New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has suffered an undisplaced fracture in his left thumb during his comeback match against Bangladesh in the ongoing 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup. Wicketkeeper-batter Tom Blundell has been called up to the squad as cover.
Williamson was struck on the thumb while running between the wickets in the 38th over of the match. He had to retire hurt after scoring a valiant 78 off 81 balls. New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has said that the team is expecting Kane Williamson to be fit in time for the back-end of the league stage.
Head coach Gary Stead said he was hopeful Williamson would still play a part in the tournament.
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“Firstly, we’re all feeling for Kane to have this occur after all his hard work to return from his knee injury. 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.”
Stead added Blundell’s versatility saw him selected to join the squad as cover.
“Tom’s been with the one-day side on tours to Pakistan and Bangladesh and performed well. He covers multiple positions in the batting order and his wicket-keeping skills are also an added bonus as a back-up.”
New Zealand are currently on top of the table in the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup with six points from three wins. Their next match is against Afghanistan on Wednesday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
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