Kane Williamson's half-century helped New Zealand beat Bangladesh by eight wickets, but he had to retire hurt in his return from injury
Match Report:
ScorecardWilliamson retires hurt in comeback as NZ stay unbeaten
New Zealand are sweating on scan results for captain Kane Williamson after the star batter was struck on the thumb and forced to retire hurt in their comfortable eight-wicket over Bangladesh in Chennai.
Williamson scored 78 runs from 107 balls in his comeback from a serious knee injury suffered in April as the Black Caps reached Bangladesh's 9-245 with more than seven overs to spare at MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday.
It was the Black Caps' third straight win to start the World Cup and they sit on top of the standings with six points following victories over England and the Netherlands.
New Zealand had a new opening pair with Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra starting together after the latter was picked ahead of Will Young. But Ravindra was out for just nine runs, caught behind off Mustafizur Rahman in the third over.
Williamson and Conway then added 80 runs off 105 balls for the second wicket. Conway (45) outscored Williamson in the partnership as the skipper took a while to find his feet in his first game back, scoring just two runs from his first 19 balls.
Williamson reached his half-century off 81 balls before struggling with cramps and he also took a blow to his left thumb while running between the wickets, which could see his comeback short-lived.
He retired hurt in the 39th over with the score 2-200.
"It (the left thumb) got a bit fat and colourful straight away and just made holding the bat a bit difficult, so I've got a scan tomorrow and hopefully it's OK," Williamson said post-match.
"It was great to get through from a knee perspective, but from a team perspective it was a really nice performance.
"It was nice to be out there and be part of some of those partnerships and scrape through some tough periods; the new ball was hard work and it was just about trying to build those partnerships and get close to that target.
"An outstanding team effort from our seam attack and our spinners as well."
Daryl Mitchell scored a half-century off 43 balls and hit six fours and four sixes in his 67-ball 89 not out. He and Glenn Phillips (16no) put on a quick-fire 48 off 27 balls to finish the game with 7.1 overs to spare.
Earlier, New Zealand's seamers helped set up the win, sharing seven wickets between them. Lockie Ferguson led the way with 3-49 from 10 overs, while Trent Boult and Matt Henry took two wickets each.
For Bangladesh, Mushfiqur Rahim top-scored 66 runs off 75 balls after his side was put into bat by New Zealand. Mahmudullah scored 41 not out off 49 balls to push Bangladesh past 200 but it was never going to be enough against an in-form Kiwi batting line up.
2023 World Cup standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
IND
|
9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.57 | 0 | 18 |
|
2
SA
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.261 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
AUS
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.841 | 0 | 14 |
|
4
NZ
|
9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.743 | 0 | 10 |
|
5
PAK
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.199 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
AFG
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.336 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
ENG
|
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.572 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
BAN
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.087 | 0 | 4 |
|
9
SL
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.419 | 0 | 4 |
|
10
NED
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.825 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points