CWC 2023: New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson sustains injury on left thumb during clash against Bangladesh
Oct 13, 2023
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], October 13 : New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, who has made a comeback after a prolonged injury, retired hurt as a precaution after the ball struck his left thumb in the ongoing World Cup against Bangladesh on Friday.
In the 38th over of the game, Williamson sustained a blow on his left thumb in Taskin Ahmed's over. Glenn Philips came in to replace Williamson whose night ended with a score of 78.
"Kane Williamson (78*) has been retired hurt as a precaution after being hit on his left thumb while running between the wickets. Phillips has joined Mitchell in the middle in Chennai," Blackcaps wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
https://x.com/BLACKCAPS/status/1712858926121976306?s=20
Williamson received treatment on the field but decided to walk back to the pavilion.
After the game, Williamson who walked out with some protection on his thumb provided an update on his injury and said, "Just got a bit fat and colourful straight away so got a scan tomorrow, but hopefully it's okay. [on the knee] it's okay, glad to get through the game from a knee perspective, but from a team perspective it was great as well."
The experienced batter made his return to the field of cricket for the first time after sustaining an injury during the opening clash of the Indian Premier League 2023 between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings.
Coming to the match, Williamson walked out at his usual No.3 spot and made his much-awaited return, establishing a left-hand, right-hand combination with Devon Conway.
Both batters enjoyed a comfortable powerplay and unsettled Bangladesh's bowling set-up with constant strike rotation.
At the end of the powerplay, New Zealand put up 37/1 on the board.
The Kiwis shifted through gears in the next overs as they gathered 55 runs in the next 10 overs.
Conway lost his wicket on the very first ball on the 21st over with Shakib Al Hasan stepping up to provide the breakthrough.
This was the final wicket of the night, as Williamson and Daryl Mitchell took apart Bangladesh bowlers.
In the 38th over of the game, Williamson sustained a blow on his left thumb in Taskin Ahmed's over. Glenn Phillips came in to replace Williamson as he retired hurt with a score of 78.
Phillips and Mitchell finished off the game for New Zealand with scores of 16* and 89* respectively to seal a comfortable 8-wicket victory.
