Image Source- ICC
In the warm-up match between New Zealand and Pakistan
in Hyderabad, Kane Williamson celebrated his comeback from a six-month injury
layoff with a slick fifty.
Williamson, who only bats as a specialist, came in at
No. 3 after Devon Conway was dismissed for a duck, stabilising New Zealand’s
pursuit of 346 with a 49-ball half-century. Before leaving the pitch with New
Zealand at 141 for 1 after 18 overs, he increased his tally to 54 off 50 balls.
Williamson plans to bat and field in New Zealand’s
second warm-up game against South Africa on Monday in Thiruvananthapuram, but
he will miss the country’s World Cup debut on October 5 against reigning
champions England in Ahmedabad.
Williamson’s increased physical fitness is a huge win
for New Zealand. He appeared to be out for the whole of the World Cup for a
while, but he miraculously recovered to play again. In March, during the IPL
2023 season’s opening game, he suffered an ACL tear and needed surgery. He
resumed his recovery while playing for the New Zealand team in the four T20Is
and four ODIs they played in England in August and September of this year.
After putting his feet up in the first innings on
Friday, Williamson tested them out and forged a 137-run partnership with Rachin
Ravindra, who opened the batting in place of Will Young.
“Just great to get through some batting out in
the middle and be part of a match, which was really nice and it [knee] held up
pretty well,” Williamson said after New Zealand sealed victory. “[It
needed] a little bit of icing afterwards but it’s all part of the process.
Yeah, it wasn’t a reality certainly five months ago and [I’ve] been quite
fortunate with some of that recovery and to be named in the squad is really
exciting for me and just really looking forward to getting out there again. It
was nice to do that today.
“It was largely pretty good, which was pleasing.
Nice to sort of build on that. It was a fantastic hit-out obviously. Pakistan
are an outstanding side. I mean both teams were trying to get what they wanted
out of it, in terms of bowlers getting overs they needed and time in the legs.
So, it’s an exercise, but also nice to compete and do all those things. As a
bowling unit and batting unit, plenty to take away from it. There’s always
things to work on and it was a great batting performance today. It was a really
good surface and it’s nice that we were able to put together partnerships and
get time in the middle.”