The last thing New Zealand ever need, given the relatively limited size of their cricket-playing pool, is an injury crisis. It is somehow in keeping with the way the cookie often crumbles for underdogs, though less than a week ago, calling anyone the underdogs in a battle with England could only mean an associate nation was playing.
But an outbreak of injury is precisely what Daniel Vettori finds himself dealing with, as he heads into what is, for his side, a quarter-final with England at The Wanderers. Jacob Oram has already gone home, another disruption in a desperately curtailed career; Daryl Tuffey has broken his hand and heads back home for surgery; Ian Butler is recovering from an intestinal infection which has seen him lose 7-8 kgs and he may or may not be ready for tomorrow; and of course Jesse Ryder, who took out the anger and frustration of his injury in a wildly entertaining and destructive 74, to set New Zealand up, is also out; Aaron Redmond, his replacement, will only arrive on the morning of the game, his flight from Hong Kong delayed by hours. You couldn't have found this script in ER.
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