Cricket: Black Caps running out of players as injuries strike in Sri Lanka Twenty20 series

Martin Guptill hobbled off for the Black Caps. Photo / Getty

As if their four-wicket win over Sri Lanka this morning wasn't bizarre enough, the Black Caps now face the stunning scenario of potentially not having enough fit players for the third and final Twenty20 in two days.

Injuries to Ross Taylor, Martin Guptill and Tom Bruce have been added to the fractured thumb suffered by Lockie Ferguson, to leave the Black Caps' initial 14-man squad down to 10 healthy bodies, and with little time to heal or call in the cavalry.

Taylor didn't play this morning after hurting his left hip flexor in the first Twenty20, Guptill had to hobble off with a right abdominal muscle injury sustained while attempting a runout, and Bruce twisted his knee when attempting a second run, requiring some heavy strapping.

The steadily increasing amount of walking wounded led to television commentator and former Black Cap Kyle Mills jokingly warming up in the commentary box, but luckily for the Black Caps – or unfortunately for those who enjoy chaos – it looks like at least one of the three will be ready to go for the Black Caps' final international before they take two months off.

🤣 @kylemills79 warming up in the comm box after a couple of injury scares tonight! Mills and @Sdoull on standby for T20 #3 😝 #SLvNZ pic.twitter.com/239riAl4fd

— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) September 3, 2019

Taylor is the most likely starter, having described his absence this morning as a "precautionary measure".

"I swung at the ball a bit too hard, swung and missed, and felt [the hip flexor] twinge a little bit – more of a precautionary measure, nothing major."

His replacement Bruce filled in admirably, making 53 from 46 balls in a record 109-run stand with Colin de Grandhomme, until he also picked up a knock in the dying moments of the clash.

Bruce told Radio Sport Breakfast that his injury needed some rest but wasn't overly serious, though he expected Guptill to be unavailable for the dead rubber.

"It was full contact tonight, wasn't it," Bruce laughed.

"I'll ice the knee and rest up the next couple of days – I think it should be right, fingers crossed anyway. I think Guppy might be struggling a wee bit."

And with their resources already stretched to breaking point, Bruce suspects there may be not too many training requirements before the third Twenty20.

"The boys will rest and recover tomorrow, and I'm not too sure if we'll have a training the day before the game or not – probably with the amount of injuries we might just rest up again."