Star spinner Ish Sodhi is expected to bounce back for the Blackcaps' critical showdown with Afghanistan, after taking a nasty blow to the head during his side's comfortable win over Namibia on Saturday (NZ time).
As the Namibians chased the Blackcaps total of 163/4 , Sodhi was struck in the face from a deflected straight drive from batsman David Wiese.
The sight of Sodhi - the stand-out bowler in the NZ attack through the tournament so far- crumpling to a heap would have had many a Blackcaps player and fan's hearts in mouth, as he left the field without completing his allotted four overs.
But according to man-of-the-match Jimmy Neehsam, Sodhi's removal was merely precautionary, and they expect him to be ready for their final Group 2 match against Afghanistan, where a win would secure their spot in the semi-finals.
"He's good," said Neesham. "Ish is a pretty tough customer.
"We took him off at the end there just to give him a bit of a break and a bit of a rest.
"We only have one day until the Afghanistan game so with the concussion protocols, I assume he'll have to be monitored from that perspective.
"But at this stage, we're certainly expecting him to be fine."
Sodhi departed with figures of 1/22 from his three overs - taking his wicket total for the tournament to seven - as his teammates put the finishing touches on a 52-run win to lift them into second place in Group Two.
Neesham (35) and Glenn Phillips' (39) late onslaught proved the pivotal moment of the match, lifting the Blackcaps to a total they knew would ask plenty of the Namibian minnows.
"We talk throughout the innings as a batting unit about what we think is par and we were discussing from the halfway point that anything over 150 would be a really good score," Neesham said after the game.
"When we came out there it was just about trying to get underway, trying to face a few deliveries to get used to the surface, and hoping that we could make it up at the back end there."
Namibia - who edged Scotland in their Super 12 stage opener before losing to Afghanistan and Pakistan - managed only 111/7 from 20 overs, as Tim Southee (2/15) and Trent Boult (2/20) ensured there would be no upset.
"We knew what to expect here, it was a real scrap," said Blackcaps captain Kane Williamson afterwards.
"We tried to maximise the shorter boundary... got some reasonable matchups in the end and got what's par on this wicket."
With a virtual quarter-final looming, Williamson says his team are acutely aware of the challenge posed by Afghanistan, who have already claimed the scalp of Pakistan in their impressive run at the Cup.
"Afghanistan are a really strong side," he notes. "They've done so well in this tournament and have got match-winners throughout their side.
"We're looking forward to playing them."
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