Follow UsIt was a long-awaited return for Kane Williamson as the talismanic Kiwi batter returned to professional cricket six months after undergoing massive rehabilitation for his ACL surgery. Williamson had incurred the surgery while fielding at the boundary line in the Indian Premier League match between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings in March and was expected not to participate in New Zealand’s World Cup campaign.
However, he showed tremendous progress on the field that necessitated his return, and Friday was the first time he took part in a game, albeit it was not a recognized international match. He scored 54 off 50 balls against Pakistan before retiring out which is a huge boost to New Zealand’s bid to finally win a World Cup after two consecutive cracks in the final.
"Just great to get through some batting out in the middle and be part of a match, which was really nice and knee held up pretty well," Williamson said after New Zealand sealed victory.
"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 been quite fortunate with some of that recovery 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."
New Zealand, the finalists of the 2019 edition, will start their campaign against defending champions England on October 5, 2023, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, but in all likelihood, Williamson will sit out of the game to give more rest to his injured knee.