New Zealand suffered a hammering at the hands of trans-Tasman rivals Australia in the first Test of the two-match series in Wellington. If that 172-run defeat wasn’t enough, New Zealand have gotten an injury scare in the camp in the form of pacer William O’Rourke, who left the field eight overs into the third day of the Wellington Test after feeling tightness in his hamstring. O’Rourke’s hamstring is set to be assessed in the next 24 hours and the recently retired pacer Neil Wagner might somehow, sneakily get his farewell Test after all.
O’Rourke did come out to bat in the fourth innings on Day 4 when Nathan Lyon was running riot for Australia. However, he didn’t seem to have that much trouble even though he wasn’t required need to run that hard. With pace reserves limited, Kiwi skipper Tim Southee hasn’t ruled out a possibility of a surprise recall for Wagner while denying Trent Boult‘s inclusion.
Asked about O’Rourke’s injury after the loss, Southee said, “We haven’t had a lot of discussions as yet. We’ll see how Will scrubs up. The physio hasn’t sort of put a timeframe on it or how bad it is. We’ll just wait and see how Will goes over the next couple of days. I’m sure there’ll be an update in the next 24 hours.” Asked if Wagner had now a real chance of playing for the Black Caps for the last time, Southee didn’t deny it happening.
“We obviously have to go on and make a decision on who comes in and what role we sort of see that playing out in Christchurch. [Wagner’s] had a great reception here over the last week where he got a couple of moments on the field and obviously, he’s been a fan favourite for a long time,” the right-arm pacer added.
With no Kyle Jamieson, Trent Boult and possibly no O’Rourke, Wagner, the fan favourite in Wellington may take the field for New Zealand for one last time.