Hamilton [New Zealand], January 14 (ANI): New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson went back to the pavilion after suffering from cramps during the Blackcaps innings in the second T20I of the five-match series on Sunday.
Williamson was well settled on the pitch and had already built a partnership with Finn Allen. Before going out of the pitch, the right-handed batter scored 26 runs off 15 balls with three fours and a six.
Talking about the match, New Zealand defeated Pakistan in the second T20I of the five-match series on Sunday and took a 2-0 lead. Finn Allen was awarded the Player of the Match award for his match-winning performance.
Allen said Williamson is a calming figure and the duo try to help each other at the crease
“Feel like I have to be adaptable and have different gears to my game, glad it came through today. I thought 200 would be a good score, and we were going good when Daryl came out to bat. (On Williamson) He’s a calming figure, we always try to bounce off each other and help each other,” Allen said in the post-match presentation.
Kiwis’ star pacer Tim Southee came to talk in the presentation ceremony as the stand-in captain in place of Williamson. He said that it was a good surface to bat on and players like Allen and Williamson set the tone for us.
“A good surface, Finn Allen and Kane set it up at the top. Milne was outstanding, Sears is a young guy showing a lot of character. And Ish shouldn’t be understated, going for 20 in his first over but coming back strong with those wickets to win us the game. He’s always a livewire in the field. The wickets kept flowing in our innings towards the end, but the guys at the top had done enough for a win,” Southee asserted in the presentation.
Pakistan skipper Shaheen Afridi in the post-match interview said that the bowl didn’t swing much in the first innings but they came stronger towards the end of the innings. In the end, the 23-year-old appreciated his bowlers.
“To be honest, bowling first is always tricky. You can try to go for swing to get wickets, but we didn’t get any. Had we got early wickets, we could have kept them down to around 170. I think we came back strong with the ball, Haris and Abbas bowled really well, even Usama Mir,” the left-arm pacer stated (ANI)
