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ICC CRICKET WORLD CUPJune 19, 2019Kane WilliamsonBirmingham, England, UK New Zealand - 245/6 (48.3/49), South Africa - 241/6 (49) Q. Kane, I don't think I'm alone in thinking it was a poor start to the innings. How did you go about constructing that chase? What targets did you see along the way? Because it was quite tricky there. I think you had 4 for 80. KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, I was just trying to build some sort of partnership to get the game in a death phase, I suppose, in terms of being able to play with a bit more freedom and try to get a bit more momentum. We were able to do that in small bits, but obviously, the partnership and the knock from Colin was outstanding in terms of swinging that momentum, and he hit the ball beautifully. Perhaps coming in fresh rather than trying to negotiate the surface prior might have been a positive thing. It was certainly enjoyable batting with him, and a great game of cricket on a surface that was tough for both sides, and it required both teams to adapt. But that surface creates those sorts of games. So it was a great game to be a part of, but obviously nice to come out on top. Q. There was a period like from overs 25 to 30 when you were hitting the fielders quite often. Technically, can you explain to us how a surface like this leads to that happening, and how was coming out of it like? KANE WILLIAMSON: Those ones were coming out of the middle too, which was seemingly enjoyable but couldn't get any runs out of it. In terms of wickets, I think both sides were trying to bowl as straight as they could, almost test match areas where you're trying to hit the top of off even a fraction shorter and trying to create that squeeze mentality. Both teams did do that very well, and both sides were under pressure on a number of occasions. I suppose, if you can try and build a partnership and then look to then change the momentum of the game because you've got some sort of platform, then that gives you the opportunity to perhaps try and get a few more runs. As it sort of turned out, we tried to do that, and same with the South African side, it was very difficult. It was a bit of a scrappy game, but also like I said, a great game to be a part of and a very close one. Q. It seemed like you were timing them really well. KANE WILLIAMSON: Not a lot of them. Don't get me wrong, but the ones I hit to the field -- Q. Technically, how does the pitch lead to that? KANE WILLIAMSON: Obviously, if you're bowling with those straight lines, it's difficult to hit across the ball when it is standing up in the wicket. So you're trying to play straight, hoping that perhaps you pierce a few. At the same time, you're just trying to take the game to a stage to not let it bother you despite the fact that you always want a few more. That never changes. But on those sorts of surfaces, when you're trying to weigh up the chase, it wasn't all that important that you weren't getting sort of runs for them. Q. Given the pressure throughout the innings and the situation in the end and the World Cup stage, would you rate this as perhaps your best ODI knock? KANE WILLIAMSON: I haven't sort of thought much about that yet. Obviously, I've just been batting for a while, and it's just really nice to build those sorts of partnerships with that middle lower order that were so important, and having that experience in those sorts of situations as a collective is a really beneficial thing. I don't really rank innings, but each time you can try and go out and contribute to a winning performance is something that you're always wanting to do, and it was nice I was able to achieve that today. Q. Kane, amid all the blazing hitting and sixes elsewhere in this tournament, is it satisfying to play such a thoroughbred innings as that? Almost old school, dare I suggest. KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, it just sort of was what it was, I guess. You're just trying to do the job as best as you can and commit to the team playing rather than perhaps your own and not get caught up in what it looks like. And just, like I say, try to build those sorts of partnerships because naturally when you're chasing, there's a total there that sort of dictates your play. Like you mentioned, there's been a number of varying scores throughout this competition. I suppose weather has had a little bit to do with it, but we've been on a variety of surfaces, and it's been nice that guys have adapted well. We know that, coming into the back end of the tournament, there will be some extremely tough games on different wickets again, and we'll have to wait and see what they hold for us. Q. Kane, obviously, the game wasn't in the context of the tournament, wasn't as important to you as it was for South Africa, but Faf said it felt like Auckland four years ago. Did you feel the same? KANE WILLIAMSON: I watched most of that game, so it felt a little bit different for me. I was on the sidelines. Yeah, it was another really tight game. We've had a number of great games against South Africa. They're a fantastic side and obviously a very difficult side to beat, and yet you get on sort of a surface where it sort of dictates how deep the game goes because it can be hard to blast teams out, but then it can be very difficult to score. So you're sort of playing -- just, yeah, sort of a slow, I guess, death by paper cuts in terms of a bowling outfit, and that's what we were looking to try and achieve as well. Once again, another great game, another close one, but I think every game is important. Naturally important for them, but very important for us. We're wanting to keep improving throughout this competition, and I think for us it looks like playing smart cricket and adapting because the surfaces have varied a lot, and we need to keep trying to look to do that and be better. Q. Hi, Kane. Just talk us through that last ball of the penultimate where there's a man that you kind of found quite a bit of. So you decide to open the face of the bat and kind of get it past him. Was that almost in the sense premeditated to kind of hit that gap if it came that way, just knowing how tough it was to, as you said, play those straight lines? KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, I was just looking for a single, to be honest, and then at the last minute I -- no, no, I didn't. (Laughter). No, I was just looking for a single and to try to get down the other end, obviously, the shorter side. South Africa were having to bowl their fifth bowler, so it was nice it rolled away for four, definitely. Q. In the end, how do you keep yourself cool? By then you're already right there. How do you keep yourself cool on that? KANE WILLIAMSON: I suppose it's just trying to