England started their tour of New Zealand with a win in the first T20I, but that was followed up by some unexpected news as batsman Joe Denly has been ruled out of the serious due to an ankle injury. Denly damaged his ankle ligament during a practice session before the first game, in which he was supposed to play but was however replaced by debutant Lewis Gregory. England went on to win the match by seven wickets.
The opening batsman had been for the New Zealand tour after several regulars were rested. He recently featured in the Ashes, at home, scoring 312 runs in the series.
The 33-year-old has also been named in the Test squad for the two-match series in New Zealand. Denly ‘will now start a rehabilitation programme and will be routinely assessed ahead of the two-match Test series’ according to an ECB spokesperson.
England will not be asking for a replacement for Denly and hope he recovers in time to feature in the longer format.
The second T20I will be played in Wellington on Sunday (November 3).
