New Zealand are playing three debutants in the second Test of the two-match series against Zimbabwe, all fast bowlers.
For the second Test of the series, New Zealand picked three seamers previously uncapped in the format, giving a fresh look to their bowling attack. Jacob Duffy, Zakary Foulkes, and Matthew Fisher made their debuts in Bulawayo, replacing Nathan Smith, Will O'Rourke, and Michael Bracewell from the first Test.
Smith and O'Rourke are out injured. Smith retired hurt while batting in the first match and was subsequently ruled out of the series with an abdominal strain. O'Rourke, meanwhile, experienced "back stiffness" on the third day of the first Test and was a doubt for the second game, before eventually being ruled out.
Bracewell's omission is not down to injury, however. The all-rounder was intially not part of the Test squad, but Glenn Phillips' injury opened up a spot for a spin-bowling all-rounder. Bracewell was already in Zimbabwe at the time, playing in the T20I tri-series that preceded the Tests, and was called up as replacement. However, his prior commitments with The Hundred meant he was only available for the first Test match.
2nd Test, Zimbabwe vs New Zealand
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Jacob Duffy, Zakary Foulkes, Matthew Fisher debut for NZ
Among the three debutants, Duffy is the most experienced at the international level. Aged 31, he has already played 14 ODIs and 27 T20Is for New Zealand, and also has 318 wickets from 108 first-class games to his name.
Foulkes, 23, has played 13 T20Is and one washed out ODI and had picked up 57 wickets from 19 first-class matches before his Test debut, where he ran through the Zimbabwe lineup on the first day to pick up 4-31 at the time of writing.
Fisher, 25, had no international experience prior to this Test in any format, with his 14 first-class matches thus far yielding 51 wickets.
Also read: Fast forward: How New Zealand's rich production line secured a seamless seam transition
This Test also marks the return of Zimbabwe's Brendan Taylor after a four-year long gap. This has made Taylor the only active Test cricketer to have made their international debut before 2005.
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