Plunkett ruled out of New Zealand tour

Liam Plunkett has been ruled out of the end of the T20 tri-series and the five ODIs against New Zealand with a recurrence of the hamstring injury he picked up in Australia.

Plunkett made his return against New Zealand in Wellington earlier this week but aggravated the problem he first suffered in the ODI in Sydney last month. He has been diagnosed with a grade one tear and unlike when he stayed with the squad after the injury in Australia he will now be heading home.

"An MRI scan today confirmed a minor hamstring strain and this will not recover in time to take part in the ODI series," the ECB said. "A replacement for the ODI squad will be announced in the upcoming days."

Although England have been bolstered by the arrival of Ben Stokes the ECB said a replacement for Plunkett would be named in the coming days. One possible route is to retain Sam Curran, the Surrey allrounder, who was added to the T20 squad but is not in the one-day party.

Captain Eoin Morgan has sat out the last two T20s due to injury with Jos Buttler leading the side.

Australia's record chase against New Zealand at Eden Park gave England a lifeline in the T20 series although they will still need to beat the hosts by a significant margin at Seddon Park to progress to the final in Auckland on February 21.