Injury woes have kept New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson on sidelines on numerous occasions over the past few years. But on Sunday, January 14, he encountered another injury concern during New Zealand's second T20I against Pakistan at Seddon Park in Hamilton, which ruled him out of the match.
Williamson, who came in at no.3 and managed to score 26 runs from 15 deliveries, hitting three fours and a six. However, during the 10th over, he experienced discomfort in his leg while running and had to be attended by a physiotherapist. Following this, Williamson chose to retire hurt and left the field. It was later revealed that Williamson suffered 'tightness' in his right hamstring. New Zealand Cricket issued a statement confirming that he would not participate further in the match as a precaution. Tim Southee stepped in as captain in Williamson's absence. After Williamson's departure, Daryl Mitchell joined Finn Allen at the crease.
The statement from New Zealand Cricket noted that Kane Williamson would not return to play in the second KFC T20I in Hamilton, taking a precautionary step due to tightness in his right hamstring, which he felt while running in the 10th over, leading to his retirement hurt.
After being put to bat first New Zealand managed to compile a solid total of 194 runs for the loss of eight wickets. Finn Allen was particularly impressive, reaching his fourth T20I half-century in just 23 balls. The right-handed batsman amassed 74 runs from 41 balls, including seven fours and six sixes, until Usama Mir claimed his wicket. Haris Rauf, initially costly, turned his performance around, ending with a bowling figure of 4-0-38-0. Remarkably, in his final over, Rauf took three wickets and successfully kept the New Zealand batsmen from dominating.
Abbas Afridi, who had previously taken three wickets in the first T20I at Eden Park, concluded with figures of 4-0-43-2. Shaheen Shah Afridi, though not securing any wickets, maintained a reasonable economy rate of 7.50.
In reply, Pakistan did put on a fight riding on Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman's brilliant fifties but eventually ran out of steam and suffered a 21-run defeat to New Zealand, which marked their successive loss in the five-match T20I series.
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