On the eve of the T20 World Cup 2021 final, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson played down the hype around the big game, terming it "a one-off match" and their focus will be on extending the fine run in the tournament.
New Zealand, runners-up of the 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cups and winner of the inaugural World Test Championship, will take on Australia in the T20 World Cup final at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday (November 14).
"It's a reflection of a lot of hard work, but tomorrow's is a one-off match and for us, it is about trying to make those small adjustments again and keep the focus really close and what it needs to be," Williamson said during a virtual media interaction on the eve of the title clash.
"The side has been operating well as a collective and certainly playing for each other. For us, it's important that we've try to grow and learn throughout and I think we've seen that a little bit. And tomorrow's another opportunity."
The Kiwis might have been consistent in ICC tournaments in the last six years, but they always enter a tournament final with the "underdogs" tag.
"It's sort of doesn't have a lot to do with us really. We focus on our cricket and try our best keep improving as a side. The different tags and whatnot that's not really something that we control," Williamson said.
The BlackCaps have peaked at the right time in the ongoing T20 World Cup. They lost only to Pakistan in the Super 12 stage and defeated the star-studded England side in the semi-final.
"It would be quite an achievement. But where it stands at the moment is there's a game of cricket to play and for us it's about focussing on that and looking to go out there and implement those things that are important to us.
"So that is very much where we are at the moment," said Williamson.
Devon Conway (46 off 38 balls) played a key role with the bat in New Zealand’s successful chase of 167 in the semi-final but he will miss the final as he broke his hand while punching his bat after getting out against England.
"The loss of Devon is a big one, he's been a big part of all formats for us and it's disappointing. It's really a freak thing to happen. But we're keeping our focus on the task," Williamson said.
New Zealand have won only 51 times out of their 212 games across the three formats against Australia but Kane Williamson isn’t reading too much into it.
"When you play each other I suppose both teams get a reasonable look at one another. Probably not too many advantages to either side, except that we do play each other and have done so recently on a number of occasions and had some really good contests.
"It's great that we're playing our neighbour on the other side of the world and in a World Cup final, and a really exciting prospect for both teams. It's another match and another opportunity for us as a team to go," he said.
(With PTI inputs)
