‘I faced adversity with injuries’: New Zealand skipper Tom Latham after defeat to South Africa | Cricket News

New Zealand skipper Tom Latham on Wednesday lamented the spate of injuries that has left the Black Caps in a difficult position as the World Cup enters its conclusion. New Zealand suffered their third consecutive defeat as South Africa handed them a huge 190-run defeat on Wednesday. To add to their woes, as many as five players, including regular captain Kane Williamson (thumb), are suffering from injuries, leaving them with just 10 fit players in their squad of 15.

“We’ve faced some adversity with injuries. We’ll quickly think about this one and move on to the next one, we don’t become a bad team overnight,” Latham said after the game.

Matt Henry and James Neesham were injured on Wednesday, with the former suffering a hamstring injury. He will take exams on Thursday.

Neesham, on the other hand, suffered a blow to his right wrist during his follow-through but came out to bat.

Lockie Ferguson (Achilles) and Mark Chapman (calf) are also nursing injuries.

New Zealand failed with both bat and ball against the Proteas. While the bowlers gave away 357 runs, the entire team was bowled out for 167.

“It’s not our best performance. We were under pressure after that partnership (between Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen). It was a big score. From a striking point of view, we had to have those partnerships, but we supported against the wall. These two played fantastically well.

“It was a small pitch and a good surface, but we couldn’t do much in those first 10 overs. I think they put themselves in a great position, we couldn’t knot partnerships, it was disappointing.” Meanwhile, South Africa moved to the top of the table with their fourth consecutive victory and skipper Temba Bavuma was delighted with his team’s performance.

“Clinical display with the bat. I took up the challenge with the ball biting. We applied pressure with the ball. We tried to pounce on the bad balls, Quinny started slowly, held on and took it at the end.

“More than the score, we were trying to stay up to 30 and go big later. We were always looking to dominate with the new ball and intermediate passes. We knew they would come after us hard and we would have opportunities.

“I have to hear the permutations regarding qualifying for the semi-finals. After tomorrow it’s back to business, I have to prepare for the next match,” he said.

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