England’s final Test against New Zealand went from bad to worse after captain Ben Stokes limped off the field with a hamstring injury.
Bowling his 13th over of the second innings – and third of the day – Stokes pulled up immediately after delivering a bouncer and grabbed his left hamstring.
The England skipper headed straight for the dressing rooms in clear discomfort and was not seen for the remainder of the third day in Wellington.
Stokes suffered an injury to the same left hamstring playing in the Hundred in August and subsequently missed the rest of England’s summer.
He is now set to undergo further assessment to determine the severity of his injury and whether he can play a part with the bat in England’s fourth innings.
With or without their skipper, England face a mammoth task to avoid defeat in the final match of the series which they lead 2-0.
The visitors slipped to 18-2 at stumps and need a record-breaking 640 to win after a fine third-innings century from Kane Williamson saw New Zealand reach 453 all out having skittled England out for just 143 in their first innings.
Crawley, who has endured a rotten series, was dismissed yet again by Matt Henry for just 5, while Tim Southee bowled Ben Duckett for just four in the closing stages of day three.
Stokes’ latest injury, meanwhile, comes at the end of a series where he had finally been able to play a full role with the ball after undergoing knee surgery to fix a long-standing issue.
The 33-year-old has taken seven wickets in the series, whilst bowling 66 overs in the three matches.
Fortunately for Stokes, England do not play another Test match until May next year and he is not due to play in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) having pulled out of the action to manage his body.
However, the all-rounder may now be unable to play a part in February’s Champions Trophy.
The red-ball captain has technically retired from playing one-day cricket for England but was considering reversing that decision after Brendon McCullum was also put in charge of England’s white-ball team.
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