The upcoming matches in the bilateral series between Australia and New Zealand men and New Zealand vs England women will now be played behind closed doors and in a different venue owing to a new COVID-19 case in New Zealand which has raised the alert levels in the country. It has severely disrupted the ongoing limited-overs series for both Men and Women.
Auckland moved to Alert Level 3 ahead of the two matches in February which means the games will now be played in Wellington behind closed doors. Both men and women’s squad will now stay in Wellington following their respective matches. The doubleheader on 7th March which was slated to be played in Tauranga will go on as planned. The decision on crowds will be decided after government advice.
The decision to move the matches were taken following Prime Minister Jacinda Adern’s decision to impose a week of Level 3 lockdown in Auckland following the Ministry of Health revealed a potentially infectious COVID strain which has affected the 13th individual in February group.
Meanwhile, the Kiwis Men’s team lead the Aussies 2-0 in the 5 match T20I series while the White Ferns trail by the same margin against the English women in the ODI series.