NZ v IND 2020: Kane Williamson credits Indian bowlers for restricting the hosts to a low score

Williamson also pointed out that he needs to bat better in the upcoming T20Is.

Kane Williamson scored only 14 runs off 20 balls | Getty

Kane Williamson gave credit to the Indian bowlers for putting pressure on the Kiwis and restricting them on a sluggish pitch.

The second T20I at Auckland was played on the same pitch that saw over 400 runs in the first game. The Indian bowlers bowled well and restricted the New Zealand batsmen to 132, which is well below par at the Eden Park. The visitors batted well too and won the match by 7 wickets. Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson gave the Indians their due credit.

It was a tough day and the wicket was quite different from the first game. As a batting unit we needed probably another 15-20 runs more for a competitive total. Credit to the Indian bowlers for the way they restricted us, credit to the Indian side that put us under pressure and outplayed us in all the departments,” Williamson said in the post-match presentation.

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The Black Caps kept the situation tight by bringing on the spinners before the halfway stage but the Indian batsmen batted sensibly against them and took the game deep. That is where the hosts lost the plot and there were no more choices left for Williamson to attack the Indians.

Even if we had 130 on the board on a small ground, we knew we had to take early wickets. I think with the spinners we were able to take the game to a point where something had to give. They showed the experience and took the game deeper, they were clinical,” he said.

The captain played a very slow knock and that did not help them get to a good total. In fact, Munro (26 off 25) and Williamson (14 off 20) meant that the lower middle order had a lot to deal with against the spinners. They need to find a solution for it so that it doesn’t remain a problem for the remaining games.

Williamson said, “I need to bat a little better perhaps. That's something we would like to do. I don't think the surface changed too much. We needed to take a couple of wickets on the sluggish wicket. We were probably 15-20 runs than where we wanted to be. We need to be better in the next match.

We need to keep moving forward as a group as we're up against a tough side like India. That's a great thing, we get to test ourselves against the best,” he added.

New Zealand will face India in the third T20I on January 29 at Hamilton.

 
 

By Sameer Deodhar - 26 Jan, 2020

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