West Indian veteran Kemar Roach went down with a hamstring injury late on the first day of the Third Test and did not take the field for the proceedings on Day 2. Alongside him, Shai Hope also had to be left behind owing to ill health.
The West Indies are on their tour to New Zealand after having lost the series against Australia and India in this WTC cycle. Though they started off the series with a staggering draw, as Justin Greaves alongside Shai Hope saved them from the sixth crushing defeat, the Blackcaps bounced back in the very next game.
Rachin Ravindra’s magnificent innings helped New Zealand bounce back as they advanced in the WTC points table to the fourth position, past India, England, and Pakistan, as they won their first Test of this WTC.
Your daily dose of cricket!
Kemar Roach unavailable with a hamstring injury
Fast bowlers have not been having the best of series in the New Zealand vs West Indies Test series. Throughout the Test series, pace bowlers have gone down, and unfortunately, the trend has taken over Kemar Roach, the most veteran pacer on the side.
The West Indies were already under immense pressure after Day 1, as they could only manage to pick one wicket, which was off the New Zealand skipper, Tom Latham, and the experienced Kemar Roach had picked the wicket. However, he did not take the field on Day 2.
The senior pro of the West Indies side pulled his hamstring in the 89th over of the game and did not take part in any of the morning warm-ups to start proceedings on Day 2. Later, he did not take the field as well.
The bowling deck was entirely managed by Jayden Seales, who does not extend a stunning record in overseas Tests and was backed by Anderson Phillip and Justin Greaves. The captain bowled the maximum overs as the only spinner in the side.
Shai Hope was also left behind at the team hotel due to ill health
In addition to Kemar Roach, West Indies batter Shai Hope, one of the most dependable batters in the side, also had to be left behind in the team hotel on account of being unwell. The West Indies are trailing behind by a massive 575 runs in their batting innings on the back of Devon Conway’s double-century.
Though West Indies openers John Campbell and Brandon King handed them a firm start with an opening century partnership, a rare sight for the Windies, they would yet need their most in-form batter, Shai Hope, to be available on the third Day of play, as they look to level the series or at least avoid further losses in the WTC.
The West Indies have suffered so many injuries that at one point, when Justin Greaves had to go off the field, Tauranga local boy Sebastian Heath had to come up and field for the West Indies as a substitute, since substitute fielders Ojay Shields and Tagenarine Chanderpaul were already struggling with niggles.
New Zealand have lost a pile of players due to injuries in this series
Coming into the third Test, New Zealand have already lost several of their resources during this series. In the first Test at Christchurch, Matt Henry and Nathan Smith, the two bowlers, were ruled out.
Blair Tickner, who came up for the second Test, had his participation cut short. Tom Blundell, on the other hand, was the only batter to have gone down with a hamstring injury on the first day of the series, but later recovered to be part of the third Test.
ALSO READ: Sourav Ganguly files ₹50 crore defamation case over Lionel Messi Kolkata event row
