Nathan Ellis ruled out of Australia's Scotland and England tour due to hamstring injury
Australia's bowling attack has suffered a jolt amid their ongoing T20I tour of Scotland as Nathan Ellis will miss the remaining two matches of the series due to a hamstring injury. The 29-year-old has also been ruled out of the subsequent England tour when the Men in Yellow will square off in three more T20Is and five ODIs.
Ellis was on track to spearhead the national team's bowling attack in the T20I series against Scotland, but the hamstring injury suffered in The Hundred has rendered him unavailable. With the New South Wales seamer missing the opening game of the series, Cricket Australia, on Friday announced that he hasn't yet recovered and will return home imminently.
Instead, Josh Hazlewood, who had a calf injury, forcing him to miss the Scotland tour, has landed in England ahead of the first T20I on September 11 in Southampton. Riley Meredith, who replaced Hazlewood for the T20Is in Scotland, will stay with the team as a cover.
Australia took a 1-0 lead with a crushing win over Scotland
Meanwhile, Australia started the series against Scotland on a convincing note as they belted the hosts by seven wickets in the first of the three T20Is in Edinburgh. Sean Abbott finished as the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-0-39-3 to keep the home side to 154.
While the tourists lost debutant Jake Fraser-McGurk for a duck in the opening over, captain Mitchell Marsh joined Travis Head to launch a stunning assault. The duo helped their side register the highest-ever powerplay score of 113 in T20Is.
The tourists had lost Marsh (39) and Head (80), but it took them only 9.4 overs to reach the target. Head earned the Player of the Match award for his sensational 25-ball knock. The visitors will look to seal the series in the 2nd T20I on Friday.