New Zealand cricket team head coach, Gary Stead, provided an update on the injured captain Kane Williamson saying that he has made a "crucial" recovery from a fracture thumb he suffered during the ICC World Cup 2023 match against Bangladesh on October 13.
The Black Caps take on the in-form South African team in a crucial encounter on November 1 in Pune and Stead confirmed that Williamson has started batting again in the nets on a low-level intensity.
“Kane Williamson hit cricket balls for the first time yesterday, which is encouraging. [It was] low-level intensity but he will train tomorrow and the next day with a view to potentially being available for this game,” Stead said.
However, when asked about the possibility of the 33-year-old playing against the Proteas, Stead said that the next two days will decide if he’s fit enough to play or not.
“That will depend on just how he comes through the nets in the next couple of days,” he added.
It must be noted that Kane Williamson scored an unbeaten 78-run knock against Bangladesh before being retired hurt as in the 39th over, as the ball hit his thumb while he was crossing the wicket in the previous over.
Not just Williamson, the Black Caps have two more injuries to worry as pacer Lockie Ferguson and Mark Chapman picked up little knocks during the nail-biter against Australia on October 28 in Dharamshala.
Ferguson was forced to leave the field with a suspected Achilles injury and Stead confirmed that was the case.
“He’s woken up feeling a little bit better than what he has, but he will be getting a scan tomorrow morning here in Pune and from there we’ll be able to give you more of an update on what that looks like for Lockie, but we’re hopeful it’s maybe something just about a week in terms of return to play,” Stead added.
“Again it’s something he’s had in the past it’s niggled away, it’s just flared up again at perhaps a bad time for him.”
Meanwhile, Chapman suffered a calf injury was but his injury was deemed a “niggle”, however, Stead couldn’t give a timeframe for the potential return date of the 29-year-old.
- Kane Williamson