New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is set to miss out the second Test against West Indies to be with his pregnant wife.
As an expecting first-time father, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has decided to fly back home from Tauranga to Wellington to be with his pregnant wife. With that, he will not be able to play in the second cricket Test that will be played against the West Indies.
Talking about Williamson’s situation, New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said, ‘I guess just the closeness to the birth time and just needing to be there in terms of family support. Family comes first. Kane's not the first player to miss a test match because of an impending birth and he won't be the last’.
‘We don’t know 100 per cent for sure yet [when the baby will arrive], and I am no medical expert but there's a good chance that something will happen in the next six to 10 days’, he added.
During Williamson’s paternity leave, Tom Latham will take over his place as the team captain. Meanwhile, he will be replaced by Will Young at the number 3 spot as the team aims to whitewash the West Indies in the Test series. Stead also explained that this is a logical choice for the team as Young had already played at that spot for a couple of teams.
Talking about Latham, Stead said, ‘Tom Latham will take over as captain. He has been Test captain before in the past for us, and he's got a calm head on his shoulders, and I know with a lot of other leaders in our team that he will lean on them for their support as well’.
After New Zealand dominated the T20I series against the West Indies, they are looking forward to coming victorious after the second Test as well. So far, the odds of the game are -1000 for the Black Caps and +527 for the Windies. To know the odds of other upcoming matches, head over to Betwala.
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