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Jacob Oram and Chris Martin have been ruled out of the Twenty20 International against South Africa at the Wanderers on Friday. The pair are being saved for the three-match one-day series which begins on Sunday in Durban.

Oram missed the second Test with a hamstring strain and Martin is still struggling after picking up a stomach bug during the match at Centurion Park. It had been hoped Oram would recover in time for the Twenty20. However, Daniel Vettori said the ODIs were of greater significance and it wasn’t worth risking Oram.

“The one-day internationals are the most important games ahead, so hopefully Jacob will be able to play in those,” said Vettori. “It’s a chance for us to redeem ourselves. We’ve taken solace in the fact that we’ve been pretty good operators in twenty20 and one-day cricket over the last few years.

“The guys know their one-day games pretty well and the fact we had the recent Twenty20 World Cup here, where we made the semis and South Africa did not, and the guys got a good feel for the pitches will be of assistance to us as well.”

New Zealand have been plagued by injury and illness throughout their tour with Shane Bond (stomach strain) and Craig Cumming (fractured cheek) being forced home and a number of players struck down by stomach complaints.

Source:Cricket News

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