ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2022

November 9, 2022

Kane Williamson

Sydney Cricket Ground

New Zealand

Semi-Final Post Match Media Conference

Pakistan 153/3, New Zealand 152/4

Q. After winning the toss and selecting to bat, was that the difference to you?

KANE WILLIAMSON: I don't think that was the difference. I think the conditions have remained pretty consistent throughout. I think the cricket that was played was probably the difference, and credit to Pakistan, they were too good today and we weren't quite at our best. I thought we fought hard, and to be honest, we're probably a little bit disappointed with the way we operated.

Pakistan got off to a great chase, great start, got momentum. But we certainly wanted to make them work a little bit harder for those runs.

But you know, at the end of the day, throughout the journey in this tournament, there's been a lot of good, but just frustrating not to put out a better performance today.

Q. How does it feel to always be the bridesmaid? You're always competitive, punch above your weight and then you can't seem to get the wedding ring on the finger at the end?

KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, to me it's about the game, the performance, and that's certainly what we look at. That's the frustrating thing for me today. If you get beaten playing your best cricket, then you certainly have to accept that.

Today was a little bit disappointing. There were some good bits, but we thought we had a defendable total if we were to be on our game, and the margins are small in this format, and Pakistan were outstanding with the bat and certainly chased that down.

Q. On conditions, do you think Pakistan's powerplay was a fair reflection of the pitch or yours was, or was it actually somewhere in the middle?

KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, I think they had an exceptional powerplay. I mean, to get to the last over and could have taken a few little moments on the one before that, those kind of things happen. So to still almost be in the game but it not be in that whole second half means you look at a few small margins and it can flip on its head a bit. I don't think it was a great flowing surface, but they got off to an amazing start, played really well, and certainly deserve their win.

Q. The scores were quite similar at various stages in your game against Sri Lanka when Glenn played that spectacular innings. Did it feel you couldn't quite get that final kick today? Obviously Glenn's innings were spectacular, but you couldn't quite go the extra yard in your innings today?

KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, I suppose five or ten maybe. You play finals cricket and you have to navigate a few things today and we saw that today, and Daryl played an exceptional knock.

At the halfway stage certainly in the camp we knew we had something to defend there, and guys were pretty pumped to go out and take on that challenge. We knew we had to operate well, and we weren't quite on top of our game, and Pakistan played beautifully. That's not a great recipe when you're on the wrong side of it, and you have to accept that.

Q. Obviously a few white ball finals that you guys have gotten to the crunch stage and haven't quite been able to do it. A few older guys in the squad now getting towards the end of their career. Was there a real sense of you guys wanting to achieve something this tournament?

KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, we want to achieve something every tournament. Once again, you sort of narrow down what you look at, and the performance is certainly what we always try and look at.

Yeah, I mean, guys get older and so does everybody, I suppose, and that's the nature of sport. I guess we've had so many events so sort of close together in the last two years that have come quick and fast, and now I think it resumes as prior to the interruption that we had in the last year. Yeah, a bit of time, got another one next year, I think, and then it sort of resumes.

Q. I just wondered about bowling plans in the powerplay. Against England you turned to Mitchell Santner for a couple of overs against the right-handers and had a bit of success, but when Babar and Rizwan were going along quite nicely in the powerplay, it wasn't until the seventh over that you turned to the spinners. I just wondered what the idea behind that was.

KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, that was sort of just something we did. You know, there was a little bit there for the spinners, and we knew that they could be a big part in pulling the game back, and as a bowling unit we wanted to be nice and straight and top of the stumps much like the Pakistan bowlers who do it so well and they're so natural at that.

They put us under pressure. When you get put under pressure, that makes it a little bit more difficult. But we still felt outside the powerplay even though they got off to a great start that the game can swing quickly, so we just wanted to stay in it, but we weren't able to get those breakthroughs and change that momentum.

Q. I know the questions about the lack of trophies are blunt, but does it hurt more each time or does this one hurt more than last time or the time before because of how close you continually are, or does the fire burn brighter when you enter each tournament and going into next year's one-day World Cup as a result?

KANE WILLIAMSON: To be honest, being in a leadership role with the team, you're always looking at the performance. I think we've played in a number of different finals and put out really good performances, probably good enough to win, and either got met by a side that's played a little bit better or a side that's played about equal, you know, however it looks.

You accept some of those things, and so the frustrating part of this today is that we weren't quite on top of our game. We fought hard and we showed some good characteristics that are important for our team and the attitude you want to see, but yeah, it wasn't to be. That's the frustrating part to me.

The picture is big. You play a number of tournaments. Yeah, you want to win some, but you finish a tournament, you certainly just start focusing on the next one. To me it comes down to the cricket, and that's where we put our focus. The environment, how well we're tracking, and there's been a lot of good stuff. The journey was good, a lot of good cricket, but as we know, you've got to continue to as you go into the business end, and today was certainly frustrating.

Q. Where do you think you lose the momentum?

KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, I think in most games, you ebb and flow a little bit. Pakistan got off to a good start and put us under pressure and then were able to sort of wrestle back a little bit of momentum and build a couple of partnerships and then sort of fight our way to a score that we thought on that surface we could make a little bit difficult.

The hopes were high, and we weren't quite at our best. In all areas, I suppose. And Pakistan played beautifully well.

Q. What specifically can you take from this tournament? You talk about performances and cricket being played. What specifically can you take from this into the summer?

KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, I mean, it keeps rolling on and we've got games pretty quickly after this. You know, these experiences are fantastic. Obviously you want to keep being on the right side of results, but having said that, there's a number of younger players, older players sort of thing, and it evolves, these sorts of tournaments. So everybody takes a little bit into the team. When you get put in these sorts of positions again, you sort of can reflect back and try and do it a little bit better.

Yeah, there will be some reflection. It's still raw. Obviously just walked off the park, and you've got to use these sorts of lessons to get better as a side and as an individual.

Q. Before this match you guys have been a very successful team batting first in this tournament. Why did that change tonight, the conditions or the Pakistanis, or did you just not play well enough?

KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, I suppose you always want to play really, really well, and there was some good bits. I think playing a tournament sport we've got to adapt to conditions quickly, and I thought after getting put under pressure we sort of summed up what we thought could be competitive on that wicket, and I do believe that was defendable if we were outstanding with that second half.

We weren't quite at our best, and Pakistan were outstanding, and like I mentioned, that's not an ideal recipe to win.

So yeah, that's frustrating. But that's cricket, as well. You always ebb and flow in an innings. You always try to navigate where you need to be as a team and what sort of overs you can try and target to give yourself a good chance, and in a semifinal on a surface like that, we thought we were very much in the game at the halfway stage.

Yeah, frustrating. We wanted to put out a better performance all around, and it wasn't to be tonight.

Q. Lots of people are looking at how much cricket you're playing these days in all the formats; will you continue playing in all the formats for New Zealand going forward?

KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, I certainly love playing in all the formats. There's a lot of cricket, and so that needs to be managed a little bit. It's a changing landscape with players all around the world at the moment, and we've seen it in our camp, as well. After these sorts of events you sort of sit down and give yourself a chance to reflect and sort of look at what's coming up.