New Zealand pacer Ferguson likely to rule out of T20I Tri-series

CHRISTCHURCH: New Zealand’s camp has been rocked by another massive blow as their speedster Lockie Ferguson is likely to miss the entirety of the ongoing T20I Tri-series involving Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Ferguson, who is coping with a slight abdominal ailment, is questionable for the current series, which further hinders New Zealand, which was already missing the services of Daryl Mitchell and Mitchell Santner due to injuries.

His injury dealt a serious setback to the team’s bowling unit, which is already concerned about the health of key pacer Adam Milne.

As a result, the Blackcaps are relying only on their experienced duo of Tim Southee and Trent Boult as they are the only renowned bowlers in their lineup.

New Zealand head coach Gary Stead termed Ferguson’s injury ‘not serious’ but will be treated with care in order to regain complete fitness ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup later this month.

“Lockie has a little ab injury at the moment. We’re just managing just that and the most important thing is we get to the start of the World Cup and Lockie is ready to go. He’s a very, very important cog in our bowling line-up. Unfortunately for him, he missed last year’s World Cup with the injury he had then.”

“I mean we are mindful of it and we want to make sure that he’s right and ready for those early games in the World Cup. There is that chance [of him missing the entire tri-series]. We will just see how he responds to treatment over the next few days,” Stead said in an official statement.

It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan thrashed New Zealand by six wickets in the second match of the ongoing tri-series and firmed their top spot in the standings. The two sides will meet again on Tuesday.