Blundell, Smith, Henry sustain injuries in Christchurch; Jamieson returns to Plunket Shield

Injuries have severely depleted New Zealand in the first Test against West Indies in Christchurch, with their bowling spearhead Matt Henry and seam-bowling allrounder Nathan Smith joining wicketkeeper-batter Tom Blundell on the sidelines.

Blundell, who suffered a hamstring injury while batting on the opening day in Christchurch, has been ruled out of the second Test, which will begin at the Basin Reserve, his domestic home ground, on December 10. Smith was not available to bowl or field on day four while Henry left the field after the 35th over and didn't bowl or field in the final session on day four. He subsequently headed to the hospital next door for scans. He bowled 11 overs on Friday for the wicket of Roston Chase.

In the absence of both Smith and Henry, New Zealand turned to the part-time fingerspin of Michael Bracewell and Rachin Ravindra. They were already without one of their middle-order mainstays, Daryl Mitchell, who couldn't recover in time from a groin injury for the Test-series opener against West Indies.

Wicketkeeper-batter Mitch Hay is in line for a Test debut in the second game against West Indies. Hay, 25, has played 19 white-ball internationals for New Zealand so far, but is uncapped in Test cricket. He has a strong record in first-class cricket, with 1888 runs in 47 innings at an average of 49.68.

Hay is currently in action for Canterbury against Central Districts in the third round of the Plunket Shield. He will turn out for Canterbury during the first two days of this round in Napier before linking up with the New Zealand side in Wellington, in the lead-up to the second Test against West Indies.

In his second T20I against Sri Lanka last November, Hay effected six dismissals in Dambulla, a New Zealand record. Hay also has some exposure outside of New Zealand, having been on A tours to Bangladesh and South Africa, and to India to train at the Chennai Super Kings Academy.

Rookie Jesse Frew, who had turned out for New Zealand XI against the West Indians in a tour game in Lincoln, last week, will slot in as Hay's replacement for Canterbury during the third and fourth days of the Plunket Shield in the ongoing round.

In the injury absence of Blundell, Tom Latham juggled captaincy with keeping across both innings at Hagley Oval. He took four catches in West Indies' first innings, helping New Zealand claim a 64-run first-innings lead. Latham then stretched New Zealand's lead, scoring 145 off 250 balls for his first Test hundred in three years. Along the way, he also became the fifth New Zealand player to reach 6000 Test runs.

"[The body is] not too bad," Latham told the host broadcaster after stumps on day three. "I'll try to get the recovery but a really good day and pleased to be in the position we are.

"I guess that [Smith's injury] is another thing but that hampers the decision [declaration] but it was nice to see a little bit of spin out there when we were batting and that's an encouraging sign. We'll chip in when a man goes down and the guys are looking to put a big shift in."

New Zealand eventually declared on 466 for 8 on the fourth day, setting West Indies an improbable target of 531. West Indies, led by an unbeaten 116 from Shai Hope, finished day four on 212 for 4.

Allrounder Glenn Phillips, meanwhile, could be in contention for the second Test in Wellington, having proven his match fitness in the first two rounds of the Plunket Shield. Phillips joined New Zealand's side in Christchurch and pitched in as a substitute fielder after his team was weakened by injuries.

Fast bowler Kyle Jamieson returned to red-ball action in the Plunket Shield on Friday, playing his first first-class game since February 2024. Jamieson took the new ball for Canterbury in Napier and immediately found swing, curving it away from Curtis Heaphy. He got the old ball to nip around as well, having allrounder Josh Clarkson caught behind by Hay for a duck.

While Jamieson has been a white-ball regular for New Zealand since recovering from back injury, he isn't being rushed back into Test cricket, with coach Rob Walter having suggested that his load and rhythm will be monitored in the Plunket Shield. Jamieson has been meticulous in the way he was managing his body after the stress fracture last year. His bowling program has been managed by high performance coaches Chelsea Lane and Matt Dallow who are not formally part of New Zealand Cricket.

"They've done a huge amount of work in rebuilding athletes and biomechanics and just how to stack up your body properly," Jamieson had earlier told ESPNcricinfo. "They advise on everything, right from how my body's moving, what my gym program looks like, what the [bowling] load numbers look like.

"I have reflection and review processes with them after pretty much every day that I bowl, my sort of weekly, monthly calendar is mapped out with them, my total load tracking is done through them. So I'm pretty much fully through them at the moment, and then apply it into the different cricket environments that I end up in."