Oram out of Australia match

Jacob Oram has averaged more than 40 with the bat in the World Cup © Getty Images

Jacob Oram will miss New Zealand's Super Eights match against Australia on Friday after suffering a recurrence of a heel injury, according to the coach John Bracewell.

"We will be going in with our strongest side for this particular game except Jacob Oram, who won't be available because of a problem with his heel," Bracewell said.

The allrounder Oram, however, will be fit for the semi-final clash the following Tuesday, most probably against the 1996 Champions Sri Lanka. Bracewell confirmed Oram's omission was more of a precautionary thing in order to have him fit for the last-four clash.

"He had it [the injury] for a period of time during the home series," Bracewell said. "The diagnosis is that the initial impact is the worst-case scenario, but he's been able to nurse it through. All of a sudden it's got a little bit more serious, so we've just got to take it easy.

"We talked with Jacob about the possibility of playing him as a batter only, but we didn't want to weaken the balance of the side by going in a bowler short.". Oram has scored 162 runs at an average of 40.50 at this World Cup and taken nine wickets at 21.33.

Both New Zealand and Australia are already through to the semi-finals, meaning Friday's match is not a decisive one for either side. However, if New Zealand beat Australia by a huge margin, they will overtake the world champions at the top of the Super Eights table.