New Zealand’s skipper Kane Williamson came in support of his team despite being inconsistent how in the recently-concluded T20 tri-series and continue their good run in the 50-over format when they face England in the first match of the five-game series in Hamilton, on Sunday (February 25).

The Kiwis could only eke out a complimentary win in the tri-series also involving England and Australia and were beaten by their Trans-Tasman rival in the final. However, the silver lining for them is that they have won eight matches in a row in the 50-over version of the game.

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Talking about the team, performance, Kane said, “I think we park the T20 for now and focus on a lot of the good one-day cricket we’ve been playing. The plans are fairly different so it’s important we go back to that. We know it’s a tough challenge against England. We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. There’s been some good one-day cricket played by our group but we do know we’ll have to adapt to the opposition and the surfaces which have been different throughout each venue.”

Williamson, who struggled to make an impact in the tri-series (98 runs at 19.6), also observed that the Tests and ODIs demand good defense and clever rotation of strike to accumulate runs and wade through tough periods. He described, “I think T20 cricket keeps pushing the boundaries of cricket, whether into the one-day game or even the Test game – you see people being a lot more positive.”

MIddle-order challenges for Kane Williamson

He further added, “But at the same time, that doesn’t completely change it, because you do get on surfaces that require a lot more batsmanship, perhaps more defence for a period of time, to get through some of those tougher moments. T20 is definitely having an influence, but it’s important that all of us don’t get too carried away with it at times when the conditions might dictate something else.”

Also read: New Zealand were too dependent on Williamson CT: Shane Bond

In the New Zealand camp, Tom Latham, Colin de Grandhomme, and Henry Nicholls will fight it out for the middle order slots. Latham can provide a better balance to the squad by taking over wicketkeeping duties but has been struggling for form in the recent past.

Williamson observed that they will be adaptable with regard to selecting players. He concluded, “The way they’ve been adapting to conditions, which have changed a lot, has been a real strength. So it’s important we look to do that again, but at the same time we want to be fluid in how we operate in terms of guys perhaps being able to adjust to slightly different roles when that’s required.”