The Black Caps skipper Kane Williamson has set entire focus on playing quality cricket by conceding that they don’t think on those lines when it comes to the breed of the dog or ‘underdogs’ tag for the finale or vice versa. Meanwhile, New Zealand is all set to face-off England in the grand finale of the 12th edition of the ICC World Cup 2019.
On Sunday (July 14), the two heavyweights of the cricketing world will battle it out at historic Lord’s, in a bid to become one of the new champions of cricket’s greatest tourney since 1996 when Sri Lanka scripted glory in Lahore.
As Kiwis have been called with different names apart from ‘dark horses’, Williamson categorically maintained that they have their entire focus on cricket and such tags don’t matter for the team in a nutshell.
Positive Kane Williamson ready for the mega battle:
While speaking at the pre-game presser at Lord’s, Williamson had made some bold comments.
“Look, we are really looking forward to the occasion and the endpoint and the result…focussing too much on it, I don’t think, is a positive thing,” Williamson told media on the eve of World Cup finale.
“Whatever dog we are, the focus is on playing good cricket. Anyone can beat anyone, we’ve seen that already. Regardless of what breed of dog you are,” Williamson who looked amused said.
The top-order batsman is fifth on the overall list of run-scorers with 548 runs in eight matches. With his average of 91.33, Williamson had played a cautious brand of cricket. His average of 76.32 also reflects it.
The classic right-handed batsman Williamson had anchored the innings for Kiwis following a mixed show in the league stage fixtures. He had played a crucial knock of 67 against India in the semis. Besides, Ross Taylor‘s promising 74 off 90 deliveries gave bowlers something to defend it.
In the low-scoring contest, Williamson had backed himself thoroughly. It further saw bowlers bowling their heart out to hand Kiwis an 18-run win over World No. 1 ODI ranked team led by Virat Kohli.
Kiwis are black their second consecutive World Cup finale since 2015:
Following a dog-related question, the metaphor of canine had seen Williamson further bursting into a laughter
“Party-poopers? You talking about dogs again, hey?” Williamsom, who beamed a smile asked.
Meanwhile, Channel 4 will telecast the World Cup final. Earlier, Sky Sports had decided to broadcast the much-awaited finale free-to-air on television in the United Kingdom.