New Zealand captain Kane Williamson will miss the second test match against the visitors from the West Indies, to be with his partner Sarah Raheem for the birth of their first child.
Kane Williamson with his partner Sarah Raheem (Courtesy – Twitter)
HIGHLIGHT
- Kane Williamson will miss the second WI test to attend the birth of his first child
- Previously, New Zealand coach Stead was confident that Williamson would play the second test.
- Tom Latham will lead the Black Caps against West Indies now
Following in the footsteps of India captain and future father Virat Kohli, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has decided to miss the second Test match against the West Indies to be with his partner Sarah Raheem for the birth of his first child. The news has been confirmed by Gary Stead, the head coach of the Black Caps, in a video message posted on the official New Zealand Cricket (NZC) Twitter account on Thursday.
In the video message, Gary Stead also revealed that Will Young, the Kiwi rookie from the first Test, will come in at bat at number three and Tom Latham will lead the New Zealand Test side for the second time in his career.
“It’s a decision we’ve come to, I guess, the best decision for him [Williamson] and Sarah, and also for our long-term team, and in terms of him being in a good place to be with Sarah as well. Young will come in and hit three, it’s a logical replacement to just slide into that position. Will has played a lot there, so yeah, he’s a natural replacement.
“Tom Latham will take over as captain. He has been a test captain before in the past for us, and has a calm head on his shoulders, and I know with many other leaders on our team that he will lean on them for support as well.” Gary Stead said.
Earlier today, in another Twitter post, NZC had said that Kane Williamson was expected to return from Tauranga to join the Black Caps Test team in Wellington.
“Kane Williamson will be returning from Tauranga later today to rejoin the BLACKCAPS test team in Wellington. Coach Gary Stead has spoken with the captain and is confident that he will be available to play in the second test starting from Basin Reserve on Friday.” NZC said. said.
Kane Williamson led from the front in his team’s victory in innings and 134 runs in the first round. The right-hander was declared Man of the Match for his best test hit of 251. The 30-year-old recently joined Virat Kohli for second place in the ICC Test for hitters standings.
The second and final test match of the series is scheduled to begin on Friday.
