Key pair remain in doubt

The Black Caps’ hopes of winning the one-day series against England could be in disarray with injury fears over Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor.

Williamson missed the onesided defeat to England in Mount Maunganui on Wednesday night with a hamstring injury, while Taylor was to have a scan yesterday on a quad muscle he damaged in the game, when being run out by David Willey.

Taylor, who hit a century in the opening ODI of the series, when he helped guide New Zealand to an impressive win, was forced to sit in the pavilion on Wednesday night when the Black Caps fielded.

The injury concerns over two of New Zealand’s key players, come at a time when Ben Stokes and the rest of the England team are rediscovering their best form.

Unlike the series against the West Indies and Pakistan earlier this summer, the Black Caps have got a real challenge on their hands this time, especially if they are without Taylor and Williamson.

At the Mount, New Zealand’s total of 223 was never going to be enough against a good England batting line up and if Taylor and Williamson are absent for tomorrow’s game in Wellington, the pressure will be on the likes of Martin Guptill, Colin Munro and Mark Chapman to step up.

There will also need to be a marked improvement in the running between the wickets.

‘‘We scrapped through to something we could bowl at but it’s never easy when you hand the opposition four run outs,’’ acting New Zealand captain Tim Southee said of the team’s poor batting performance on Wednesday.

‘‘The effort from the bowlers was top drawer, to keep coming in trying to create chances. But the way [England] played they were too good today,’’ he said.

New Zealand’s bowlers will also need to match the consistency the English bowlers showed at Mount Maunganui.