Injured James Neesham ruled out of Kiwis T20 squad

The 28-year-old sustained the injury during the final ODI of their recently-concluded three-match series against Sri Lanka, which New Zealand won 3-0.

New Zealand batting all-rounder James Neesham has been ruled out of the upcoming one-off T20I against Sri Lanka due to a hamstring injury.

File picture of James Neesham (AFP)

The 28-year-old sustained the injury during the final ODI of their recently-concluded three-match series against Sri Lanka, which New Zealand won 3-0.

Giving out more details, New Zealand’s physio Vijay Vallabh said the left-hand batsman felt some tightness in the right hamstring during the final ODI and left the field for treatment. The injury will be assessed over a couple of days, he continued.

“He’s iced and compressed the injury and will be reassessed in a couple of days,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Vallabh, as saying.

The injured all-rounder will be replaced by Doug Bracewell in New Zealand’s 13-member T20I squad for their match with Sri Lanka.

Neesham had made a smashing international return after a gap of more than a year when he hit five sixes in an over against Sri Lanka in the first ODI of their recently-concluded three-match series. Overall, he has played a total of 44 one-day matches scoring 934 runs with an average of 30.13.