• Williamson will miss the second match.
• He sustained an injury earlier this year.
• Southee and Ferguson make a comeback.

Kane Williamson will also not play the second match for New Zealand against the Netherlands on October 9 in the ICC World Cup 2023.

He had played the two warm-up games against Pakistan and South Africa, where he batted but was sidelined during fielding due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament earlier this year.

During the opening game of the World Cup against England, he was sidelined again. The Kiwis won the match by one wicket thanks to centuries from Dewon Conwey and Rachin Ravindra. New Zealand completed the target of 283 in just 36.2 overs.

“Kane’s been progressing very well,” New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said on Sunday.

“I think the fielding is still the element for him that he’s just got to get a little bit higher, and he gets a little bit more trust in his body.

“But he’s progressing really well and we are pretty confident that he will be playing the third match for us.

“We’ve got another training to get through today, so we’ll finalize the team (for the match against the Netherlands) once we’ve got through that training.

“But at this stage with Kane, we are looking like the third game is when he will start the tournament.”

While the team will miss Williamson, the Kiwis will get the bowling boost with the comeback of Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson.

“Lockie Ferguson got through that training really well. So providing he’s scrubbed up ok this morning, he will be available for this next game,” Stead said.

“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.

“He will just get a final x-ray done this morning and then we will make a call after that, but it’s all looking good for selection from now on and into the rest of the tournament.”

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