Cricket: Oram waits for specialist's verdict

Jacob Oram (C) is assisted from the field after injuring his knee during yesterday’s ODI against Australia in Napier. Photo / Mark Mitchell

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Jacob Oram's role in the rest of the Chappell Hadlee series will be determined by a medical specialist in Auckland today.

The big allrounder fell awkwardly fielding a ball at mid on, midway through Australia's innings in Napier yesterday.

His left leg appeared to straighten unnaturally before he crumpled to the ground.

In obvious pain, he was helped from the field, favouring the leg.

Until that point, Oram's medium pace - which produced figures of seven overs, one wicket for 29 run - had been an important factor in a handy display by a New Zealand attack shorn of their best bowler, captain Daniel Vettori.

Vettori pulled out shortly before the match with a strained neck, described as a chronic injury.

However, he is expected to be fit for the second ODI at Eden Park on Saturday.

"His neck had a kink in it yesterday but he thought he would be all right," New Zealand manager Dave Currie said last night.

"Even warming up today he thought he would be all right, but he wasn't and there was no point in taking any risk on it."

But Oram could be a different story.

He is in his 10th year as an international, but his form of late has been patchy.

Vettori has always championed the 31-year-old as the team's two-for-one player, providing tidy medium pace and big hitting late in the innings.

But apart from a crunching 83 off 40 balls against Bangladesh, also in Napier, last month, Oram has been off his best with the bat.

That innings was his first time past 40 in an ODI since October 2008.

There was no talk of a player being added to the squad last night, either as cover for Vettori or Oram, or as a replacement.

That decision is expected once the result of Oram's assessment is known.

"It's pretty painful so we'll have to wait and see," Currie said of Oram's injury. "It's a different sort of pain so it's unclear [what it is] and we are not going to speculate."