Injured Moin drops out

Injured Moin drops out
Agence France Presse

Hamilton, March 26: Pakistan captain Moin Khan on Monday dropped out of the third cricket Test with New Zealand with an injured right knee. ‘‘I can’t play. It would be too painful,’’ he said.

Pakistan lead the series 1-0 and face a wicket here likely to favour them, although New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming is confident of ending the season on a high.

Fleming was relieved to be back here, the scene of a nine-wicket win over the West Indies and a topsy-turvy six-wicket loss to Australia last summer.

While the composition of the home side’s bowling attack was still uncertain until a final inspection of the pitch on Tuesday, Fleming was happy not to be playing a specialist spinner for the first time in 44 Tests over five years.

‘‘It’s a gamble, but in situations like this you may have to gamble a little bit to win it,’’ Fleming said.

‘‘We’re not going to die wondering, certainly 2-0 isn’t great but the opportunity of going 1-1 and taking a risk is a much better proposition.’’

Kiwis are tempted to put all their eggs in one basket with faster bowlers Daryl Tuffey, Chris Martin and the recalled James Franklin along with possible debutant Jacob Oram.

The only drawback is not having a spinner later in the match on a pitch which takes turn.

Inzamam-ul-Haq will take over the captaincy from Moin Khan while Hamuyan Farhat will don the gloves.

Teams (from): New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (capt), Mark Richardson, Matthew Bell, Mathew Sinclair, Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan, Adam Parore, Jacob Oram, James Franklin, Daryl Tuffey, Chris Martin and Grant Bradburn.

Pakistan: Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Imran Farhat, Ijaz Ahmed, Faisal Iqbal, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Saqlain Mushtaq, Waqar Younis, Fazle Akbar, Mohammad Sami, Humayun Farhat, Mushtaq Ahmed and Mohammad Akram.Umpires: Daryl Harper (Aus), Steve Dunne (Nzl).