Injured Moin Khan drops out of Test

HAMILTON, MARCH 26. Pakistan captain Moin Khan today dropped out of the third cricket Test with New Zealand with an injured right knee. ``I can't play. It would be too painful,'' he said.

Pakistan leads the series 1-0 and faces a wicket here likely to favour it, although New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming is confident of ending the season on a high.

Fleming was relieved to be back here, the scene of a nine-wicket win over the West Indies and a topsy-turvy six-wicket loss to Australia last summer. While the composition of the home side's bowling attack was still uncertain until a final inspection of the pitch tomorrow, Fleming was happy not to be playing a specialist spinner for the first time in 44 Tests over five years.

``It's a gamble, but in situations like this you may have to gamble a little bit to win it,'' Fleming said. ``We're not going to die wondering, certainly 2-0 isn't great but the opportunity of going 1-1 and taking a risk is a much better proposition.''

Kiwis are tempted to put all their eggs in one basket with faster bowlers Daryl Tuffey, Chris Martin and the recalled James Franklin along with possible Debutant Jacob Oram.

``If we can finish the season with the Test win it would leave a better taste in the mouth, it would mean a One-day series win and a tied series in the Tests which isn't too bad. ``It's a much better wicket for us, it's suited to us.''

Moin Khan didn't appear at the team's final training and later confirmed he would not be playing.

Moin, 29, said he had been carrying the injury for some time and it flared up again on the last day of the drawn second Test. ``I'll be out for six weeks. I was looking forward to this Test and perhaps leading Pakistan to a series victory, but it's not to be.'' Inzamam-ul-Haq will take over the captaincy, while Hamuyan Farhat will don the gloves.

Wasim Akram, Saeed Anwar, Azhar Mahmood and Abdur Razzaq have already returned home with injury or illness during the six-week tour.

The teams (from):

New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (Capt), Mark Richardson, Matthew Bell, Mathew Sinclair, Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan, Adam Parore, Jacob Oram, James Franklin, Daryl Tuffey, Chris Martin and Grant Bradburn.

Pakistan: Inzamam-ul-Haq (Capt), Imran Farhat, Ijaz Ahmed, Faisal Iqbal, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Saqlain Mushtaq, Waqar Younis, Fazle Akbar, Mohammad Sami, Humayun Farhat, Mushtaq Ahmed and Mohammad Akram.

Umpires: M/s. Daryl Harper (Aus) and Steve Dunne (NZ).

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