New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson credits the Indian national cricket team for winning the five-match ODI series by 4-1. He feels that the visiting side put them under pressure for most of the times in this series.
The host side New Zealand once again suffered a defeat on Sunday in the fifth and final ODI of the series at Westpac Stadium (Wellington). This time, India won the game by 35 runs. Earlier, in this series, India won the first three games of the series, and all those victories were in big margins.
In the fourth ODI at Hamilton on last Thursday (31 January), New Zealand bundled out India for just 92 runs, and then the hosts won that game comfortably by eight wickets. However, the visiting side returned to their form in the fifth ODI and won by 35 runs, despite once they were in a disastrous situation.
Kane Williamson quoted after the end of the Wellington ODI, “Credit to India, they showed us a lesson and they deserve the series win. I suppose as batsmen we need to soak that pressure up and take those decisions. Throughout the series, they got us under more pressure. We were able to revert the pressure but not long enough and often enough.”
In the Wellington ODI, India was hugely struggling at one stage when they were batting on 18/4. However then Ambati Rayudu and the middle-order batsmen played the vital roles in that innings which helped the visiting side to manage 252 runs (49.5 overs) before losing all wickets. While Rayudu scored 90 runs off 113 balls, Vijay Shankar (45) and Kedar Jadhav (34) also played some crucial knocks. In the end, Hardik Pandya played a firing knock of 45 runs off just 22 balls (two fours and five sixes).
In reply, New Zealand lost their wickets at regular intervals, and they only managed to score 217 runs (44.1 overs) before getting all out.
They got to a par total, maybe a few more: Kane Williamson
Kiwi skipper claimed that it was a different surface and in the end, India might score a better than the per total of this venue. He also feels that they lost the wickets at the wrong time.
Kane Williamson said at the post-match presentation ceremony, “First of all a different surface. They got to a par total, maybe a few more. We knew it would be tricky, but we did not take it further. We just lost wickets at the wrong time. They did it very well.”
The New Zealand skipper also credited Rayudu and the entire visiting side.
He added, “Rayudu played well with 90 and did not score for a long time. Then they put the pressure back on us – it’s a lesson for us. Their accuracy was great.”
Chasing down the target, the hosts were also struggling on 38/3 at one stage. Then, the skipper put a fighting fourth-wicket partnership of 67 runs with the wicketkeeper-batsman Tom Latham. Later, Kedar Jadhav broke that partnership by dismissing Kane Williamson for 39 runs. Just a few overs later, Latham also lost his wicket on 37 runs.
The Kiwi skipper feels that Latham and he should stretch that partnership for longer.
Kane Williamson said, “Tommy Latham and me could have taken it further.”
Now, both side will play the three-match T20I series, starting on 6 February. Before their meeting in the upcoming 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, India and New Zealand will meet in the pre-World-Cup warm-up game on 25 May at The Oval (London).