Cricket: Harris given chance for 200th one-day wicket

1.00pm

DURHAM - Chris Harris will chase his elusive 200th one-day cricket international wicket against England tomorrow.

His chance comes after Daryl Tuffey was ruled out of the NatWest triangular series match today with a thigh strain he suffered during an impressive five-over opening spell against West Indies on Saturday.

And the wicket at Durham in northern England is perfectly set for Harris.

Tuffey only sent down a few deliveries at training but was clearly not 100 per cent, giving Harris the recall ahead of Ian Butler on the dry, slow surface he thrives on with his tricky mix of leg cutters and inswingers.

Harris, with a record 240 appearances for New Zealand, was recalled for the final two matches of the South Africa series in February, shone with the bat but went wicketless to leave him poised on 199 victims.

In light of the recent injury woes, the decision was made not to risk Tuffey and try to have him ready for Saturday's match against West Indies in Cardiff.

There was one other change to the side with wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins named for his debut after Brendon McCullum returned home for the birth of his first child.

In a rapid reversal of tour fortunes, New Zealand look the more confident unit than the hosts after the weekend's events.

New Zealand had the better of West Indies before the Birmingham rain intervened while England were skittled for 147 by the West Indies' young attack then lost by seven wickets yesterday.

England, without seasoned test campaigners Mark Butcher and Graham Thorpe, the retired Nasser Hussain and the injured allrounder Andrew Flintoff are a vastly different side with only paceman Darren Gough topping 100 one-day appearances.

New Zealand vice-captain Chris Cairns, one of six New Zealanders with 100-plus matches, said England's two leading batsmen were the key after both were dismissed for one and nought yesterday.

"It just confirms how much Trescothick and Vaughan are the keys to their batting," Cairns said.

"If you remove both of those it shows a bit of a soft underbelly, guys with not a lot of experience coming in, so the key is to get those wickets at the top.

"There are quite a few personnel changes from the test matches. They had quite a successful batting lineup and quite a lot of experience.

"They've moved away from that, they're planning for the World Cup and they're giving chances to other guys. Perhaps that's an opportunity for us."

Yesterday's loss raised the prospect of England missing out on their own tri-series final for the second time in five years.

New Zealand are ahead of them after two washouts, and if the tourists win their sixth one-day match in a row tomorrow, England will be battling to keep pace.

The weather could have a further say tomorrow in the day-night match (1.30am start NZT), with evening rain forecast.

New Zealand seemed to cope well with the shortened match in Birmingham on Saturday but Cairns said a full match was always preferred.

"We were pretty frustrated after the last one when we were home and hosed.

"We should be able to get a game in here, but a reduced game becomes more of a lottery. Over 100 overs the better team will generally come out on top.

"But we have got some pretty good power hitters which may not be a bad thing for us because of the depth of our batting lineup."

The Riverside ground at nearby Chester-le-Street is England's newest test venue and usually produces a pitch full of runs.

The match will reunite two of Durham's favourite sons, allrounder Paul Collingwood and paceman Stephen Harmison who destroyed New Zealand in the test series, and the ground was already a 14,000 sellout.

New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Hamish Marshall, Scott Styris, Craig McMillan, Chris Cairns, Jacob Oram, Chris Harris, Daniel Vettori, Gareth Hopkins, James Franklin.

England (from): Michael Vaughan (captain), Marcus Trescothick, Robert Key, Geraint Jones, Andrew Strauss, Paul Collingwood, Anthony McGrath, Ian Blackwell, Rikki Clarke, Ashley Giles, James Anderson, Darren Gough, Stephen Harmison, Sajid Mahmood.

Umpires: Rudi Koertzen (South Africa), Jeremy Lloyds (England).

- NZPA