Twenty20 Cricket World Cup: Black Caps bowler Trent Boult ahead of the semifinal against England. Video / NZC
Facing England in the Twenty20 World Cup semifinals isn't the only challenge Kane Williamson has to overcome.
The Black Caps skipper has been battling through his long-standing elbow injury during the tournament, with the injury requiring him to significantly minimise his training loads.
For someone who loves spending time inthe nets, having to sit on the sidelines for large chunks of training has been another obstacle for Williamson to deal with.
So far, so good, with Williamson having reached 25 in four of his five innings. While his strike rate hasn't exceeded 112 in any of the matches, he has, as usual, judged the conditions excellently, with his unbeaten 40 off 42 balls against Afghanistan the prime example of an innings that could have been quicker if required, but Williamson's more sedate approach was what was needed to see the team to victory.
That innings looked relatively simple, but Williamson admits the build-up has been anything but.
"[Limited training] has been a bit of a challenge for me," Williamson said.
"The balance is between the loading of the elbow and things like that to try and stay as fresh as possible for the game. So it's a bit of a delicate balance to get my head around.
"I certainly look forward to the day that it's gone and I don't have to worry too much about it. But as it stands, it's a topic of discussion and just trying to work closely with the physio to make sure in the games you're as fresh as possible.
"But it's had an impact on loading, therefore meaning training [has been] a lot less, to be fair."
Kane Williamson's characteristically-long training sessions have had to be curbed at the T20 World Cup. Photo / Photosport
Black Caps coach Gary Stead described the situation as a mental challenge for Williamson.
"He hasn't trained as much as he would have liked, but that's just about making sure the time when he is batting, hopefully it's in the middle for us and winning games of cricket – that he's not overdoing the elbow. Probably training for him is the chance of making it worse.
"We've managed that well and that's the mental challenge for Kane, to work that out."
Williamson has a chance to overcome all challenges in tomorrow morning's semifinal, which doubles as a chance for a dose of revenge for the 2019 ODI World Cup final defeat to England.
The captain isn't one to think that way though, noting that the jam-packed schedule of international cricket offers little time for reflection.
"It was an amazing game to be a part of. And certainly all the guys, when it does come up in conversation, it's looked back on fondly and they appreciate that experience.
"At the time, the aftermath was very difficult to understand and perhaps didn't make a lot of sense.
"But you play by the rules and you move on and you look forward to the next challenges. And as a group they continue to come thick and fast and that's where we like to put our focus. And not long after that was some test cricket focus. And now we're at a T20 World Cup, and the cricket just continues to roll on.
"I think both teams are just looking forward to the occasion. It's been a long time coming. It's been exciting to be involved in it, and obviously it's all coming to a quick end and we've got the semifinal.
"And all going well - hopefully another game after that."
