"Kane is clearly a massive part of our side, and a world-class player and captain - so we'll look to give him every opportunity we can to return in the tournament."

Williamson's thumb and wrist were initially bandaged by the physio just after he was hit at the start of the 38th over of New Zealand's chase against Bangladesh. But then he retired hurt in the 39th over with New Zealand not far from their target, which they achieved with 43 balls remaining for an eight-wicket win - their third in a row at the World Cup.

The game against Bangladesh was Williamson's return to international action after suffering an ACL tear during the IPL opener in late March this year. He was away from cricket for close to six months, and only returned to action in the two warm-up games ahead of the World Cup, where he scored 54* and 37 against Pakistan and South Africa, respectively.

Williamson was included in New Zealand's World Cup squad despite still being in the recovery stage. He had earlier travelled and trained with the side in England in the lead-up to the World Cup.

"[It needed] a little bit of icing afterwards, but it's all part of the process," Williamson had said after his half-century in the warm-up against Pakistan. "Yeah, it [playing the World Cup] wasn't a reality certainly five months ago and [I've] been quite fortunate with some of that recovery, and to be named in the squad is really exciting for me... It was nice to do that today."

Despite Williamson having missed New Zealand's first two matches of the World Cup - against England and Netherlands - New Zealand went on to win both games convincingly under the leadership of Tom Latham. New Zealand next play Afghanistan - also in Chennai - on October 18, with Latham likely to stand in as captain again.