New Zealand's Kane Williamson reports injury woes
Kane Williamson, New Zealand’s top scorer in 2015, has reported a finger injury on the eve of New Zealand’s final Test match of the year against Sri Lanka in Hamilton. Addressing a press conference before the Test, Williamson downplayed the injury worries but admitted that he might not be at his 100 percent when the team takes to the field on Friday.
“You get a few knocks on fingers and when it doesn’t get hit, it settles a little bit, gets less sensitive, but it’s just something I need to manage,” said Williamson.
The 25-year-old has amassed over a 1000 Test runs this year at an average of 88.58, and in the process, has become only the second Kiwi batsman after Brendon McCullum to complete 1000 runs in a calendar year. He continued his good run in the First Test as he scored 88 and 71 in their 122-run victory.
While the New Zealand vice-captain hasn’t yet got his injury checked by the medical staff, he believes that it’s just ‘quite sore.’ But captain McCullum hopes that his deputy’s injury isn’t grave, as he looks to capitalize on the momentum that his side has built after winning the first Test in emphatic fashion.
The wicket appeared to be a green top two days before the game, which means that the team winning the toss would like to bowl first. Williamson feels, that on this pitch, swing will be a more important factor than seem.
“Every surface that we play on here starts out green,” said Williamson. “I think that it will be a good cricket surface but if it swings, that’s when I think it offers more to the bowlers.”
He also referred to the practice game that the Kiwis played there before their Australian tour, that included the pink ball and the floodlights, and mentioned that there was a lot of swing on offer.
“We played a first class game here a wee while back before Australia and it was very green, but it was more the swing that did a lot, so if it’s hard underneath it might just add a bit of pace to the surface. I’m sure it’ll be pretty tough early on.”
New Zealand are likely to be unchanged from their previous fixture, fielding four fast bowlers in Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Doug Bracewell and Neil Wagner, with the young all-rounder Mitchell Santner providing a spin option.
New Zealand will be looking to win the series 2-0 and take the momentum forward to the ODI series against the Lankans. They then have one more series, at home against Australia in February, before they kick off their World T20 campaign.