<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">New Zealand have given captain Kane Williamson a two-week deadline to prove his fitness for the one-day World Cup starting in October, head coach Gary Stead said Monday.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The batsman tore the cruciate ligaments in his right knee playing for Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League in April.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The 33-year-old has recovered well and is batting in the nets, with a place in New Zealand's 15-man squad now in sight.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We've got about two weeks from now until we name that side," Stead told New Zealand media.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We're going to give him every chance to use that full amount of time. He's in full rehab mode, he's back batting in the nets again, which is great to see.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"He's progressing really well, but there's a lot of work for him still to do to make sure he gets where we need him to be."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Williamson has scored more than 6,500 runs in one-day international cricket and led New Zealand in their nail-biting defeat to England in the 2019 World Cup final.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">New Zealand play England in their opening game of the World Cup in Ahmedabad on October 5.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As part of his recovery bid, Williamson is with the squad on their white-ball tour of England.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Of course we want him at the World Cup, but there is that bigger picture that we want Kane Williamson fit for the rest of his career," added Stead.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"There will be honest conversations that Kane and I will have around exactly where he is at."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">All-rounder James Neesham has withdrawn from the Twenty 20 squad for the series against England, which starts Wednesday, to return home ahead of the birth of his first child. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>