The New Zealand all-rounder Nathan Smith has picked up an abdominal strain and has been ruled out of the second test against Zimbabwe.
On this occasion, the Blackcaps have added pacer Zak Foulkes to the test squad for the second test of the New Zealand tour of Zimbabwe 2025. Foulkes has played 14 international games for New Zealand so far, out of which 13 games come from the T20I format.
New Zealand’s campaign has been hit with bacl to back blows as this is the third injury in the two match series. With New Zealand captain Tom Latham ruled out of the series due to injury, all-rounder Glenn Phillips also withdrawn due to groin injury he sustained during the MLC 2025.
The 23 year old Foulkes had a promising start to his international career, with 15 wickets in 13 games and an economy rate of 8.00. He has seven outings with the bat and his strike rate has remained at 143.90, which is fantastic.
However, the dynamics of Test cricket are completely different, which he will learn if an opportunity to take the field for the second game against Zimbabwe.
Nathan Smith sustained injury while batting and a subsequent MRI confirmed that he had picked an abdominal strain. On the other hand, Will O’Rourke is also being monitored after experiencing back stiffness even as Ben Lister has been called in as a pace bowling cover for the fast bowler.
The second test of the Zimbabwe-New Zealand series is scheduled to begin on August 07 at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo.
New Zealand Squad: Will Young, Matt Henry, Will O’Rourke, Mitchell Santner, Mitchell Hay, Tom Blundell, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Michael Bracewell, Jacob Duffy, Matthew Fisher, Ben Lister, and Ajaz Patel
