World Cup 2023: New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson ‘super proud’ of team’s journey after semi-final exit

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson expressed disappointment over his team’s 70-run defeat against hosts India in the 2023 ICC World Cup semi-final in Mumbai on Wednesday, but was proud of the way his team fought back from a position of no hope.

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The Men in Blue rode on centuries from Virat Kohli (117) and Shreyas Iyer (105) — the former breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record in the process —  to post a humongous 397/4 on the board after electing to bat. The Black Caps were then reduced to 39/2 inside the first powerplay after Mohammed Shami had openers Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra caught-behind in successive overs, and could manage only 46 runs in the first 10 overs.

Williamson, however, led a spirited fightback from the Kiwis with a 181-run third-wicket partnership Daryl Mitchell that had the Indians on the backfoot at one stage during the second innings. While Williamson would be dismissed for 69, Mitchell would go on to bring up his second century of the World Cup — both coming against India — before getting dismissed on 134.

Thanks to their fightback, New Zealand managed to survive an early onslaught and take the game deep instead of crumbling like a house of cards the way England, Sri Lanka and South Africa did.

“Firstly, congrats to India, they played outstandingly well, probably their best game today. 400 was naturally going to be tough but credit to the guys, proud effort to stay in the fight. Disappointing to go out but super proud of the effort that’s gone in for the last seven weeks,” Williamson said during the post-match presentation after the Black Caps missed out on the opportunity to reach three consecutive finals.

Read | Rohit Sharma credits India for staying calm in semi-final victory over NZ

Williamson was also effusive in his praise for Rohit Sharma and Co and felt they deserved to be in the final at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.

“The effort was there, but like I said India are top class, have world class batters who didn’t give us a sniff really. You come in and get 400, it’s a tick in the box. They deserve to be where they are, played outstandingly well. It wasn’t to be today but nice to be out there to give ourselves a chance,” the batting star added.

Williamson also reflected on New Zealand’s campaign this World Cup and made special mention of all-rounders Ravindra and Mitchell. While Mitchell stood out for scoring two hundreds against the team that remains the only undefeated side in the World Cup so far, Ravindra finished as New Zealand’s top run-scorer (578) in this edition after being thrust into a top-order role in Williamson’s absence.

“We had some incredible contributions, as a team there was real commitment to the cricket we wanted to play, Rachin and Mitchell were special throughout the campaign, on varied surfaces. They played really, really well. Bowlers chipped in, a lot of fight, proud of that. Even if it didn’t go our way, ultimately moving forward as a team, we’ve taken some really good steps in the right direction,” Williamson added.