IPL teammate makes quick work of Taylor's forearm

 South African quick Morne Morkel is unlikely to have brought a smile to his IPL franchise yesterday.
Morkel and New Zealand captain Ross Taylor were due to be teammates at the Delhi Daredevils, when the IPL starts on April 4. However, a nasty lifting delivery from Morkel shortly after lunch at the Basin Reserve broke a bone in Taylor's left forearm. Taylor, on 18, tried to bat on wearing an arm guard, but walked off one ball later and headed for hospital.

"The break is not displaced, which is a positive sign, but we will see an orthopaedic surgeon to determine the best course of action, and length of time out of the game," New Zealand Cricket medical director Ian Murphy said.

There was no indication last night how long Taylor would be sidelined, although assistant coach Trent Woodhill speculated that the skipper might be able to bat, if it is a question of balls rather than overs late in the day.

New Zealand's next assignment is the tour to the West Indies, which starts in late June. Taylor should be well over the injury by then but won't have had as much leadup time as he would have wanted.

It continued an unfortunate run for Taylor in his first full season as captain. He tore a calf muscle against Zimbabwe in Napier in late January and missed the entire limited-overs series against Zimbabwe and South Africa.