New Zealand defeated Bangladesh on Friday (October 13) to make it a hattrick of wins in the ongoing World Cup. But their skipper Kane Williamson sustained an injury during the tricky 246-run chase and had to walk off the field retired hurt but not before scoring 78 runs. He was hit on the thumb while batting and underwent scans on Saturday (October 14).
The result of the scan has revealed an undisplaced fracture to the Kiwi captain's left thumb and has been ruled out of the next three matches at least including the game against India. The official Twitter handle of New Zealand Cricket has confirmed the development as the board has also stated that Williamson will remain with the World Cup squad during the period of recovery. Moreover, Tom Blundell has been called up into the squad as cover for the skipper.
It seems that the New Zealand team management is confident of Williamson recovering in time for the last leg of the league matches of the World Cup. New Zealand's next game is against Afghanistan, India and Australia. India and New Zealand will lock horns in Dharamsala on October 22 and the Kiwis will certainly miss their skipper in the upcoming big matches.
As for Williamson, he scored a brilliant 78 in his comeback match and played a key role in New Zealand chasing down 246 runs against Bangladesh. The surface was tricky at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai and the pitch slowed down a bit as the match progressed. But Williamson and Daryl Mitchell made sure they didn't stutter in the chase.
New Zealand World Cup squad: Kane Williamson (c), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitch Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young
