra finished with figures of 3/48 as the tourists restricted England by 291 runs.

During the chase, opener Devon Conway and No. 4 batter Daryl Mitchell both amassed centuries and contributed 180 runs to help New Zealand cross the line. Notably, this was New Zealand and England’s first ODI game since the historic ICC Cricket World Cup final at Lord's in 2019.