CWC 2023: Tom Latham provides injury update on Williamson, Ferguson ahead of SA clash

PUNE: Ahead of his side's ICC World Cup match against South Africa, New Zealand's stand-in skipper Tom Latham on Tuesday provided injury updates on two key players Kane Williamson and Lockie Ferguson.

New Zealand will take on South Africa in a clash of tournament heavyweights at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Wednesday.

Williamson suffered an undisplaced fracture to his left thumb which ruled him out of action until the latter stages of the group play in the ongoing tournament. Ferguson also suffered from injuries during the competition.

Ferguson was forced to leave the pitch after only three overs against Australia. He had given up 38 runs when he began to feel pain in his right Achilles.

The injury was severe enough that he was unable to return to the field for the remainder of the game.

During the pre-match press conference, Latham was asked about Ferguson, Williamson, and Mark Chapman and the stand-in captain stated that they would be evaluated following training on October 31.

Latham is also hoping for the best for Ferguson, who is out with an Achilles injury.

"Yeah, just as I said before, there's Lockie, Kane and Mark Chapman. We'll obviously get through hopefully a bit of work today and then we'll see how they pull up from a selection point of view. But yeah, obviously, Lockie went off in the last game with a bit of achilles' niggle, so fingers crossed he'll be fine for tomorrow," Latham said during the pre-match press conference.

Latham also praised the bowling skills of batter Glenn Phillips, who has taken some important wickets for Kiwis so far in the tournament.

Latham said that Phillips has taken his opportunities really well.

"Yeah, he has been fantastic for us. He has obviously had sort of limited opportunity with the ball compared to the other two guys. But he has an all-rounder for us who obviously has a lot of power with the bat, but also can bowl some handy overs. And it is nice having the option with the ball spinning the other way. And I think when he has bowled, he has obviously taken his opportunity really well," said Latham.

"I think you look back to the Australia game a couple of games ago where we were under a lot of pressure and for him to bowl 10 overs from one end and get three for 30 odd, I think it was, was obviously a fantastic effort on a wicket that was not necessarily offering a lot," the stand-in captain added.

"So, I guess it just shows he is a really hard worker, someone that has not been bowling off-spin for long. He's a keeper from growing up. So, I guess that just shows that the work that he has put in for him to get a few rewards throughout this tournament has been great and I am sure he will be looking forward to hopefully getting an opportunity again at some point with the ball and hopefully he can keep showing us the skills that he has got," he concluded.

In six matches, Phillips has taken six wickets, with the best bowling figures of 3/37.