In a body blow to New Zealand's ODI World Cup clash as their skipper Kane Williamson has suffered a thumb fracture and is expected to miss more matches in the ongoing showpiece event. However he will remain in the squad for the time being.
Williamson sustained a fractured left thumb during the World Cup match against Bangladesh in Chennai on Friday, October 13, while running between the wickets. After missing New Zealand's first two matches, match against Bangladesh marked Williamson's return after being sidelined for most of the year due to a ruptured ACL in his right knee. This was also his his first ODI for New Zealand since January 2023.
However, Tom Blundell has been called in as Williamson's cover for the remainder of the tournament.
“An X-ray has confirmed an undisplaced fracture to Kane Williamson’s left thumb. He will remain in the squad with the aim of being available for the back end of pool play next month. Tom Blundell will travel to India as cover,” BlackCaps tweeted.
“Firstly, we’re all feeling for Kane to have this occur after all his hard work to return from his knee injury,” New Zealand's head coach Gary Stead said.
“While it’s disappointing news, the initial diagnosis has given us some optimism he can still feature later in the pool play following a period of rest and rehabilitation. Kane is clearly a massive part of our side and a world-class player and captain - so we’ll look to give him every opportunity we can to return in the tournament,” he added.
Stead also revealed that before Blundell, Henry Nicholls was first considered, but the southpaw suffered a mild side strain during the Plunket Shield warm-up fixture against Otago.
“Tom’s been with the one-day side on tours to Pakistan and Bangladesh and performed well,” Stead said.
“He covers multiple positions in the batting order, and his wicket-keeping skills are also an added bonus as a back-up,” he added.
After winning all three of their World Cup matches thus far, New Zealand are set to face Afghanistan on October 18 and then mighty India on October 22. Tom Latham, who stepped in as captain during Williamson's absence in matches against England and the Netherlands, will continue to lead the team in the upcoming fixtures.
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