October 14th 2023.
Kane Williamson has suffered a freak injury during New Zealand's win over Bangladesh, ruling him out of the team's immediate World Cup matches. Head coach Gary Stead is optimistic however, that the batter will be able to return to action at some stage of the tournament.
Williamson had only just made his return to the game after spending nearly seven months on the sidelines with a knee injury. He had put in a solid performance, scoring 78 not out, before he was struck by a throw while running between the wickets during the match.
New Zealand Cricket have announced that Tom Blundell will travel to India as cover for Williamson, who will remain with the team with the hope of being available for the back end of group play next month.
Speaking about the injury, Stead expressed sympathy for Williamson, saying, "Firstly, we're all feeling for Kane to have this occur after all his hard work to return from his knee injury." He added that they were hopeful of seeing him in action further down the line.
Blundell was chosen ahead of Henry Nicholls who suffered a mild side-strain during a Plunket Shield warm-up match the week. Stead said of the decision, "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."
The 2019 runners-up have had a strong start to their campaign for a maiden World Cup title, with a hat-trick of victories so far. They face Afghanistan in their next match in Chennai on Wednesday.
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