Sophie Devine, the New Zealand captain, has been ruled out of the fifth and final T20I against England because of a quad injury, which she sustained while bowling during the fourth T20I on Wednesday.
New Zealand Cricket said on Thursday that a scan has confirmed that Devine “had sustained a grade one quad strain which would require a short period of rehabilitation”.
She will remain with the squad in Wellington – the venue for the fourth and fifth T20Is – and “undergo a rehabilitation programme”. Her participation, or not, in the three-match ODI series starting April 1 will be determined after that.
Georgia Plimmer, who was with the New Zealand A squad that has been playing a parallel series against England A, has been called in to the squad as Devine’s replacement.
“We’re obviously disappointed for Sophie, but the focus is now to make her available for as much of the ODI series as possible,” New Zealand head coach Ben Sawyer said. “Sophie will be monitored over the next few days and that will give us a better idea of what her availability is before the first game on Monday.
“The ODI series is an important series for us with ICC ODI Championship points on the line so we’re hopeful that Sophie will make a quick recovery.”
New Zealand would desperately want Devine to be in the mix when the ODIs begin, having conceded the T20I series with one game left to play. Devine has been one of New Zealand’s better performers in the series so far, scoring 77 runs in two innings at a strike rate of 150.98 and picking up four wickets.
Devine, as well as Amelia Kerr, had missed the first T20I of the series as they were yet to travel back to New Zealand after taking part in the Women’s Premier League in India. Plimmer, as well as Mikaela Greig, had been called up to the squad for that game.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo
