T20 World Cup: Skipper Kane Williamson expressed disappointment after New Zealand suffered back-to-back defeats against West Indies and Afghanistan in the ongoing T20 World Cup but remained hopeful about the future of the team’s golden generation.
After Afghanistan upset New Zealand in their tournament opener, West Indies thrashed Williamson-led side by 13 runs at Brian Lara Stadium on Thursday (as per IST). New Zealand’s Super Eight qualification is in jeopardy as the team rooted on the bottom of the Group C standings with Net Run Rate of -2.425.
Despite the setbacks, the team still has a mathematical chance to progress to the Super Eight, but several factors will need to align in their favour.
Reflecting on the losses in the post-match press conference, Williamson stated, “They’re still guys that will be here for some time. I think if we just look at the two matches to start off… no doubt disappointing. You come to a world event, you want to start well and to be honest, we need to be better in these conditions specifically.
“We know that it’s going to be a real scrap and it’s not going to be easy. But if you win some small moments, match-ups go your way and that can be a defining element to your whole tournament, really, and it hasn’t happened for us, which is frustrating.”
New Zealand’s campaign got off to a rusty start at Providence, prompting changes for their second match. Tim Southee, James Neesham, and Rachin Ravindra were brought back into the playing XI. The changes seemed to pay off initially, as New Zealand made early inroads against the West Indies.
However, with all frontline quicks and Neesham completed their four-over quota, Williamson had to gamble with part-time bowlers Mitchell and Santner in the death overs, a move which ultimately backfired.
Sherfane Rutherford seized the opportunity, turning the game on its head with his unbeaten 68 off 39 balls.
“We knew that we needed to get Rutherford out and I think the batting depth of the West Indies side really shone through and it was beneficial for them certainly today on that surface. It’s going to be scrappy and you know that three balls here or three balls there can really put the score above par and that’s what they were able to do,” said the Kiwi skipper.
“So, for us to try and take that wicket and try to have the opportunity to restrict them to the 120 region, I think was worth doing and that didn’t quite pay off.
“I think whatever overs that we were going to be targeted and that’s the margins you deal with in T20 cricket nowadays with teams that’re batting deeper and you’re always playing that game of cat and mouse,” concluded.
