Trent Boult unlikely to be available for New Zealand for 1st Test vs England after RR reach IPL 2022 final

Kiwi pacer Trent Boult is unlikely to play against England in the first Test match, starting from June 2 2022. Boult is currently with Rajasthan Royals who made it to the final of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) after defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by seven wickets in the Qualifier 2 on May 27 2022.

Trent Boult has enjoyed a good season with the Royals so far as he has bagged 15 scalps. Now, he will be keen on helping Rajasthan win their second IPL trophy on May 29 against Gujarat Titans (GT). Even, in the Qualifier 2, he picked up the wicket of Glenn Maxwell by conceding only 28 runs in his four-over quota.

Lack of time for Boult to prepare for the First Test match

The IPL Final is scheduled to take place on Monday morning as per New Zealand time. Hence, it will be quite impossible for Boult to prepare for the first Test at Lord’s against England on Thursday night (NZ time). There are no details as of now around the time Boult will reach the UK to play the Test series. However, it is highly unlikely that he will play the opening game at Lord’s.

Speaking about the warm-up match, the visitors finished day two against the County Select XI side in Chelmsford leading by 115 runs with all 10 second-innings wickets in the bag. Having won the toss, NZ opted to bat first and scored 362 runs for nine wickets. In reply, Ajaz Patel took three wickets to bundle out the opponent for 247 runs.

In the absence of Boult, Tim Southee, Kyle Jamieson, Neil Wagner, Matt Henry and spin bowler, Ajaz Patel are available for selection. Ajaz Patel also contributed with the bat by scoring a useful 36* off 30 balls. Speaking about his batting abilities to stuff.co.nz, Patel said: “It is part of the game I have been working on consciously because you can play a key role down the bottom there.”

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson is expected to have a chance of batting in the second innings as he joined the squad earlier this week following the birth of his second child.