Cricket: Black Caps call in Hamish Rutherford as Martin Guptill ruled out of Sri Lanka finale

Name: ANZ Sports Scene: Black Caps win in nail-biter
Uploaded: 2019-09-04T11:54:34+12:00
Duration: 488 s
Description: The Black Caps beat Sri Lanka to claim the T20 series, The Tall Blacks get the win over Montenegro setting up a must win match against Greece and we catch up win speed stacker Sarina Wang. VIDEO/SKY Sport

NZ Herald

4 Sep, 2019 09:15 AM2 mins to read

The Black Caps beat Sri Lanka to claim the T20 series, The Tall Blacks get the win over Montenegro setting up a must win match against Greece and we catch up win speed stacker Sarina Wang. VIDEO/SKY Sport

The Black Caps have called in opener Hamish Rutherford after undergoing an injury crisis in their bizarre Twenty20 win over Sri Lanka this morning.

Injuries to Ross Taylor, Martin Guptill and Tom Bruce were added to the fractured thumb suffered by Lockie Ferguson, to leave the Black Caps' initial 14-man squad down to 10 healthy bodies.

Taylor didn't play this morning after hurting his left hip flexor in the first Twenty20, Guptill had to hobble off with a right abdominal muscle injury sustained while attempting a runout, and Bruce twisted his knee when attempting a second run, requiring some heavy strapping.

It left the Black Caps light on players - and especially batsmen - ahead of the third and final Twenty20 on Saturday morning, and it was tonight confirmed that Guptill has been ruled out of that clash with a right abdomen strain.

Guptill will return home to New Zealand on Wednesday for further assessment, with Otago and Worcestershire opener Rutherford called across from England as cover.

Black Caps coach Gary Stead confirmed Rutherford would join the squad on Thursday, as cover for Bruce.

Bruce told Radio Sport Breakfast that his injury needed some rest but wasn't overly serious.

"It was full contact tonight, wasn't it," Bruce laughed.

"I'll ice the knee and rest up the next couple of days – I think it should be right, fingers crossed anyway.

Taylor, meanwhile, has been ruled fit and ready to go, after being left out of today's match as a precautionary measure.

With their resources already stretched to breaking point, Bruce suspects there may be not too many training requirements before the third Twenty20.

"The boys will rest and recover tomorrow, and I'm not too sure if we'll have a training the day before the game or not – probably with the amount of injuries we might just rest up again."

The Black Caps lead the series 2-0, with the final game of the series set to be their last international for nearly two months - giving their walking wounded time to recover before England visit New Zealand shores in November.