Former South Africa pacer Morne Morkel has backed New Zealand to lift the 2021 T20 World Cup trophy. Kane Williamson and Co will face arch-rivals Australia in the summit clash of the mega T20 tournament on Sunday. New Zealand have played excellent cricket in all three formats for the past decade. Despite winning the World Test Championship this year, New Zealand entered the 2021 T20 World Cup as the underdogs. The Kiwis registered an emphatic 5-wicket win over England in the semifinal to reach their maiden T20 WC final.
Morkel said that New Zealand have been exceptional over the past couple of years in all three formats.
“While the spotlight was on India, Pakistan, England and Australia throughout the tournament, there was a little voice inside my head saying: ‘hang on don’t forget about New Zealand. They are the current World Test champions, played in the last 50-over World Cup final and their white-ball cricket has been exceptional over the past couple of years," Morkel wrote in his ICC column.
New Zealand lost the 2015 ODI World Cup final to Australia and many cricket critics are predicting the same result for Sunday. However, Morkel feels that New Zealand won’t mind who are their opponents in the final as they have a very organised side under Williamson.
“They are street smart and organized and have an inspirational leader in Kane Williamson."
“New Zealand won’t mind who they are playing in the final," Morkel wrote.
Morkel further heaped praises on the New Zealand team and called them a focussed unit that has the ability to switch the gears at any moment.
“They’ve already overcome a huge hurdle and got one over England which shows they can handle the heat when it’s on them.
“In the final, it’s about doing the basics as well as possible. That group is really focused on the fundamentals, but also have the ability to flick the switch to fifth gear and blow teams out of the water. Their focus will be on getting themselves ready and controlling what they can control," he wrote.
In the semifinal clash against England, New Zealand were at the back foot for the most part of the game but Daryl Mitchell played an inspiring knock to get his team past the victory line.
Morkel talked about New Zealand’s performance in the semifinal and said it was an opportunity for new players to make a name for themselves at the big stage and Mitchell and Conway did it.
“Chasing in a semifinal, you want your big guns to fire but when the Black Caps lost Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson, the hopes of a nation were on the shoulders of World Cup newcomers Daryl Mitchell and Devon Conway"
“On the big stage, this was their opportunity to make a name for themselves in white-ball cricket, and they knew exactly the game they needed to play, blocking out the noise and playing every ball on its merit. That’s the important thing about T20. If one solid partnership can take the game as deep as possible and you have big hitters at the back end, anything is possible," he wrote.
Get all the IPL news and Cricket Score here