Abbas Afridi has been ruled out of the 3rd T20I against New Zealand due to discomfort caused by a low-grade abdominal wall strain, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement on Tuesday.
The third T20I match will be played in Dunedin tomorrow (Wednesday).
The PCB said the fast bowler’s scan showed no signs of serious injury and “he will be treated symptomatically”.
Cricket’s governing body said Abbas’s availability for the final two matches would be available at a later date.
His exclusion would be a big loss for the team as Afridi was the team’s leading wicket-taker along with Haris Rauf even when they were in the losing end.
New Zealand beat Pakistan by 21 runs in the second Twenty20 International to take a 2-0 lead in the series.
The tourists threw away a strong position in their run after Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman scored half-centuries as they were dismissed for 173 in the final over, in reply to New Zealand’s 194-8.
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The win came at a cost to the Black Caps, whose captain Kane Williamson retired with a hamstring injury while batting, putting him in doubt for the remainder of the five-match series.
The match resembled New Zealand’s 46-run win in the opener in Auckland on Friday, with another aggressive batting approach led from the top by Finn Allen.
His 70 off 41 balls continued a run of form that the hard-hitting opener attributed to a change in approach.
“I worked hard on assessing the conditions and choosing when to pull the trigger,” Allen said.
“I always try to find boundaries and be positive, but it’s situational. It’s about when to take the higher risk option or the lower risk option.”
The target looked in sight for Pakistan before Fakhar was bowled by Milne for 50 off 25 balls in the 10th over, leaving Pakistan 97-3.
They battled from then on, with only Babar looking a threat until he was caught by Ben Sears for 66.
Milne finished with 4-33 having earlier dismissed the dangerous Mohammad Rizwan as Pakistan lost both their opening matches with just 10 runs on the board.
New Zealand were again asked to bat first and Allen immediately attacked the visitors, hitting five sixes and seven fours.
