New Zealand captain Kane Williamson created a Cricket World Cup record during the final of the 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. The right-handed batsman became the most run-scorer as a captain in a single CWC edition.
On Sunday (14th July), New Zealand have faced the host side England in the final of the 2019 CWC at Lord’s (London). After winning the toss, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson decided to bat first on the green track.
Williamson came to bat in the final after the opening batsman Martin Guptill (19 runs) lost his wicket. The Kiwi captain took his time to get off the mark as he opened his account on the 12th ball. Scoring his first run in this match, Williamson became the most run-scorer as a captain in a single CWC edition. With that single, Williamson broke the previous record of 548 runs by the Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene in 2007 CWC.
Kane Williamson scored 578 runs in 2019 CWC
The right-handed batsman Kane Williamson played a crucial innings in the final of this tournament. He provided a steady 74-run partnership with another opener Henry Nichols for the second wicket. After scoring 30 runs off 53 balls (2 fours), Williamson lost his wicket through the caught behind. Though the on-field umpires didn’t give that out initially, England’s review later changed that decision.
Adding this 30 runs, Williamson scored 578 runs (in nine innings) in this 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. The right-handed finished this tournament with an average of 82.71. He hit two centuries and two half-centuries in this edition. His best knock in this tournament was 148 runs against Windies at Manchester. In this tournament, the New Zealand captain hit back-to-back centuries against South Africa and Windies respectively.
Australian captain Aaron Finch scored the second most runs as a captain in this edition. The right-handed opening batsman scored 507 runs in 10 innings with an average of 50.70.
On the other hand, Williamson is also the most run-scorer as a New Zealand batsman in a CWC edition. During their semi-final match of this tournament, Williamson broke the previous record of 547 runs by Martin Guptill in 2015 CWC.
Till the end of Williamson’s innings in the final, Williamson is the fourth most run-scorer in this edition. The top three batsmen in this list are Rohit Sharma (India; 648 runs), David Warner (Australia; 647 runs) and Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh; 606 runs).