Cumming to return home after surgery

A bloodied Craig Cumming receives assistance after being hit on the grill by Dale Steyn © Getty Images

New Zealand's woes continued to pile up, with news that Craig Cumming had undergone an operation to repair "multiple facial fractures". He will return home as soon as he is well enough to travel.

Cumming was poleaxed on the first day in Centurion when he mistimed an attempted hook off Dale Steyn and the ball hit him on the right cheek.

"He was operated on today and several plates were inserted into his face in the cheek and jaw area," Lindsay Crocker, the team manager, said.

Crocker said Cumming was kept in intensive care overnight for observation and that doctors were satisfied with his condition. "He's come through it pretty well," Crocker said. "He was a bit of a mess but his surgeons are happy with the work they've done."

Crocker said Cumming was not likely to be ready to return to New Zealand for a week.