World Cup 2023: Kane Williamson fractures left thumb, may feature later in tournament

Kane Williamson has suffered an “undisplaced fracture” to his left thumb and been ruled out of contention for the first half of the ODI World Cup in India. Williamson was struck on the left hand by a throw while he was completing a run against Bangladesh in Chennai.

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After diagnosis, an X-ray confirmed the injury. New Zealand Cricket said Williamson will stay with the squad “with the aim of being available for the back end of pool play next month”.

New Zealand Cricket added Tom Blundell will be flown in to India as a replacement, although he will not be officially part of the squad for now.

The injury comes as a massive blow for Williamson and New Zealand cricket team considering he had just recovered from an ACL tear during the Indian Premier League (IPL). He was away from cricket for nearly six months. He returned to action in the two warm-up games preceding the World Cup. But he remained out for New Zealand’s two matches in the tournament – against England and Netherlands.

“Firstly, we’re all feeling for Kane to have this occur after all his hard work to return from his knee injury,” New Zealand 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.”

Williamson’s thumb and wrist were bandaged by the physio just after the blow to the left hand at the start of the 38th over in New Zealand’s chase against Bangladesh. He left the field in the next over and retired hurt at 78 runs.

New Zealand chased down the 246 run total and bagged their third straight win of the tournament. The Black Caps occupy top spot in the points table. Their next fixture is against Afghanistan on 18 October with Tom Latham likely to step in as captain once again.