India vs New Zealand 5th ODI: A lower back injury has made experienced New Zealand opener Martin Guptill doubtful for the fifth and final ODI against India to be played at Wellington on Sunday.
The 32-year-old apparently injured his lower back during a fielding practice at the Basin Reserve on Saturday. He walked off the ground in pain, supported by New Zealand physiotherapist Vijay Vallabh and security manager Terry Minish.
“Martin Guptill is in doubt for tomorrow’s fifth ODI against India after aggravating his lower back while fielding this afternoon. He’s been assessed by team physio Vijay Vallabh & will be reassessed tomorrow morning,” New Zealand Cricket twitted.
The BlackCaps official Twitter handle also said Colin Munro would rejoin the ODI squad on Sunday morning.
Martin Guptill is in doubt for tomorrow’s fifth ODI against India after aggravating his lower back while fielding this afternoon. He’s been assessed by team physio Vijay Vallabh & will be reassessed tomorrow morning. Colin Munro will rejoin the ODI squad tomorrow morning #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/grfVzgvHTa
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) February 2, 2019
Colin Munro was dropped for the fourth ODI after his scores of 8, 31 and 7 in the first three ODIs.
Having won the first three matches, India already have a victorious 3-1 lead against the Kiwis. New Zealand won the one-sided fourth match by eight wickets, after bundling out India for a very low score of 92.
According to reports, Martin Guptill ‘s injury was not deemed very serious. He is most likely to play the first Twenty20 international in Wellington on Wednesday.