“It did feel tough”: Kane Williamson press conference after the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 final defeat against Australia

Kane Williamson press conference: The Kiwi skipper opened up after losing the T20 World Cup 2021 final against Australia.

New Zealand cricket and losing the world cup finals is becoming a love story now. The Kiwis failed to win their third world cup final since 2015, and Australia have beaten them twice. In the T20 World Cup 2021 final, Australia defeated New Zealand by eight wickets to seal their first-ever T20 World Cup.

Australia won the toss and invited the Kiwis to bat first. New Zealand posted a par score of 172 runs, courtesy of Kane Williamson, but the rest of the batsmen failed. Hazlewood scalped three wickets by conceding just 16 runs for the Aussies.

In reply, Aussies never felt uncomfortable, Warner continued his dream form, whereas Mitchell Marsh also batted superbly. They chased the target in just 18.5 overs and snatched the gold once again for the Kiwis.

Kane Williamson press conference

Kane Williamson addressed the press after the World Cup final, and the main questions were on the Kiwi bowling. The bowlers of the side couldn’t defend 172 runs, which was considered an above-par total. However, Kane backed his bowlers in the press.

“The bowling attack has been a strong point for us throughout this whole competition,” Williamson said.

“And tonight, yeah, you can always look at little bits that you want to do a little bit better. But ultimately the quality was there from Australia and they played really, really well and put us under pressure,”

“Then you can’t build that pressure, and 170 feels like a long way away. But they played really well.”

The sign of a great batsman. Got to love how Kane Williamson has switched gears without a slog in sight. This is a stunning innings. 18(19) then 51(20)

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) November 14, 2021

The surface of Dubai was certainly two-paced in the first half, whereas it got a lot better in the 2nd innings. Kane insisted that it was really tough for the side.

“It did feel tough. It was just holding in the wicket a little bit,” Williamson said.

“But having said that, with runs on the board and you can build some pressure.”

New Zealand didn’t win the finals, but they played brilliantly in the tournament. They qualified to the semi-finals despite having three sub-continent teams in the group, whereas they knocked out England in the semis. Williamson also insisted that he is very proud of his team.

“You know, if you look at the campaign on a whole, which we do, and the type of cricket that we have been able to play, I can say that we are very proud of our efforts throughout this period of time,” Williamson said.

However, there is no time to rest for the Kiwis. They are set to face India in the 1st T20I game on 17 November in Jaipur.