The New Zealand team may have already lost the T20I series against India but they will have a chance for retribution in the ODI series which begins on February 5 and will feature three games. New Zealand will be greatly hampered by injuries in that series also with their World Cup bowling line-up of Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson, and Matt Henry, all missing due to injury.
In their absence, New Zealand selectors have called up an uncapped player who is not only talented but also has the distinction of being the tallest cricketer in the country – standing at 6 feet, 8 inches of height. His name is Kyle Jamieson and he is a 25-year old right arm medium pacer from Auckland.
His record
His career stats will shed some light on why he has been given this opportunity. In 25 first-class matches, the youngster has picked up 72 wickets at a handy average of 27.93 and strike rate of 51.1. He has three five-wicket hauls to his name and one 10-wicket haul in a match. In the 50-over format where he would be making his international debut, his stats are slightly less impressive.
In 26 List A matches, Jamieson has picked up just 33 wickets at an average of 30.18 and strike rate of 33.2. But the format where he has really shone is the shortest one – T20s – in which he has featured 29 times and has managed to grab 46 wickets at an impressive average of 18.80 and strike rate of just 14.1. His economy rate though, in this format, is on the higher side – 7.99.
New Zealand's struggle with injuries
New Zealand will hope for a great start to his career as their bowling stocks are highly depleted. Boult and Henry formed the basis on which the Black Caps mounted their highly-successful World Cup campaign which saw them falling a hair's-breadth short of the World Cup trophy. This will be New Zealand's first ODI since the World Cup final heartbreak.
India, in the meanwhile have played a quite a lot of ODI cricket and have managed to record three series victories – one away in West Indies and two at home against West Indies and Australia. Matt Henry and Trent Boult were the bowlers who rocked India in the World Cup semi-final last year and ensured that their team and not the Men-in-Blue would feature in the final at Lord's.
In the absence of these two bowlers, as well as Lockie Ferguson, the selectors have also called up Scott Kuggeleijn and Hamish Bennett. Tim Southee, the experienced seamer and a regular member of the Test side also features in the squad. It is likely that he will lead the squad and have two of the three other pacers to assist him.
