Williamson. PTI file photo
It was a case of so near yet so far for New Zealand who lost to India by six runs in the final ODI to lose the series 1-2. New Zealand looked well on course to pull off a heist when they needed 34 from the last four overs with six wickets in hand in a chase of India’s 337/6 but the tourists imploded in the face of mounting pressure, leaving skipper Kane Williamson a heart-broken man.
“Naturally, you look back at a game, to lose by six runs, having come so close in a big run chase, is frustrating, disappointing,” said Williamson on the loss.
“But if you sit back and look at the work that was put in in that batting innings to get so close, it is a really promising thing for this batting unit. Yeah it is hard to swallow, another decider here in India. I think we put in some good performances, but you have got to be at your best when you play this Indian team, especially at home,” he remarked.
Not many sides have come to India in the last one and half year or so and managed to challenge in this fashion, not even the Australians. Williamson said his side has picked up a lot of things during their course of the series that should augur well for the team.
“There were some lessons throughout the series; there always are, when you play the best in the world,” he pointed out. “To perform the way we did in the first game was our best performance of the tour so far; this one could have been the best performance but it wasn’t to be on the day. A lot of good signs are there. I thought the bowlers stuck at it really well.
Good surfaces. They were able to restrict a lot of the time and put a little bit of pressure despite the very good batting unit that India have. Our middle-order with the bat was something of a highlight throughout this series. Particularly Tom Latham -- from opening the batting to coming into the middle order, taking that role, adopting it like he has and batting so beautifully… It was a great sign for us,” he offered.