T20 World Cup 2021: There’s always that chance – Stead on Williamson missing matches due to elbow injury

Williamson
was
seen
fielding
in
New
Zealand’s
13-run
loss
to
England
in
a
warm-up
game
on
Wednesday
(October
20)
but
the
Kiwi
skipper
didn’t
bat
as
a
“precautionary
measure,”
according
to
Stead.

The
coach
said
Williamson’s
elbow
injury
had
“flared
up
a
little
bit”
after
the
three-wicket
loss
to
Australia
in
the
first
warm-up
game
on
Monday
(October
18).
The
Kiwi
skipper
had
hit
a
30-ball
37.

When
asked
whether
Williamson
might
have
to
miss
matches
during
the
tournament,
Stead,
although
optimistic,
said
“there’s
always
that
chance”.

“We’re
still
pretty
hopeful
and
confident
that
if
we
get
the
rest
right,
initially
here
now,
and
get
that
balance
right
then
he
should
be
right
to
play,”
Stead
was
quoted
as
saying
by
‘stuff.co.nz’.

New
Zealand
open
their
campaign
against
Pakistan
in
Sharjah
on
Tuesday
but
play
their
other
four
Super
12
matches
in
the
space
of
seven
days
between
October
October
31
to
November
7
which
leave
little
room
for
rest.

“Kane
is
a
prodigious
hitter
of
and
balls,
he
loves
to
prepare
that
way
as
well,
and
in
some
ways
that’s
probably
the
worst
thing
he
can
do,
is
over-hit
at
times.

“So
it’s
really
getting
that
balance
right,
between
feeling
ready
and
feeling
prepared
to
go,
and
making
sure
we
don’t
aggravate
anything,”
Stead
said.

Last
week,
Williamson
had
said
that
the
recovery
from
the
elbow
problem,
which
has
been
bothering
him
for
a
while,
has
been
slow.

He
also
divulged
that
the
problem
was
impacting
his
batting
as
it
affected
his
grip.

Talking
about
the
team’s
performance,
the
coach
said
the
side
is
likely
to
stick
with
the
three-seamer
and
two-spinner
bowling
attack.

New
Zealand
lost
both
its
warm-up
games
in
the
run-up
to
the
tournament.

“We’ve
had
that
balance
for
quite
a
while
and
I
think
it’s
still
the
right
balance
for
most
of
the
conditions
here
as
well,”
he
said.

“We’ll
weigh
up
what
we
think
around
Sharjah
in
particular
and
if
we
think
there
needs
to
be
anything
different
there
for
that
first
game
against
Pakistan,
but
that’s
a
little
way
down
the
track,”
he
added.