Kristian Clarke gets first New Zealand selection after Matt Henry's injury

Kristian Clarke gets first New Zealand selection after Matt Henry's injury

New Zealand paceman Matt Henry has been ruled out of Sunday's final one-day international against England because of a calf strain and Kristian Clarke has been called into the squad to replace him.

For the ongoing series of New Zealand against England, Kristian Clarke, a 24 Year-old fast bowler, has been called up for the Final and the third ODI. He will be replacing Matt Henry, who recently caught a calf strain, which forced him to not play the last match. Henry will go back home to Christchurch from Hamilton, where the second ODI took place, instead of going with the team to Wellington, where they will play the third game on Saturday.

Kristian Clarke has been added to the New Zealand squad after showing great all-round form. On Thursday, he scored his first-ever century in representative cricket an unbeaten 100 off 107 balls and then took 3 wickets for 57 runs as Northern Districts beat Central Districts by 113 runs (DLS method) in a Ford Trophy match in New Plymouth.

Since starting his domestic career in 2022, Clarke has played 31 List A matches, scoring 332 runs at an average of 22.13 and taking 52 wickets at 26.55. He has also featured in 25 first-class games and 19 T20S, and was part of the New Zealand A squad that toured Bangladesh earlier this year.

Clarke first made headlines during the 2020 Under-19 World Cup in South Africa. He scored 62 runs and was New Zealand’s top wicket-taker with 7 wickets in three matches.

Meanwhile, New Zealand have already sealed the ODI series against England, winning the first two games in Mount Maunganui and Hamilton. Their next challenge is a T20I series at home against the West Indies, starting November 5.