Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway have been ruled out of the Black Caps T20 World Cup warm-up match against the United States due to illness.
Coach Rob Walter said sickness had hit the camp, but was hopeful both players could pull through for the opening match of the tournamentin three days’ time.
“We’ll just wait and see how today progresses,” Walter said.
“Obviously, our game’s only tonight, so hopefully there’s a turnaround there.
“Rachin’s next door to me and it hasn’t sounded good all night, so I think he might be struggling.”
Walter said others in the squad were being managed and a call would be made closer to game time to see how they pull up.
“Nothing serious,” Walter said, “but everyone’s sort of on track at this stage to be fit and healthy for game one, which is good news.”
Finn Allen is also out of the warm-up match with an injury. Photo / Photosport
The Black Caps coach wouldn’t say who would be batting third in the absence of Ravindra and Conway, but said there would be a restructured batting lineup depending on who is fit and ready by the time the game arrives.
New Zealand faces a United States team that lost its last warm-up match to India A by 38 runs on February 3.
The Black Caps will be looking to put their recent T20 form behind them after a 4-1 series loss to India.
The team opens their T20 World Cup campaign against Afghanistan on February 8, a repeat of their fixture from the previous edition of the tournament where the Asian team secured their first-ever win over the Black Caps before New Zealand went crashing out in the group stages.
