ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2021

October 26, 2021

Kane Williamson

Sharjah Stadium

New Zealand

Post Match Media Conference

Pakistan 135/5 18.4, New Zealand 134/8 20

Q. Hello, Kane. Indeed it's a tough day for you. I've got two questions. First question is related to today's performance. How tough it was facing Pakistan, especially Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf, how tough they were. You answer that, and I will ask the second.

KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, they're both world class bowlers, and they were outstanding today, as they were the other night in their first match. So in a lot of ways, you expect that to be the case. They continue to deliver, and they were outstanding performers for Pakistan today.

Q. My second and most important question is New Zealand has withdraw the series at the end with Pakistan. The Pakistani fans, they were very angry and thought they showed aggression towards New Zealand board and Black Caps. How were they today? Were they aggressive towards you, or were they playing simple cricket?

KANE WILLIAMSON: No, they played in the right spirit, I believe, and a great spirit. They're a very competitive, proud cricketing nation, and they showed that tonight. They've been outstanding in the first couple of games of this tournament. I'm sure they'll be very, very competitive throughout the back end as well. Their hopes are high, no doubt.

That was obviously a very unfortunate, disappointing situation for Pakistani cricket fans and the cricketers, a decision that was outside of the players' control. But all the guys were there looking forward to that series to start, and unfortunately it didn't happen. So it was very disappointing for all involved.

Q. Just want to ask you, is there a major difference in tracks as compared to IPL, the conditions, tracks? And the second part is how much of a difference do you think that the absence of Lockie created in today's game?

KANE WILLIAMSON: Lockie is a world class T20 cricketer, so naturally a big loss for us, on that surface as well. He's played a lot on it with KKR, so that was quite unfortunate. Obviously, not to be able to replace him with Adam Milne, who's now coming into the side at some point when that's allowed.

So unfortunate timing, but having said that, the guys went out and competed really well and made a lot of good decisions along the way. You know when you play those low scoring matches on tough surfaces like we did tonight, the game is very small margins.

Unfortunately, when it counted, a couple of misses means a lot, and there's a lot to learn from those experiences. At the end of the day, Pakistan were outstanding, and they finished the game off beautifully on a very tough surface.

Q. And the first part of the question, did the conditions -- how different it is from the IPL?

KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, quite similar. We played, I think, a couple of games here, and some of the Calcutta guys played maybe three or four. So it was very low. It was quite clear the length you wanted to try and hit more often than not, and then you got a bit out of the surface in terms of it keeping quite low or off cutters. Cutters into the surface reacted quite a lot, which meant timing was quite tricky. And a bit of dew as well, which is something we saw a little bit with the back end of the IPL.

So a number of different factors that come with the conditions. We were aware of that going into it, so in that second half, we were quite optimistic that if we could get off to a quick start, which we were able to do and build that pressure, which we were also able to do, it could go a long way to getting a reasonable result. Unfortunately, it didn't, and Pakistan really showed their class.

Q. New Zealand bowled very well in the middle, but in the last part, things were not going your way. What do you think was the turning point of the match where the match got out of your hands?

KANE WILLIAMSON: I think at one stage it required about maybe 52 or 30-ish. I can't remember exactly. It was a tough surface to time the ball in. Someone like Shoaib Malik batting through and finishing off with a couple of lofty blows, and Afif as well, who came in and hit the ball beautifully, much, much more sweet than anybody else on a tricky surface.

Unfortunately, it didn't quite go our way. I suppose, if we look at the opposition and how clinical they were at the death and not allowing us to time the ball, they were of the highest class. For us, it's trying to take some of those learnings and move forward. We've got another tough challenge against India at a different venue, so there's some more planning to be done there.

Q. What's your message for the Pakistani people after this repeat of the Pakistan because Pakistan and New Zealand in the last minute of the tour pull out. Will you go for the PSL if there's any option for you in the coming season for opportunity of cricekt and the people of the Pakistan? Because you told it was out of the votes of the players, not from the players.

KANE WILLIAMSON: I guess there's a few parts to that question, and I touched on that a little bit earlier that it was very, very disappointing for not only Pakistan players and fans, but also the players that were there that were very enthusiastic about playing in the series. It was a real shame to not have that series go ahead and be played in front of what are some of the most passionate cricket supporters in the world and a very proud cricketing nation. So that was a real shame.

The Pakistan league is a brilliant league. Sometimes that clashes, I think, with some of our cricket back home. So that's always a tough one, but as an international player, often you do look at these other opportunities when the timing is right, and they're always fantastic experiences.

I've heard a lot of really good things from other players that have played over there as well. Yeah, it's, I suppose, something to consider in the future.

Q. How you approach that with a track to try and build an innings up?

KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, this sort of surface, it was very difficult to start on. Then you wanted to try and identify some opportunities to have big overs because you're always going to have the dot balls. It was very similar characteristics to what we saw throughout the IPL.

I think we would have liked about another five or ten, and it would have been -- to be fair, I thought we had a very competitive total at the first half, but in hindsight, you always want a few more. But there were a lot of really important roles that allowed us to get that competitive total. So I think there was a lot of good to take from it.

It would be nice to cloth another boundary or two, but timing was quite challenging to come by. That's the nature of the beast. Sometimes you try and adapt to these different surfaces accordingly and try and make contributions for the team, and I think guys went out there today and really gave it a good shot.

Q. Just a word or two on the atmosphere, please. How much do you think that made a difference this evening?

KANE WILLIAMSON: The atmosphere?

Q. Yes, the atmosphere.

KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, it was good. Nice to play in front of sort of pretty much a full house, I think, which it's been a long time coming although there weren't too many Kiwis in there, but still a lot of energy and a lot of enjoyment from the people that were watching. So that was great. Yeah, nice to be back in amongst crowds.

Q. And do you think that made much of a difference in terms of especially the pressure put on your team this evening?

KANE WILLIAMSON: I don't know. I don't really think so. Like I said, I think the guys kind of enjoyed it, to be honest. It was a close game and sort of pipped at the end to a large extent by some really high class batting and sort of finishing in those death overs. That was, I think, the difference.

Like I said, there was a lot of good in the cricket we played, and we'll have to make those adjustments at the end going to a new venue against another side.

Q. Talking about today's performance, do you think if you have played in Pakistan earlier, you would have known Pakistani team better and could have performed well today?

KANE WILLIAMSON: I suppose it's tough. There are no promises in this game, and you try to prepare as well as you can. We've played each other a number of times over the years, and Pakistan have certainly played a lot over here in the UAE. I think they've been very, very clinical in how they've approached their first two matches and really shown their class and why they're one of the favourites in the competition.

But for us, it was a lot of good, a lot of learning as well, and those sort of fine, small moments that can make a big difference. But it's important we do learn from those and move forward and look forward to the next challenge.

Q. (No microphone)?

KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, a fantastic catch, what we thought might have been a big game changer, and it was. Asif is a fantastic player, and he came out and started playing beautifully on a tough surface.

Yeah, a lot of guys' first T20 World Cup, so a really special occasion. A shame it didn't sort of finish in the way we would have wanted it to, but like I said, it's important to sort of learn from some of those lessons. In tournament play, it is a little bit different from just the bilateral series, so they are really good experiences to have.

I think it's really important that we pick ourselves up and look forward to the next game because throughout this round robin play, they sort of come thick and fast.