Injury-hit Kiwis takes day off from practise

Ahmedabad, Feb 27 (PTI) The New Zealand cricket team,facing injury woes, today took a day off from their scheduledpractise session at the Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, here.

While experienced fast bowler Kyle Mills has missed theteam''s first two World Cup matches following a back problem,skipper Daniel Vettori is nursing a hamstring problem andveteran all-rounder Scott Styris has a bruised finger.

The Black Caps, after their defeat at the hands ofdefending champions Australia in Nagpur, arrived hereyesterday for their match against Zimbabwe on March 4.

They were scheduled to practise this morning, butcancelled the session.

The team''s media manager Ellery Tappin said that thepractise session was put off but did not state any reasons forthe same.

He, however, said that the team would practise tomorrowafternoon.

On Mills, Tappin said, "He is doing fine and recoveringwell."

Asked about Vettori, Tappin said the skipper was dealingwith it well and was doing fine.

He further said that all the players, including Mills andVettori, would be practising tomorrow. (More) PTI PB VKV

Though the 31-year-old Mills has been around since 2001 and has 186 ODI wickets, he has played only one World Cupmatch in 2003 and missed the 2007 edition due to serious kneeinjury.

Following the defeat against Australia, Vettori hadexpressed concern about the batting line up, but injury to himand experienced players like Mills, and all-rounder Styris islikely to pose more trouble for the Kiwis.

Vettori had said that there was a need to strengthen theKiwi batting and he would be using the week-long break beforethe next match against Zimbabwe to recover, regroup andrebuild the team.