"We are under no illusions" - Kane Williamson's bold claim ahead of Test series against South Africa

New Zealand batter Kane Williamson opened up about the upcoming Test series against South Africa. He believes that even though the opposition have a young team, it will be a tough contest and they are looking for the crucial World Test Championship Points.

New Zealand will be hosting South Africa for the two-match series from 4th February. The first match will be played at Tauranga followed by the second match slated to take place on 13th February in Hamilton. The series no doubt will be crucial for both the teams in the context of the ICC World Test Championship.

South Africa have named a second-string team for the Test series against New Zealand because of the players being engaged in SA20 2024. On the other hand, visitors have named a full-strength squad and the series will also mark the return of Kane Williamson following the injury he faced in the latter half of the T20 series against Pakistan.

Kane Williamson no doubt will be crucial for the team in the series. If New Zealand have to fancy their chances of winning the series against South Africa, the batter no doubt will be crucial and will have to play a key role in the series.

Kane Williamson strongly believes that the upcoming series will be competitive as South African players are good. He said that they will be focusing on their cricket. Talking about the same ahead of the first match, he explained:

“We are under no illusions that it is going to be a tough contest for sure. They are all very good players and we just want to keep bringing the focus back to our cricket. Any win anywhere is crucial. That’s why it is difficult to micro-manage a Test championship campaign.

“It’s such a long period of time, and the games can come a bit sporadically with the Test cricket. So it’s trying to just connect together as a group, and focus on the cricket that we want to play. That gives us the best chance [to win] and try and do that for long periods of time. That’s the focus going into the series.”

My hamstring is good, it’s progressed well – Kane Williamson on his injury

Kane Williamson, who is the No.1 ranked Test batter, also opened up about his injury. He said that he was looking forward to joining the team and playing together after a while. He added:

“My hamstring is good, it’s progressed well in the last couple of weeks. Feeling good, and looking forward to getting back to training and joining up with the team. The weather has been incredible.

“Extremely hot, so yes, I am confident. And like I said will just be nice to join back up with the side and I think all the guys are really looking forward to getting back together as a Test team.”

New Zealand squad: Tim Southee, Tom Blundell, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke (second Test only), Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitch Santner, Neil Wagner, Kane Williamson, Will Young