focus on the task and what we need to try and achieve and throw a number of different things into the equation and try to make the best decision you can. It doesn't always come off, but it was nice we were able to take the game to a stage where we were able to get across the line today, which was, like I mentioned, a really good experience for us as a team in this tournament. Yeah, it certainly doesn't always happen like that, but it was just important for us today to take the game to a stage where we're sort of keeping track of the overs and who was bowling what and trying to assess some of the -- perhaps the bigger threats on that surface on the long side, the short side, and it was nice that it was able to go in our favor today. Q. Kane, your first three wins was quite comfortable. Would you say this type of victory will help your side go deeply into the tournament later on? KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, there's a huge amount to learn from this performance. I think I mentioned a couple of times the experiences that you have by being put under pressure on a number of different occasions, whether it's with the bat or the ball, having close games in tournaments like the World Cup are great to be a part of, especially when you come out on the right side of things. We also know that we've got a number of games left on different surfaces. We'll be back here again at some point. We won't know the difference that will hold for us, but we'll also have Manchester, where we go next, and once again, I know that's been playing well. We'll just have to adapt and keep playing the sort of cricket that gives us the best opportunity to win cricket games, but day in, day out, that can vary a lot depending on opposition and surfaces, etc. Q. Kane, there were long periods where you're just hitting ones here, dink the ball around, but there were very brief periods where you'd miss one or you under edge one or hit one back to the bowler. KANE WILLIAMSON: Or hit me in the arm three times, all different things going on. Q. Is there something you do especially to get yourself back in the moment? Clearly you were frustrated. You swung the bat a couple of times. Just personally, what do you do? KANE WILLIAMSON: Once it slipped, and it looked like -- yeah, it didn't have the anger behind it, but it did fall out. I guess it's just trying to focus on the team situation. Look, it hit a few fielders. Sometimes you knew that you were going to have tough periods out there. So going into the innings, it was important that you tried to give yourself a little bit of a break because no one played the free flow innings except for, perhaps, De Grandhomme, which was obviously very nice to watch. But if you're having to try and start an innings where the quality of the attack was going to bowl straight and hit an area for a long period of time ones were quite tricky, but it sort of doesn't really matter as long as the team is moving forward. If a guy at the other end hits a boundary and you're looking at sort of 4 1/2 and over, then a large part of that over is achieved. In the back of your mind, you're just weighing out where you want to be a little bit later on. So taking focus away from yourself and much more around the situation of where we're going to be as a team is much more the focus. Q. Four teams seem to be breaking away from the pack. Obviously, it's good if you're one of the four. Are you surprised it's happening so early in the group phases, and could it actually not be so great for the tournament as a whole? KANE WILLIAMSON: I don't know really. I mean, there's still a number of games left, and as we know in these sorts of tournaments, things can go in a number of different ways. You always see, I guess, sides that are ranked lower beat sides that are ranked higher and all these different sorts of things. I think we all find, playing on a number of similar surfaces where wickets age, that there's another varying factor. It's very hard to judge with any sort of how the game is going in the tournament in terms of what it looks like at that end point. For us, we're focusing on the cricket that we want to play and try and improve day in and day out. Q. You talked about that you focus on match situation to calm yourself down, but are there moments when you really feel the tension there? And is there a routine that you do to almost stomp it out, or you don't even feel it? KANE WILLIAMSON: You always feel -- some days it's free flowing and you don't have to perhaps negotiate as much as other days. I guess you're trying to be aware of it as much as you can. And then like I mentioned, a little bit different if you're chasing a higher score perhaps on a better surface and you are required to perhaps push it at different stages. But with the totals we were chasing, albeit on a tough surface, it meant that you were going to face doubles, but if you were able to apply pressure at certain stages, it doesn't have to be right here right now, which I guess is sometimes the thing that can cloud you, that can be in a few overs time. And if you're able to communicate with your partner, hopefully, that can help with decision-making. And at the end of the day, you're just wanting to make the best decisions you can despite at times struggling through different periods of an innings. That's the nature of the sport that you come out against different opposition. Obviously, in a tournament like this, you're playing the best, and you're playing on a number of different surfaces. So, so many different things to perhaps take into account and try to weather as a player and as a team. Q. Kane, did you feel 240 was about a sort of par score? And how happy were you with the bowling of Colin and Mitchell in the middle overs? KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, they were brilliant. We sort of knew that throughout the middle overs scoring could be quite tough, but at the same time, you had to execute your skills well, and it was a short side to the ground, which meant that there was always perhaps a boundary option. They were brilliant for us. And in terms of a par score, it is always quite hard to tell. If you're able to take early wickets, then perhaps it was a par score. At the same time, you always want a few more, don't you? That's sort of impossible to reflect and give sort of a definite answer. It was one of those wickets that, if you were able to squeeze and apply pressure, which they did, then they certainly weren't far away from perhaps getting across the line themselves. It was nice, once again, to be able to take the game to a stage where we gave ourselves a chance to win it, which we were able to do. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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