Cricket-New Zealand's Williamson fractures thumb, to return home

Oct 30 (Reuters) - Batsman Kane Williamson has suffered a small fracture in his left thumb and been ruled out of New Zealand's ongoing tour of Bangladesh and the upcoming visit to Sri Lanka, the country's cricket board said on Wednesday. Williamson was slated to lead the team in the three one-day internationals and two Twenty20 matches in Sri Lanka in the absence of regular captain Brendon McCullum, who will skip the trip to prepare for December's home tests against West Indies. The 23-year-old was struck on the thumb in the 35th over of the first ODI against Bangladesh while fielding at point and immediately left the field. He was unable to bat and New Zealand lost the match by 43 runs by the Duckworth-Lewis method. Williamson's left thumb was dislocated and an X-ray confirmed a small fracture, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said in a statement. "This kind of injury unfortunately means Kane cannot take part in the rest of the tour and he'll return to New Zealand to begin his rehabilitation," team physiotherapist Paul Close said. "Kane is about six weeks away from playing again at this stage." Luke Ronchi will replace Williamson in the squad for the remainder of the Bangladesh tour, while a captain and replacement player for the Sri Lanka tour will be named later. (Writing by Sudipto Ganguly; editing by Nick Mulvenney)