Black Caps veteran Ross Taylor has been ruled out of Saturday's third ODI against England in his native Wellington with a thigh issue, but skipper and talisman Kane Williamson will play.
Williamson sat out Wednesday's six-wicket second-ODI loss with a hamstring niggle and was sorely missed as one batsman afteranother fell cheaply.
The 27-year-old has been declared fit for this weekend's clash, passing a fitness test on Friday, but Taylor couldn't clear up his injury in time.
He'll be reassessed ahead of next week's fourth ODI.
Black Caps spinner Mitchell Santner told media earlier on Friday that Taylor and Williamson had both seemed likely to play. Mark Chapman remains the squad's sole ring-in.
The team was looking forward to playing again at Westpac Stadium, Santner said, having defeated England on the ground in a T20 match last month.
"We've had some success against them there in the past," Santner said. "It's a good surface.
"You need to bowl well because it's short (boundaries) square of the wicket. "We've been playing good cricket for a while but last match we were outplayed - the way England bowled, they didn't give us much."
