AUS vs NZ, 1st Test: Josh Hazlewood Out Of The Game With Hamstring Strain

Cricket Australia on Saturday confirmed that he suffered a hamstring strain and will not return to bowl again in the Test match

A day after leaving the field limping, Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the ongoing first Test against New Zealand in Perth. On Friday, Hazlewood pulled up short attempting his ninth delivery in the final session of Day Two and immediately left the field and did not return. Cricket Australia (CA) on Saturday confirmed that he suffered a hamstring strain and will not return to bowl again in the Test match. Since his recovery to be monitored in the coming weeks, Hazlewood’s participation in the remainder of the series remains uncertain.

JUST IN: Australia have confirmed Josh Hazlewood has suffered a hamstring strain and will not bowl for the remainder of the first Domain Test against New Zealand #AUSvNZ pic.twitter.com/iSPBNWHliP

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 14, 2019

“It's a little bit sore this morning,” Hazlewood told Fox Cricket. “I obviously knew as soon as I did it there was a tear there. It’s not too bad so we’ll play it by ear over the next couple of weeks. Bowlers know their bodies pretty well these days so we know when something is not quite right. The best thing to do was to come off and get it checked out. The ball was coming out really nicely and I had a couple of hours under lights up my sleeve but yeah, unlucky,” he added.

Both the teams have now been reduced to 10 players each with New Zealand's Lockie Ferguson restricted to just 11 overs of bowling on the opening day of his debut Test after picking up a calf injury.