New Zealand’s stand-in-skipper Tom Latham confirmed that veteran fast-bowler Tim Southee will be unavailable for the side’s tournament opener against England at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday, citing his ongoing recovery from thumb injury. Southee had dislocated and fractured his right thumb while taking a catch during an ODI match against current Cup holders England on September 15. He now has a plate and some screws inserted in the thumb to boost his recovery in a bid to take part in New Zealand’s campaign at some point, thus missing out on opening game.
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Apart from him, regular captain Kane Williamson was ruled out previously from the first match of 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup against defending champions England due to him building up loads to be match-fit in recovery from an ACL rupture in right knee in March this year. Williamson had played in the side’s first warm-up as only a batter and then fielded in the second warm-up game.
“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. 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,” said Latham in the pre-match press conference.
New Zealand schedule for ODI World Cup 2023:
Match 1: October 5 – England vs New Zealand, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, 2:00 pm IST/8:30 am GMT
Match 6: October 9 – New Zealand vs Netherlands, Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad, 2:00 pm IST/8:30 am GMT
Match 11: October 13 – New Zealand vs Bangladesh, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, 2:00 pm IST/8:30 am GMT
Match 16: October 18 – New Zealand vs Afghanistan, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai 2:00 pm IST/8:30 am GMT
Match 21: October 22 – India vs New Zealand, Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala, 2:00 pm IST/8:30 am GMT
Match 27: October 28 – Australia vs New Zealand, Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala, 10:30 am IST/5:00 am GMT
Match 32: November 1 – New Zealand vs South Africa, Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune, 2:00 pm IST/8:30 am GMT
Match 35: November 4 – New Zealand vs Pakistan, M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, 10:30 am IST/5:00 am GMT
Match 41: November 9 – New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, 2:00 pm IST/8:30 am GMT
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