Kane Williamson admits New Zealand not ‘good enough’ in deciding Twenty20 vs India
Kane Williamson admitted that New Zealand face a challenge in putting in a good performance in a deciding match of the series after they lost the third Twenty20 International in Thiruvananthapuram by six runs to lose the series 2-1 against Virat Kohli’s Indian cricket team.
“We were very good, just not good enough.” This statement by New Zealand captain Kane Williamson more or less summed up their performance in both the ODI and T20 series which they lost to India.
The Virat Kohli-led Indian cricket team had been on a rampage, crushing all opposition, both home and away, in the last year or so. After months they received some tough competition in the form of New Zealand, who took both the ODI and T20 series into deciders.
“We were very good, just not good enough and that’s the challenge. Both the series came down to the last couple of balls and when that is the case... there are such small margins where you can look to make improvements,” Williamson said after his team suffered a close six-run defeat at Thiruvananthapuram.
“As a group we are trying to constantly improve and get better. We have seen that throughout the series but there’s still a long way to go to where we want to be. But we are showing very good signs.”
After clinching the ODI series 2-1 in a thriller in Kanpur, the Indian cricket team also won the T20 series 2-1, winning both the deciding matches by the same margin of six runs only.
“Such a fine line, especially in white ball cricket. We saw that in the entire series and it was a really tough series where both teams played really good competitive cricket. For a lot of games to come out to the last 2-3 balls makes for good watching but just a shame to be on the wrong side,” added the 27-year-old, whose Test and ODI debuts were also against India in 2010.
Williamson also acknowledged the key contributions his teammates put up in the two series.
“There were some key contributions throughout. Colin Munro in the second game was outstanding. The bowlers, the spinners in particular, were very good. Collectively the guys went about their business really well,” said the New Zealand skipper. “The batting unit has a really nice balance to it. They are just trying to adapt and read the game the best they can and the bowlers are adapting well too,” concluded Williamson.