T20 World Cup 2021 | 'And the WTC final?' - Kane Williamson interrupts reporter when asked about New Zealand’s WC final heartbreaks

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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New Zealand went down to Australia in the T20 World Cup 2021 final on Sunday, which was their third defeat in an ICC tournament final in six years. When questioned of the same in the post-match presser, Kane Williamson was quick to remind everyone of his team’s WTC triumph earlier this year.

Kane Williamson stepped up for New Zealand when it mattered the most, putting on a show with a 48-ball 85, which helped his team post 172/4 in the T20 World Cup 2021 final against Australia in Dubai on Sunday. That though wasn’t good enough, as Mitchell Marsh (77*) and David Warner (53) guided Australia to an eight-wicket win, which clinched them a maiden T20 World Cup title.

As for the Blackcaps, it was a third ICC tournament final defeat in six years, after having come second to Australia and England respectively in the 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cups. When asked of the same in the post-match conference, Williamson quickly interrupted, “And championship final?”. 

The reference was made to New Zealand’s World Test Championship 2021 triumph, which was completed with a win over India in the final in Southampton earlier this year. He further remarked how the 2019 final at Lord’s could’ve easily gone either way.

“You sign up to play the game, and you win and you lose, and these are things that can happen on any day,” Williamson told reporters.

“You know, if you look at the campaign on a whole, which we do, and the type of cricket that we have been able to play, I can say that we are very proud of our efforts throughout this period of time.

“You get to a final and anything can happen. You mentioned perhaps that white ball in 2019, which might be a longer discussion if you have some time.”

As Williamson spoke, Australia team’s buzzing and loud celebrations could be heard from next door, but the 31-year-old was as composed as ever, and was quick to acknowledge his opponents’ brilliance.

“Would have been obviously nicer to be on the right side of the result. But Australia played really, really well, and you can hear them celebrating next door, and rightly so,” he said.

In a video posted by the ICC, the Australian players could be seen singing and dancing with a TV screen in the background showing Williamson's press confrence.

“They had a fantastic campaign. They are a team full of amazing players and they really stood up today.”

For Williamson, the ultimate motive remains in improving as a group, and he was appreciative of his team’s overall performance in the competition.

“The bigger picture is the important one, and it is trying to continue to improve as a group,” said Williamson.

“I thought we came here with some relatively – or a mix, I suppose, of experience and younger players, that a lot of them, it’s their first time in a World Cup and they played extremely well and are much better for the experiences they have had and there’s a lot of growth here.”

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