ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: Kane Williamson ruled out of Netherlands match, suspense over Tim Southee

Hyderabad, Oct 8: New Zealand sent a strong message to the opposition teams with their royal mauling of defending champions England in their ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 opening game at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on October 5.

The Blackcaps have now arrived in the 'City of Nizams', Hyderabad for their next match against the Netherlands on Monday (October 9). They will, however, be missing their regular captain Kane Williamson along with senior pacer Tim Southee.

The New Zealand head coach Gary Stead on Sunday (October 8) shared an update about injured players in the side ahead of the Dutch encounter. The coach confirmed Williamson is set to miss the second game as well but there's suspense over Southee's availability. While right-arm pacer Ferguson is fit to feature in the game.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: New Zealand vs Netherlands

In a video release, Stead said, "Lockie Ferguson got through training really well so providing he is scrubbed up okay this morning, he will be available for this next game.

"Tim Southee also got through the training really well. It was great to see him back at the bowling crease and also doing a little bit of fielding as well.

"He will just get a final x-ray done this morning and we will make a call after that but it is all looking good for selection from now on and into the rest of the tournament," the Kiwi coach added.

Throwing updates on Williamson, Stead claimed that the right-handed batter batted well in the nets but needs to be sharper with his fielding skills. He said, "Kane's also been progressing very well. I think the fielding is still the element for him he's just got to get a little bit higher and get a little more trust in his body.

"But he is progressing really well and we are pretty confident he will be playing the third match for us. We have got another training to get through today so we will finalise the team once we have got through that training. At this stage with Kane, we are looking like the third game is when he will start the tournament."

During the team's pre-match press conference, NZ cricketer Glenn Philips also spoke about Kane's health update and said, " No (Kane is not playing), we've released a bit of an extract, an update that Kane will be still recovering with the hopes of him playing in the third match, but we'll see how his recovery goes. He's going really strong at the moment."

The explosive batter - who plays for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL - said his team likes to approach every game the same way every time, every team is strong in its own right, especially on a given day.

"The Netherlands have a lot of strong players, and we're going to have to still put our best foot forward, as I'm sure they will. So, keep coming up with our plans, doing our scouting, making sure that we have everything set in place, and not taking any team lightly," he added further.

With the big win over England, New Zealand have two points in the bag and a massive boost to their net run rate, which comes in handy at the business end of the competition. As they are set to take on the Netherlands, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh in the next three games, the Kiwis will be aiming to win them all and maintain a lead in the points table.