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Champions Trophy: New Zealand hopeful over Henry fitness for final

New Zealand are sweating over the fitness of Matt Henry, their leading wicket-taker, ahead of the Champions Trophy final on Sunday,

New Zealand remain hopeful that pace bowler Matt Henry will be fit for the Champions Trophy final against India in Dubai on Sunday.

Henry is the leading wicket-taker at this year's tournament, taking 10 at an average of 16.70 so far, but jarred his shoulder while taking the catch to dismiss South Africa's Heinrich Klaasen in the 29th over of the semi-final.

He was able to bowl two overs later in the match and was also seen diving in the field after he came back.

While Mitchell Santner had originally been positive following their 50-run victory over South Africa on Wednesday, head coach Gary Stead admitted Henry was a doubt heading into the showpiece.

"It [Henry's injury] is still a little bit of an unknown," Stead said.

"He is obviously pretty sore. [We are] hopeful he will be OK.

"It was pretty uncomfortable. The positive thing for us is he got back out there to bowl.

"We are going to give him every chance to be playing in this match."

Henry is just one away from equalling Mitchell McClenaghan (11 in 2013) for the most wickets for New Zealand in a single Champions Trophy tournament; he logged figures of 5-42 earlier in the tournament against India – his best return against them in ODIs.

However, if he is unable to play, New Zealand have pace bowler Jacob Duffy or fast-bowling all-rounder Nathan Smith as options to take his place in the line-up.

New Zealand are aiming to win just a second Champions Trophy title, having previously won the tournament in 2000, though this is their first appearance in the final since 2009 when they lost to Australia.

They did win their most recent appearance in the final of a men's ODI tournament, beating Pakistan to win the Tri-Nation Series in February. However, they have not won consecutive such fixtures since September 2005.

India, who have won their last six 50-over meetings with New Zealand, including their final group game on March 2, are thought to have a slight advantage, having played all of their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai, after refusing to travel to hosts Pakistan.

New Zealand are back in Dubai, having played their semi-final in Lahore, but Stead brushed off the idea that their extra travel will affect their performance on Sunday.

"They're not decisions that come across my desk anyway. For us, it's something that we can't control, so it's really just getting on with it," he said when asked about India playing all of their matches in the same place.

"Yes, India have played their four matches here. We're lucky enough to have had one here against them. It was a good match, without us quite putting our best foot forward as well.

"Wherever you play, you just have to go up and be able to be better than them on the day, and that's our focus."

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