Astle doubtful for ODIS
Spinner Ajaz Patel has received another late Black Caps callup, this time for the one-day internationals against Pakistan with Todd Astle rated a 50-50 chance of remaining on tour.
Coach Gary Stead confirmed Patel, opener George Worker and fast bowler Lockie Ferguson as the final names in the 15-man squad for the three-match ODI series starting tomorrow (1am NZT).
Left-armer Patel, who made a tidy debut in the first Twenty20 after being a late addition, was summoned as cover for legspinner Astle whose knee injury has Stead concerned.
Already without World Cup certainties Martin Guptill (calf) and Mitchell Santner (knee), the squad farewelled Corey Anderson who returns home for a scan on the heel injury that ruled him out of the third T20 when
Pakistan completed a 3-0 clean sweep.
Astle was a strong chance to fill Santner’s spin bowling allrounder spot in the ODIS but will definitely miss game one and is touch and go for the rest, which opens the door for Patel to potentially partner Ish Sodhi again.
Having played well for New Zealand A, Astle took a few days off to rest what was described as a kneecap irritation. He trained
on Monday with Stead rating him 50-50 although his condition had improved.
‘‘It’s a wait and see how Todd scrubs up tomorrow and we’ll have more of an idea whether he’s a chance for the second and third ODIS,’’ Stead said.
New Zealand return to Abu Dhabi where Patel and Sodhi took a combined 2-51 off eight overs and they fell two runs short of Pakistan’s 148-6 in the T20 series opener. Since then, Pakistan spinners Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan clearly outpointed New Zealand’s notably when the tourists lost 8-23 on Monday to be skittled for 119 in game three.
‘‘T20 cricket can be so hit and miss so it can be hard to get a good gauge. Purely on figures and results we would have hoped to get more out of our spinners but the areas they’ve been landing haven’t been that bad,’’ Stead said.
With Trent Boult and Matt Henry joining the ODI squad alongside Ferguson and Tim Southee there’s a strong pace lineup to choose from and Stead said a balance of three quicks and one spinner remained in their thinking, depending on the pitch.
In Guptill’s absence, Worker gets a chance to build on his impressive ODI average of 37.5 from seven matches but needs to lift from the NZA series where he scored 12, 15 and 8 in one-dayers against Pakistan A.