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Bond to be rested
Ross Taylor ruled out of Canada clash
Cricinfo staff
March 20, 2007
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Taylor's injury gives New Zealand the opportunity to try out the players on the bench
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A hamstring injury has ruled Ross Taylor out of New Zealand's final World Cup league match against Canada on Thursday. Taylor, who top-scored with 85 against Kenya at St Lucia on Tuesday, sustained the injury while attempting a short single when on 72.
Taylor continued batting and limped off the ground after he was dismissed, before the medical staff diagnosed a mild strain. He said after the game that his right leg felt a little sore, convinced that it was not related to the cramps he suffered in the recent past during the home series against Sri Lanka and the CB Series in Australia.
With Taylor on the sidelines, captain Stephen Fleming has said that more team changes are likely against Canada, with fast bowler Shane Bond being rested. New Zealand are already through to the Super Eights after their 148-run win over Kenya.
"There will be changes," Fleming told AFP. "Daryl Tuffey will come in for a game, Peter Fulton will come in and Jeets [Jeetan Patel] will be close. It's a great opportunity we've afforded ourselves by qualifying now to make sure all our guys are in good nick."
New Zealand move through to the Super Eights carrying two points, having beaten both England and Kenya, one of whom will also qualify. "I'm really excited to qualify at this stage," Fleming said. "To be there amongst it and taking points through is exactly how we planned it. The main thing is not to get too carried away."
Steve Tikolo said his side had a good chance of upsetting England on Saturday and moving through to the next stage, despite Kenya's disappointing effort against New Zealand. "We know we are capable of doing better but credit to the New Zealanders, they played a good game," Tikolo said.
"In the field, we dropped a number of catches and missed run-out chances. If we would have taken those, it would have been a different story. New Zealand wouldn't have got 331. Our running between the wickets wasn't as good as it should be and obviously batting wise up front we need to get a start."
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