Hamilton, March 16 (IANS) New Zealand have suffered a blow with spinner Ish Sodhi being ruled out of the remainder of T20I series against South Africa due to a broken thumb.

Sodhi hurt his thumb while bowling at training on Saturday and scans have since revealed a break in the affected area and a rehabilitation period of up to four weeks.

That will see the right-armer that played three matches at the recent ICC Men’s T20 World Cup miss the remainder of the home series against South Africa.

However, New Zealand haven’t named a replacement for Sodhi, with speedster Lockie Ferguson to join the team for the second and third matches of the series following an easy seven-wicket victory for the Spith Africa in the opening fixture in Mount Maunganui on Sunday.

It will leave Mitchell Santner and Cole McConchie as the main spin options in New Zealand’s squad and head coach Rob Walter believes they have enough depth to cover the loss of Sodhi.

“Ish is very passionate about playing for New Zealand and we know he was looking forward to turning out in front of home fans after the (T20) World Cup campaign,” Walter said.

“He is hugely experienced in the T20 format and so will be a big miss for the remainder of the series.

“We’re confident with Lockie coming in, as well as Mitch (Santner) and Cole (McConchie) that we have appropriate cover for the next two matches, before the squad transitions for the last two matches.”

On Saturday, in the first T20I, a clinical bowling display followed by a measured chase helped South Africa secure a comfortable seven-wicket win over New Zealand in the opening T20I of the five-match series

Chasing a modest target of 92, South Africa reached 92/3 in 16.4 overs with Connor Esterhuizen anchoring the innings with a composed 35 not out off 44 balls. The right-hander fittingly sealed the win with a six off Kyle Jamieson, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead in the series.

New Zealand squad:

Mitchell Santner (c), Katene Clarke, Josh Clarkson, Dane Cleaver (wk), Devon Conway (wk), Lockie Ferguson, Zak Foulkes, Bevon Jacobs, Kyle Jamieson, Nick Kelly, Tom Latham (wk), Jayden Lennox, Cole McConchie, Jimmy Neesham, Tim Robinson, Ben Sears, Nathan Smith

–IANS

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