A 13-run loss to the West Indies in Trinidad dealt a serious blow to New Zealand’s T20 World Cup hopes. Only a miracle would move things up for the Kane Williamson-led team to move up to the Super 8 since they are now bottom of the Group C points standings.
During the opening innings of their match against the West Indies, New Zealand dominated. With the new ball, their speed department appeared merciless as the West Indies were once reduced to 30/5. At that point, Sherfane Rutherford delivered one of his best knocks because they appeared to be at a loss. West Indies scored 149 runs on board as the 25-year-old, under duress, hammered 68* runs off 39 deliveries.
No hero could carry the game home like Rutherford did in New Zealand. During the chase, Mitchell Santner, Glenn Phillips, and Finn Allen all made contributions, but ultimately it wasn’t enough. Following the loss, captain Kane said that they were disappointed because Sherfane’s innings made all the difference.
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“We suspected it would be difficult if we came across a region, and it turned out to be so. What made a difference was the calibre of Sherfane’s innings, which was both extremely impressive and disappointing for us. They had good batting depth, and we went with the aggressive option to grab the wicket since T20 is a game of narrow margins. Sadly, things did not turn out as planned, Williamson stated during the post-match press conference.
Kane Williamson outlines the rationale for giving Santner final control.
One may argue that New Zealand was under pressure when Mitchell Santner was given the last over in the first innings. West Indies gained momentum as he handed up 18 runs in the over. Williamson explained his decision to give Santner the final over by stating that they can’t blame the circumstances and that it’s all about little margins.
“The guys did that well in the first 12 overs, but as I said, there are small margins, so two or three balls in an over can go big and the score can be above par. We know that and we have complete faith in that.” Take out the preparations and try your best. We cannot make excuses for the current circumstances, Williamson stated.
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