Ish Sodhi ruled out of South Africa T20Is with broken thumb

New Zealand leg-spinner Ish Sodhi has been ruled out of the ongoing T20I series against South Africa with a thumb injury.

Sodhi copped a blow while bowling in a training session in Mount Maunganui on Saturday, March 14, and scans confirmed a fracture, sidelining him for at least four weeks. Sodhi was not part of the series-opening T20I, which New Zealand lost by seven wickets after being skittled out for 91.

New Zealand have not named a replacement, with pacer Lockie Ferguson set to link up with the squad for the second and third T20Is in Hamilton and Auckland. The hosts have skipper Mitchell Santner and Cole McConchie in the spin department.

"Ish is very passionate about playing for New Zealand and we know he was looking forward to turning out in front of home fans after the World Cup campaign," head coach Rob Walter said. "He is hugely experienced in the T20 format and so will be a big miss for the remainder of the series.

"We're confident with Lockie coming in, as well as Mitch and Cole that we have appropriate cover for the next two matches, before the squad transitions for the last two matches."

Katene Clarke, Dane Cleaver, Jayden Lennox and Tom Latham will join the squad for the last two fixtures, with Tom Latham set to take over as captain in Santner’s absence.

The second match of the five-match series will be played on March 17.

Updated New Zealand squad

Mitchell Santner (c) (games 1-3), Katene Clarke (games 4, 5), Josh Clarkson, Dane Cleaver (wk, games 4-5), Devon Conway (wk) (games 1-3), Lockie Ferguson (games 2-3), Zak Foulkes, Bevon Jacobs, Kyle Jamieson, Nick Kelly, Tom Latham (wk, captain for games 4,5), Jayden Lennox (games 4-5), Cole McConchie, Jimmy Neesham, Tim Robinson, Ben Sears, Nathan Smith.