New Zealand head coach Gary Stead is confident of their former skipper Kane Williamson regaining fitness in time for the upcoming two-match Test series against South Africa at home. He sustained a slight hamstring strain injury during the second T20I against Pakistan and missed the subsequent remaining three matches of the series as well.
However, Williamson is on course to return for the South Africa Test series and according to Stead, he is only a few days away from returning to training. "I'm confident he will be alright. He's probably got another day or two before he starts back into training and it was a minor niggle, which is a good thing. So, we didn't want to aggravate it and didn't see the point of aggravating it with the important series that are ahead. He's obviously a key player and we know that and we want to make sure we've given him every chance of being available," Stead said.
With South Africa fielding a second string side filled with rookies for this series, New Zealand could've rested Williamson to manage his workload. But Stead is not taking the visiting team lightly marking the newbies at the international level as experienced first-class cricketers. "I can assure you one thing with South Africa - the team they bring here will still have experience and they will be hardened guys who have played quite a bit of first-class cricket.
"They will have a point to prove as well - 'Hey! we should be here' - and I think that makes them as dangerous as having a full side here. So, we certainly won't be taking them lightly. We have never beaten them in a Test series ever, so that's our challenge in front of us," Stead added. The first of the two-match Test series between New Zealand and South Africa is set to commence on February 4 at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui.
