ICC World Cup 2019 | Terrific effort from bowlers, says Kane Williamson after win against Sri Lanka
Kane Williamson has stated that it was a terrific effort from the New Zealand bowlers to restrict Sri Lanka to just 136 runs in 29.2 overs in Saturday’s encounter at Cardiff. New Zealand had won a crucial toss on a green wicket and opted to bowl first, resulting in a perfect outcome for them.
New Zealand had a dream start to their World Cup campaign as Matt Henry wreaked havoc on the Sri Lankan top-order with his deadly swing bowling. The pacer opened the attack and bowled all of his seven overs in one spell, returning with figures of 29 for three. Lockie Ferguson also picked three wickets while the rest of the four bowlers picked one wicket each. Kane Williamson was all praise for his bowlers.
“A great start. Winning the toss and taking early wickets was crucial on that wicket. It was a terrific effort from the bowlers to keep that pressure for 30 overs. We didn't have too many conversations with the bowlers. But with the green tinge, you could expect the bowlers to be aggressive and they really were good up top,” he said at the post-match presentation ceremony, reported Cricbuzz.
The World Cup was expected to be a run-fest but it has been the other way round in the four matches played until now, with the 300-run mark being breached only once. Pakistan were skittled out for 105 against the Windies whereas Sri Lanka also could only manage 136 runs. Williamson felt that there isn’t a problem with the pitches in England.
“I don't think there is a problem with these pitches. With the new ball in both innings, you can expect some movement. When you bowl a side out for a lowish total, it's going to be quite a tough thing to defend, and the full ball won't be as threatening against unconventional cricket,” he explained.
“It was slowish movement, so it was a surface where, if you can see off the movement, it's easier to bat, but we were fortunate to get early wickets because it stopped doing a lot at the back-end,” the skipper added.Â
The warm-up matches also witnessed score ranging from 160 by Afghanistan to 421 by West Indies. The Northern Districts batsman stressed on the fact that teams need to have a balanced attack to counter the different pitches in England.
“In England we can expect different kinds of wickets. In the warm-up games we saw all kinds of attacks and wickets, so it is important to have a balanced attack for these wickets,” asserted the 28-year-old.Â
“Munro played with freedom, and played a lot of shots, and that's going to infuse a lot of confidence, so we are hoping to carry this forward, on a different surface against a different opposition."