Speedster Adam Milne has been ruled out of tomorrow’s fifth ANZ ODI v Sri Lanka at University Oval, Dunedin, says BLACKCAPS coach Mike Hesson.
“He won’t play this game but he’s scrubbed up pretty well. We’re being quite cautious with it so but he’ll start bowling before the next game - we’ll probably have him ready for the last game in the series.
Milne’s raw pace, which regularly registered 150kph on the speed gun on Tuesday, was a game-changer and point of difference for the BLACKCAPS attack.
Adam Milne will sit out Friday's ANZ ODI.
“We were looking at a target well over three hundred to chase at one stage before Adam got those two wickets, and then to bowl them out before the end was pretty critical for us to chase what we thought was par score."
For now at least, Hesson isn't losing sleep about Milne’s injury.
“We’ve got five quicks and will look to rotate them around. Adam’s had a couple of games already and he’s looking good from a skill perspective, so four or five days on the sideline is not a bad thing. We’ll bring him back when he’s ready, but not before.
The four wicket win v Sri Lanka, and the nature of the chase in Nelson was good preparation for the summer ahead, says Hesson:
“We were a little behind losing three relatively early wickets, but then the way Grant and Kane went about things was good, and obviously Corey and Luke at the end. It’s nice to win games when you’re under the pump and that’s something we pride ourselves on. We were under pressure through different stages and I thought we fronted up well.
“We’re going to have a few chases in the next few months, and we are going to be in pressure situations, I thought the way we got through it was very pleasing."
The two teams meet tomorrow in the first of a Dunedin double header, and Hesson is satisfied with the challenge his team are facing this series.
"Sri Lanka are a good side, they have a lot of experience with the bat, two, three, four is pretty strong for them. It’s great for their preparation but also pretty good for us," says Hesson.
