NZ vs AFG: Kane Williamson Needs To Assess His Gameplay In T20 Cricket Going Forward - Ian Smith

Former New Zealand keeper Ian Smith has said that while Kane Williamson will not quit playing T20 cricket anytime in the future, he will need to assess his gameplay going forward given the criticism around his terrible strike rate.

This comes after New Zealand defeated defending champions Australia in their first match of the T20 World Cup 2022 by a massive 89 runs with Devon Conway making 92*, Finn Allen impressing with a quick 40-odd run, and Kane Williamson making 23 in 23 balls.

This led to experts started drawing comparisons between Williamson and his opposite number Aaron Finch, who is going through a lean patch. While Conway and Allen hammered the Australian bowlers to all parts of SCG ground, Williamson struggled to score freely, only hitting one four and one six.

“The way that it turned out the other night, we still got to 200 even though the run rate was pulled back a wee bit while Kane Williamson got set. His (Williamson’s) partnership with Conway turned out to be quite vital… there’s a lot of compelling reasons to say he did his job.

Quite clearly in the fielding aspect of it the guys fielded magnificently, the bowling plan was quite clearly the right one and everything that Kane Williamson opted for the other night actually came off. So I guess we have to put those sorts of thoughts a little bit further to the backburner but it’s not far away (from mirroring Aaron Finch’s decline with Australia),” said Smith on SENZ Mornings on Tuesday.

Chasing 201 to win the match, Australia was bowled out for 111 runs with Tim Southee and Mitchell Santner taking 3 wickets apiece.

There’s Absolutely No Way In The World That Kane Williamson Won’t Be Playing T20 Cricket: Ian Smith

Ian Smith, who played 63 Tests and 98 ODIs for New Zealand and was part of their 1987 and 1992 World Cup squad, said that while Williamson is unlikely to go anytime soon, the veteran batter might have to reassess his game moving forward in the showpiece event.

“The game is evolving and the ability to just ease your way into a T20 innings is disappearing at a rapid rate. Williamson’s a better player than Finch at this point, there’s no doubt about that. I think also psychologically we feel better, and his teammates feel better about the name Kane Williamson being in the batting order and I know the opposition probably think, ‘Well, there’s a wicket we’re going to have to really, really fight hard for’.

So, he’s there… there’s absolutely no way in the world that Kane Williamson won’t be playing T20 cricket for a little while. But he might have to reassess his momentum because the other night was a perfect performance… it’ll be an ongoing issue though because the game’s demanding more and more every time,” he added.

New Zealand will take on Afghanistan on Wednesday night at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

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