New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has further compounded matters of his strike rate and approach in T20 cricket after his sluggish knock in the second T20I against India on Sunday at the Bay Oval.
Although Williamson was the top-scorer and the only half-centurion in New Zealand’s innings, his and Devon Conway’s slow-go in the powerplay and their partnership of 56 (47) effectively ended New Zealand’s chances of winning the game in the chase of a big target of 192 as the pitch was always going to get slower and take turn as the second innings progressed.
With the target of 192 in front, the hosts lost Finn Allen in the first over. But instead of counter-attacking and looking to keep up with the required rate, Williamson and Conway remained stoic in the powerplay and restrained from playing risky and aggressive shots.
At the end of the powerplay, New Zealand were only 32/1. They then took 17 runs in the 7th over, bowled by Washington Sundar. However, once when Conway got out, after scoring 25(22), Williamson again went back into his shell and tried to anchor the innings despite the required rate rising.
At the end of the 17th over, Williamson was 49 (47), and the match was virtually in India’s pocket. He then hit Siraj for a 6 and 4 before getting out to the same bowler. Williamson ended with 61 (52) in a chase of 190, on the same surface, albeit which got a little slower, where Suryakumar Yadav smashed a 49-ball century.
Kane Williamson was heavily trolled and questioned on Twitter for his slow knock:
Does no one except @Sdoull ask any hard questions of what Williamson is doing in the T20I side?
— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh) November 20, 2022
Fifty by Kane Williamson in 48 balls. Nothing much to add to this tweet now!
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) November 20, 2022
Harsha Bhogle on Williamson
“Looking forward to see him bat in ODIs” 😂 pic.twitter.com/rqJVttKLdU
— India Fantasy (@india_fantasy) November 20, 2022
checking the scores after every 5 mins and Kane Williamson has been playing constantly at that 100 SR.
Sensational 👌🏻— retired ICT fan (@anubhav__tweets) November 20, 2022
Labarthi Williamson making full use of SR badhao yojana when game is already dusted
— Prithvi (@Puneite_) November 20, 2022
New Zealand need to make a call on Kane Williamson in T20Is.
If his elbow is giving him trouble, dropping a format might extend his career. If it’s not, then the strike rate of 117.32 in 2021 and 117.03 in 2022 is too bad to ignore.
— CricBlog ✍ (@cric_blog) November 20, 2022
Williamson ko farak nahi padta, waha koi dekhta hi nahi Cricket, to gaali dene wala bhi koi nahi.
— Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) November 20, 2022
Williamson will get to his fifty by the end of this session #CricketTwitter
— Dodda Ganesh | ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗಣೇಶ್ (@doddaganesha) November 20, 2022
Slowest pairs in men’s T20Is since 2021 (500+ runs):
6.86 Saud Islam/Simon Ssesazi (Uganda)
7.06 Devon Conway/Kane Williamson (New Zealand)— Abhishek Mukherjee (@ovshake42) November 20, 2022
Suryakumar Yadav – 111*(51)
Rest of the side – 80(69)Kane Williamson – 61(52)
Rest of the side – 65(61)Story of the two No.3 in this match describes the match perfectly.
— 12th Khiladi (@12th_khiladi) November 20, 2022
Criticising Finn Allen for getting out attacking and in the same breath criticising Kane Williamson for staying in not attacking. That’s not how it works bro – pick one.#NZvIND🏏🇳🇿🇮🇳
— Nakul Pande (@NakulMPande) November 20, 2022
There are 3 players who needs to retire from t20 format urgently:
1. Kane Williamson
2. Temba Bavuma
3. Rohit Sharma— Gyaani-Cricketer 🇮🇳 (@GyaaniCricketer) November 20, 2022
Not Kane Williamson on 44 from 44 balls after 16 overs chasing 192, is it?
— Geoff Lemon Sport (@GeoffLemonSport) November 20, 2022
Williamson you are one of the dignified players to exist and a really class player in longer formats but for the love of God leave T20 cricket alone.
— Areeba (@areeba_chaudhry) November 20, 2022
There is no way one can defend this inning of Kane Williamson. You just can’t bat at a SR of 100 in a 190+ run-chase.
— Aditya (@Adityakrsaha) November 20, 2022
Pretty sure Williamson wants to mock the T20 format and NZ cricket is playing along #NZvIND
— Somesh Agarwal (@someshagarwal22) November 20, 2022
CSK are really going to bid for Williamson. Ok then…
— Varun (@wizardrincewind) November 20, 2022
Williamson single-handedly took 4 wkts of his team with his massive 37(37)*
— MCG 82* (@KohlifiedGal) November 20, 2022
Williamson in every T20 match. pic.twitter.com/6ecYUrtSKV
— yaarivanu_unknownu (@memesmaadonu) November 20, 2022
Kane Williamson🤝KL Rahul pic.twitter.com/paI3Sc0Kgb
— Pulkit🇮🇳❤️ (@pulkit5Dx) November 20, 2022
T20 cricket is a format where even scoring 61 runs and being the top-scorer of your team can be called a bad innings…
Poor knock by Kane Williamson..needs to make a decision on his future in the format soon..#INDvsNZ— Jatin Khandelwal (@jr_khandelwal) November 20, 2022
Williamson this year has struggled painfully in T20 cricket and has failed to show the intent and up the ante after settling in. In 13 T20Is in 2022, Williamson averages a good 36 at a poor strike rate of 118; even last year, he’d maintained a strike rate of 117 in T20Is.
