Let-arm pace bowler Trent Boult is unlikely to be available for selection in New Zealand’s first Test against England, beginning at Lord’s on June 2, as the 32-year-old’s team, Rajasthan Royals, is in the Indian Premier League (IPL) final against Gujarat Titans. The IPL final will take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday (May 29), which means the Black Caps pace bowler will “have virtually no time to prepare properly for the first Test”, a report in stuff.co.nz said on Saturday. Boult took a wicket and bowled four economical overs as the Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by seven wickets in Qualifier 2 on Friday to secure an IPL 2022 final berth. He also scored an unbeaten 36 on Day 2 of the warm-up game and shared an unbroken 64-run stand for the last wicket with Cam Fletcher. “It is part of the game I have been working on consciously, because you can play a key role down the bottom there,” Patel told the website of his batting exploits.

Source: Stuff May 28, 2022 08:00 UTC