Ahead of the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023 opening match against England, New Zealand are set to miss out on the services of Kane Williamson and Tim Southee, their two most experienced players. Stand-in skipper Tom Latham has revealed that Williamson is still nursing his right knee, despite batting in both the warm-up games. He will rest for the England match, but Kiwis hope that he will be fit in time for the rest of the tournament.
On the other hand, Tim Southee is still recovering from a fractured thumb on the right hand, an injury he suffered in an ODI against England. He underwent surgery for the same, and there is no word when he will be fit.“Yeah, so obviously no Kane and no Tim as well. He’s [Southee] unavailable for selection just in terms of what happened to his thumb a couple of weeks ago, but he’s recovering nicely. I think he’s nearly two weeks post-surgery so fingers crossed he can keep recovering. It’s a bit of a day-by-day process with him in terms of what that looks like too. But fingers crossed he’ll be available sooner rather than later as well,” Williamson had to undergo surgery on his right knee after rupturing his ACL during the IPL 2023 opening match in Ahmedabad. Though he did well in the two warm-up games, he was ruled out of the first game against England, even before the tournament had begun.
