Black Caps skipper Kane Williamson now faces another battle to get fit for a major event.

Williamson has been ruled out of the remainder of the T20 series against Pakistan, after a scan confirmed he suffered a minor hamstring strain while batting in Sunday’s second game of the five-match series, New Zealand Cricket said on Tuesday.

“A timeline for Williamson’s rehabilitation and return to cricket is still being established with a goal of being ready for selection in the test series against South Africa starting next month,” the NZC release says.

The first test of a two-match series against a second-string Proteas side starts in Tauranga on February 4 – just 18 days away.

Kane made a remarkable recovery from a ruptured ACL in his right knee to play for New Zealand at the ODI World Cup in India late last year.

Kane’s injury means Will Young will stay with the squad for the fourth and fifth matches of the series in Christchurch, after joining the squad in Dunedin ahead of Wednesday’s third match.

Kane was already planning to miss the match in Dunedin, but return for the final two games of the series in Christchurch later this week, as he continued his rehabilitation from the knee injury.

Speaking ahead of Friday’s T20I series opener, Kane says he didn’t expect he would have to manage his knee too far into the future.

“It's tough. You get back to playing and naturally the mindset ... is that it's done and dusted, then you get a tap on the shoulder and actually there's work to do to maintain it and keep working through it.

“It's still relatively early, I suppose, although I've been playing, and it's been nice to be doing that. It's just still putting in that work.

“It's just part of a plan to keep moving forward, keeping the knee health strong, and taking those steps forward, whilst looking to play as much as I can.”

Ian Anderson/Stuff.