Ahead of the T20I tri-series against Zimbabwe and South Africa, New Zealand has suffered a huge blow as Finn Allen has been ruled out of the series.
The in-form New Zealand batsman sustained a foot injury while featuring in the Major League Cricket tournament. He represented San Francisco Unicorns and will be sent to New Zealand for further examinations.
Allen was the fifth leading run-scorer at the Major League Cricket event prior to his injury and smashed a superb 151 for the Unicorns in their opening match against Washington Freedom in Oakland. With this, he surpassed `Universe Boss` Chris Gayle`s record for the most number of maximums in a T20 match.
Opening the innings for Unicorns, Finn played with a strike rate of 296.08. With his tally of 19 maximums, the 26-year-old surpassed Gayle`s record of most sixes in a T20 innings. Previously, the former West Indies cricketer held the record along with Sahil Chauhan, who, too, smashed 18 maximums.
After completing the consultation process, a further recovery timeline will be put for Allen. However, he will not be available for any match of the tri-series against Zimbabwe and South Africa. The tournament will kick off on July 14.
His replacement is yet to be announced by the `White Ferns`. They will play their opening match against South Africa on July 16, with white-ball stars Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, and skipper Mitchell Santner all returning after they sat out their most recent T20I series against Pakistan on home soil in March.
All games will be played at the Harare Sports Club.
New Zealand squad: Mitch Santner (c), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Bevon Jacobs, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Will O`Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi.
Tri-series fixtures:
July 14 – Zimbabwe v South Africa, July 16 – South Africa v New Zealand, July 18 – Zimbabwe v New Zealand, July 20 – Zimbabwe v South Africa, July 22 – New Zealand v South Africa, July 24 – Zimbabwe v New Zealand, July 26 – Final.
(With ANI Inputs)
