New Zealand vs South Africa: The South African team is currently on a tour of New Zealand. This tour has started with a 5-match T20 series. But the first match of the series proved to be a nightmare for the host team. The New Zealand team could not even touch the 100-run mark in this match. After this bad start, the Kiwi team has suffered a big setback. A star player of the team is out of this series due to injury.
Kiwi team’s star player injured
New Zealand’s star leg-spinner Ish Sodhi has been ruled out of the ongoing T20 series against South Africa. Sodhi has suffered a thumb fracture, due to which he will have to take rest for at least four weeks. Ish Sodhi suffered this injury while bowling during a training session at Bay Oval on 14 March. The scan confirmed that the thumb was broken, after which the team management ruled him out of the rest of the series. Sodhi did not even play in the first T20 match, where New Zealand lost to South Africa by 7 wickets. In that match, the responsibility of spin was handled by Mitchell Santner and Cole McConchie.
New Zealand has decided not to include any new player in place of Sodhi. Actually, in the remaining matches of the series, Lockie Ferguson will be included for the second and third matches. Whereas, Katne Clark, wicketkeeper Dane Clever and Jayden Lennox have been included in the fourth and fifth matches. Also, captain Mitchell Santner will not be able to play in the last two matches, so Tom Latham will take charge of the team. New Zealand coach Rob Walter said, ‘Ish is very passionate about playing for New Zealand. After T20 World Cup 2026, there was a wait to play in front of the fans on home ground. He has a lot of experience in the T20 format, so he will be missed in the series.
Wicket was not found in T20 World Cup 2026
T20 World Cup 2026 has been nothing special for Ish Sodhi. He had come to play 3 matches in this tournament, out of which one match was washed away due to rain. At the same time, he could not take wickets in the remaining two matches.
New Zealand’s updated team:
Mitchell Santner (captain) (match 1-3), Katen Clarke (match 4, 5), Josh Clarkson, Dane Cleaver (wk, match 4-5), Devon Conway (wk) (match 1-3), Lockie Ferguson (match 2-3), Jack Foulkes, Bevan Jacobs, Kyle Jamieson, Nick Kelly, Tom Latham (wicketkeeper, captain for matches 4, 5), Jayden Lennox (matches 4-5), Cole McConchie, Jimmy Neesham, Tim Robinson, Ben Sears, Nathan Smith.