The Black Caps might have triumphed in the series-opening One-Day International against the West Indies, but that could have come at a cost with player-of-the-match Daryl Mitchell under an injury cloud.
While the 34-year-old played the decisive hand against the West Indies in Christchurch, the final stages of Mitchell’s knock- 119 off 118 balls - saw him treated for a groin injury.
And while he was able to bat on, Mitchell did not field at Hagley Oval, as the Black Caps held on for a seven-run victory, and 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
With just two days before the series’ second match, played at Napier’s McLean Park on Wednesday, Mitchell will need further assessment to work out if he can play any further part.
“[I had] a little niggle while batting, in the groin,” Mitchell explained post-match. “We’ll go about getting a scan tomorrow and come up with a plan from there.
“At the moment, we don’t really know what it is. We’ll sort that out tomorrow morning, and come up with a plan.”
Losing Mitchell would be another blow for the Black Caps’ stocks, with Glenn Phillips, Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, Lockie Ferguson, Adam Milne and Will O’Rourke already battling injuries over the course of the summer so far.
Canterbury’s Henry Nicholls has been called into the squad as injury cover.
Depending on the severity of the injury, Mitchell could also be rested for the second and third games, as a means of letting him recover for the three-test series against the West Indies, beginning in Christchurch at the start of December.
Earlier, Mitchell had come to the wicket at 24/2, and survived a hat-trick ball to hold New Zealand’s innings together. The Black Caps’ No 4 took 61 balls to score his first 50 runs, but just 46 to reach his hundred - his seventh in ODIs, and first for more than two years.
Daryl Mitchell celebrates his century against the West Indies in Christchurch. Photo / Photosport
And despite it being his seventh century in the format, it was just his second on Kiwi soil, as well as being the first at Hagley Oval, his adopted home ground after moving south from Northern Districts to Canterbury.
As a player who has become the lynchpin of the Black Caps’ batting order in 50 over cricket, Mitchell’s celebrations were just reward for a player who had to wait until his late 20s to play international cricket.
“It’s always nice to score hundreds for New Zealand,” he added. “To do it here at Hagley, my new home town for the last five years now, is pretty special.
“We show up to work here every day, in the winter, for training. It’s always nice to achieve milestones on your home ground.”
Even if he plays no further part in the rest of the series, Mitchell’s knock has gone a long way to helping the Black Caps lift the trophy in Hamilton next Saturday.
Should Mitchell be ruled out, Mark Chapman would likely take his place at No 4. While only from a sample size of four matches, Chapman does boast a batting average of 101.33 in ODIs this year, helped by a career-high score in Napier back in March.
And while that venue is coincidentally the Black Caps’ next venue, Mitchell says the team will take nothing for granted as they prepare for their first of two attempts to seal the series.
“As a group, it’s different conditions in Napier,” he concluded. “A different sized ground, a different surface. It’s [about] finding ways to adapt as quick as possible on that pitch.
