New Delhi: Wearing the favourites’ tag with some ease, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson also knows that in the shortest form of the game, it is all about performing on the day. Ahead of their ICC World Twenty20 semifinal against England, the young man was sanguine bout their chances against opposition that are not only familiar with the terrain here, but have started to gel as a unit.
“I know that going into tomorrow, it’s a big, exciting match but our feet are firmly on the ground and we going to be running to perform our plans as best as we can,” the 25-year-old said.
The Kiwis have repeatedly caught their rivals off-guard with their team picks, but Williamson refused to be pinned down on the matter. “We need to look at the condition before we decide on our final side. Naturally we’ll consider the track we’re playing on, the ground size and also the opposition. We have simply tried to pick horses for courses, our best side on the conditions against the opposition at any given time. That certainly won’t change in terms of philosophy.”
England play their third game in a row at the Kotla while New Zealand have been hopping around India, but Williamson said it did not matter all that much given the format of the event. “England have been fortunate to play on these conditions a couple of times but I think in Twenty20 cricket, anything can happen.” Asked when he would step up to play the sort of match-winning innings his contemporaries Joe Root of England and Virat Kohli have turned in this tournament, the bearded opener said smiling, “I would love to do that. They have been playing brilliantly.”
