New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson went on to express the grief of his team’s inability to get over the line despite being in the commanding position against India as the visitors won the third T20I in the Super Over to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series on Wednesday.
The defeat was quite similar to the one in the 2019 World Cup final, where the Kiwis lost to England on boundary count after a Super Over tie. Williamson was at his ferocious best during his whirlwind knock of 95 runs but failed to guide his team to a win as he was dismissed by Mohammed Shami in the final over.
Williamson also made an unbeaten 11 in the Super Over, but it just wasn’t enough as Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul took Tim Southee to the cleaners.
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Talking about the super-over during the post-match press conference, Williamson said, “Super Overs aren’t really our friends. To be honest we would have liked to get across the line earlier and not in the Super Over. It’s just a shame that we couldn’t get past the line. It is pretty disappointing to be on the wrong side of the result after doing a lot of hard work. If we reflect on the match, then it was a brilliant game. The guys fought back nicely after the start India got with the bat. And we were able to build partnerships and take the game deep.”
Williamson took on Bumrah (0/45) but said he did not plan to go after India’s best bowler. He said he had no intention of targetting Bumrah, he was just trying to do the best and keep up with the asking rate. The next two matches of the series will be played in Wellington and Mt Maunganui within the next four days and Williamson said the team has to keep moving forward.
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The Kiwi skipper further explained, “As we have seen throughout these and another couple of games, India’s experience helped them to come through some crunch moments. But it is a game of small margins so we want to learn from this and use this experience to get better. Yes, it was close and an emotional roller coaster. We know the quality of the Indian side but for us, it is important to keep moving as a group.”
