New Zealand have had to tweak their seam attack for the second Test in Bulawayo after Nathan Smith’s abdominal strain ruled the all-rounder out for at least a fortnight. Pace-bowling all-rounder Zakary Foulkes comes in for what could be a maiden cap, while left-armer Ben Lister joins as cover for Will O’Rourke, who felt a twinge in his back late in the first match.
“Nathan pulled up sore while batting on day two and the scans haven’t been kind,” team physio Theo Kapakoulakis said. “We’re looking at two to four weeks before he can push at full tilt again.”
Key facts first
• Smith strained an abdominal muscle while making 22* in New Zealand’s first-innings total.
• The 26-year-old had earlier grabbed 3 for 20 in Zimbabwe’s 149 all out.
• Foulkes, 24, has 57 first-class wickets and 544 runs but has yet to play a Test.
• Lister, uncapped in Tests, provides insurance should O’Rourke’s back stiffen again.
Head coach Gary Stead admitted the reshuffle was “hardly ideal” yet backed the newcomers. “Zak has impressed us for a while. He’s got decent wheels and hits the seam. Ben offers a different angle being a left-armer,” Stead said, adding that both had “earned a crack.”
Foulkes’ recent form is encouraging. He bowled tidily in the tri-series final against South Africa in Harare last month and chipped in with a handy 29 off 21 balls to help clinch the trophy. “Red-ball cricket is a different rhythm, but I’m itching to get stuck in,” Foulkes noted after receiving the late-night phone call from selector Sam Wells.
Analysis – what it means
Smith’s absence removes the side’s most rounded seam option: he balances the XI by batting at No.7 and offering reliable third-seamer control. Foulkes can perform a similar role, yet his economy rate in first-class cricket (3.43) is higher than Smith’s 2.88, which could stretch skipper Tim Southee’s field placements on a flat Queens Sports Club pitch.
O’Rourke, meanwhile, bowled only ten overs in Zimbabwe’s second dig and looked uncomfortable. Lister, who swings it back into the right-hander, gives New Zealand flexibility but has not played an international since touring Pakistan 14 months ago.
New Zealand lead the two-match series 1-0 after strolling to a nine-wicket win thanks to Matt Henry’s match haul of 9 for 90. Tom Latham, out with a jarred shoulder, remains touch-and-go for Thursday’s start. “We’ll give Tom every minute,” Stead said. “If he can’t play, Devon Conway will keep the armband.”
The visitors are favourites, yet Zimbabwe showed flashes with the new ball. Without Smith, New Zealand’s margin for error narrows a touch.
