Williamson ruled out of SA ODI series

New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson has officially been ruled out of the one-day series against South Africa, with his wrist injury not showing enough improvement.

Williamson picked up the ligament tear in his left wrist while playing in the Champions League T20, and missed the opening ODI against the Proteas in the hope of recovering later on.

But Black Caps’ coach Mike Hesson confirmed: “It’s been injected (with cortisone) and it’s recovered. It just needs some rehabilitation.

“He batted the last couple of days without a huge amount of discomfort but it’s not something we want to rush back.”

The Kiwis are also without Ross Taylor, who has a calf injury, meaning the batting pressure now falls to the likes of Jimmy Neesham and Tom Latham, and Hesson urged them to take advantage of the chance.

Hesson added of the six-wicket loss: “We saw some really good signs from Tom and Dean and a little bit from Jimmy but we need to see more.

“With the bat we weren’t as sharp as we needed to be. Some of our execution was certainly off and if you do that in an international you get exposed.”