Kane Williamson marked his return to the World Cup with an unbeaten 78 as New Zealand cruised past Bangladesh by eight wickets on Friday, but the captain was forced to retire injured with a thumb injury. Williamson was sidelined due to a serious knee injury suffered in the IPL, leaving New Zealand’s first two wins at the World Cup behind. Chasing 246 to win, the 33-year-old, playing his first ODI since January, had reached his 43rd fifty in the 81-ball format and looked good for a century.
He advanced to 78 with eight fours and a six when he had to retire after a delivery from deep hit him painfully on the glove and jammed his thumb against the handle of the bat.
In consultation with the medical team, and with the Black Caps falling just 46 points short of victory, the decision was made to withdraw Williamson from the match.
“It’s not certain yet,” said Williamson when asked about the severity of the injury.
“It immediately became a bit thick and colorful, making it difficult to hold the bat. We’ll have a scan tomorrow and hopefully everything will be fine.”
New Zealand wrapped up their third win comfortably with 43 balls to spare.
Williamson had set up a second wicket stand of 80 with opener Devon Conway (45) and then 108 with Daryl Mitchell racing to his 50 from 43 balls.
Mitchell somehow did it with a huge heave for six off Bangladesh’s Shoriful Islam.
Mitchell finished unbeaten on 89 off just 67 deliveries, with six fours and four sixes to his name.
New Zealand, runners-up at the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, had already defeated defending champion England and outsider Netherlands in India.
Bangladesh defeated Afghanistan and then lost to England.
Earlier, Mushfiqur Rahim hit a fine half-century to guide Bangladesh to 245-9, while experienced Black Caps fast bowler Trent Boult claimed a 200th one-day international wicket.
Mushfiqur made 66 off 75 balls with six fours and two sixes, taking his tally of fifties in the format to 48 after also hitting a half-century against England three days ago.
The 36-year-old, playing in his 259th ODI, shared a crucial 96-run fourth-wicket partnership with skipper Shakib Al Hasan (40) to help their team recover from 56-4.
Boult’s 200th wicket
Mushfiqur was eventually bowled clean by Matt Henry as he tried to increase the scoring rate after Shakib was killed, caught by wicketkeeper Tom Latham off Lockie Ferguson after an attempted pull shot.
Shakib ended his innings with cramps in the sweltering heat, batting against the spinners without a helmet or cap.
After the match, teammate Najmul Hossain Shanto said Shakib “went for a scan” without specifying the injury.
“Then we will know what happened to him,” Najmul said.
Mushfiqur’s brother-in-law Mahmudullah, who was ranked at number eight, added a valuable unbeaten 41.
Boult, meanwhile, became the sixth New Zealand player to take 200 ODI wickets.
The 34-year-old achieved the personal milestone when he dismissed Towhid Hridoy, caught at extra cover by Mitchell Santner for 13, in the 38th over.
Playing in his 107th ODI, Boult also dismissed opener Liton Das from the first ball of the match.
Liton celebrated his 29th birthday but any hopes of a big score to mark the occasion were shattered when he shuffled across the wicket to confront Boult but stuck the ball to a grateful Henry who bagged the chance at good leg .
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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