England captain Eoin Morgan doubtful for New Zealand clash due to groin injury
Morgan sat out England's Twenty20 defeat against Australia in Melbourne, with James Vince taking his place.
England captain Eoin Morgan is doubtful for the Twenty20 clash against New Zealand after he sat out the defeat against Australia with a groin injury.
The hosts chased down England's modest total of 137-7 with seven wickets to spare in Melbourne, with James Vince replacing the injured Morgan.
Stand-in captain Jos Buttler, who top scored for England with 46, revealed Morgan had suffered a groin strain during training.
"He got a little niggle yesterday in training," Buttler was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald. "I don't think we quite know the extent of it yet so we'll wait and find out."
England next face New Zealand back-to-back in Wellington and Hamilton, respectively, and must beat the Kiwis to stand any chance of progressing to the final and gain revenge against Australia.
Buttler rued his team's batting errors and said Australia's power-hitting proved too much for his bowlers to cope.
"We still have a chance to make that final," he said. "We obviously go to New Zealand now. It'll be a nice change of scene, I think, for the England side.
"We haven't showcased our ability as we know we can yet and there's guys in that dressing room who'll be determined to come back strong."
Australia captain David Warner credited the Big Bash League for his team's dominance in the shortest form of the game.
"Our players have been in tremendous form coming off the Big Bash League, they are playing with freedom and they're playing fearless cricket," he was reported as saying by Sky Sports.
"The bowlers executed their game beautifully and the way the batters finished it off was absolutely clinical.
"I give the bowlers the responsibility to set their own fields and they have accepted that challenge and delivered."
England face New Zealand in their third T20 of the tri-series in Wellington on 14 February.
