New Zealand's ongoing World Cup preparation has suffered a massive setback as one of their premier pacers Tim Southee suffered a dislocation and fracture in his right thumb while attempting a catch in the slips during the fourth ODI against England at Lord's on Friday, September 15.
Southee suffered the blow to his thumb on the last delivery of the 14th over. Joe Root, who was batting at 8, edged a delivery to Southee who was stationed at a slightly wide first slip position and the latter copped the blow straight onto his thumb. He visibly appeared in extreme discomfort as the medical team made its way onto the field of play and was taken off the ground immediately.
The right-arm pacer didn't take any further part in the game and the team management chose to substitute him with Trent Boult. Unfortunately for the tourists, the injury to Southee was not the only one that the Kiwis endured in the game. Star allrounder Daryl Mitchell dislocated his ring finger while taking a catch of Jonny Bairstow in the slip cordon off Matt Henry on the fifth ball of the fifth over.
He was replaced by Finn Allen and Allen too suffered a nasty injury. The youngster suffered a laceration on the little finger of his right hand when he missed the opportunity to hold on to a catch of Root off Ben Lister. The third instance involved the left-arm seamer Lister who had to leave the field after bowling six overs as he suffered a hamstring injury.
However, Mitchell came back to the field and bowled a few overs. He also batted and scored 4 off 14 before getting dismissed by Brydon Carse. The injury to Allen is not a serious one and gives the Kiwis a reason to sweat a little less.
Meanwhile, the Tom Latham-led side lost the contest by 100 runs after failing to chase down the total of 312. England won the four-match series by a comprehensive 3-1 margin.
