“Trent is not in a position to be available with his loads”: Gary Stead confirms Trent Boult will miss the New Zealand vs South Africa second test

New Zealand vs South Africa: Trent Boult will miss the second test game due to a lack of practise in the nets.

Trent Boult is set to miss the 2nd test against South Africa. New Zealand won the first test by an innings and 276 runs against South Africa in just two and a half days of play.

The Kiwi pacers just dominated the South African team in the first test. South Africa bundled out for just 95 runs on the first day, whereas they managed to score just 111 runs in the second innings. The game will be played at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval only. This game is important for the Kiwi side as they would want to get those important World Test Championship points.

Trent Boult to miss New Zealand vs South Africa second test

Trent Boult missed the first test as his wife awaited the birth of their third child. It was likely that he will return to the second test, but it looks unlikely now. He will join the teammates for the nets, but he is not likely to take a load for the game.

“[He] is not in a position to be available with his loads and where he’s at,” New Zealand coach Gary Stead said.

“Since his wife has been having the baby he’s missed out on a lot of opportunities to play cricket and bowl. We just felt the risk of him playing was far too great at the moment.”

Matt Henry replaced Trent Boult in New Zealand’s XI, and now has a higher score than him at No. 11 😎 #NZvSA

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) February 18, 2022

Matt Henry replaced Trent Boult in the first game, and he scalped seven wickets in the first innings. Stead had a lot of praise for Henry and believes he needed that opportunity.

“He’s always been a good bowler and sometimes you need that opportunity to strike and make the most it,” Stead said.

“He bowled beautifully throughout the Test but I thought the whole bowling unit bowled really well together. I thought that was one of the reasons we were so convincing.”

Matt Henry has scalped 46 test wickets in 15 wickets, whereas he also has 98 ODI wickets under his name.