New Zealand paceman Tim Southee dislocated and fractured a bone in his right thumb on Friday– less than three weeks before the start of the World Cup in India. Southee suffered the injury while dropping a catch off Joe Root during England’s innings at Lord’s in the final one-day international of the four-match series.
The former England captain, who was on eight at the time, edged Ben Lister to Southee in the slips. He immediately looked to be in pain and left the field to go for a scan, failing to return.
“An X-ray has confirmed that Tim Southee dislocated and fractured a bone in his right thumb while attempting to take a catch in the 14th over of the first innings,” said a New Zealand team spokesman. “A timeline for his recovery will be established tomorrow when he undergoes further assessment.”
New Zealand begin their World Cup campaign against defending champions England in Ahmedabad in the opening game of the tournament on October 5.
Southee, 34, named this week in an experienced New Zealand squad for the tournament, had taken 214 wickets in 156 ODIs before the Lord’s match.
He bowled four overs for 29 runs on Friday as England scored 311-9 in their 50 overs.
Injured Pakistan quicks Haris, Naseem still in World Cup contention
Pakistan captain Babar Azam said on Friday that injured quicks Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah remained central to his team’s World Cup plans, after their absence saw the team crash out of the Asia Cup. Azam’s men went down to fellow co-hosts Sri Lanka by two wickets Thursday in a last-ball thriller of a rain-shortened Super Four knockout game in Colombo.
Both Naseem and Rauf were injured in the Super Four loss to India in the 50-over tournament, a tune-up for the ODI World Cup in India starting next month.
“Haris Rauf is not bad, he has a little bit side strain but will recover before the World Cup,” said Azam. “Naseem Shah has missed a couple of matches but I don’t know about his recovery. But in my opinion he will be in the World Cup.”
The pace duo’s absence was felt when Pakistan failed to defend 252 in their 42-over-a-side match against Sri Lanka. Charith Asalanka steered his side home in that game, hitting a four and a double off the last two balls, bowled by debutant Zaman Khan.
“Definitely when you lose your best bowlers, that costs you and your team,” Azam said after the match. “We were not short of effort but didn’t finish well.”
Azam said the team would learn from their mistakes to put on a better show in India next month, where they will meet the hosts in a hotly anticipated October 14 clash in Ahmedabad.
“In fielding we lacked the kind of response that we should have got. In the bowling, there is an issue in the middle overs,” said Azam. “We will try to learn from them and will clear them before going into the World Cup.”