Kane Williamson hails James Neesham after latter’s match winning cameo in the end to take the Kiwis through to ICC T20 World Cup finals.
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After three weeks of intense battle between top T20 sides in the world, the ongoing 2021 ICC T20 World Cup has reached towards its business end- the Semi-Final stages.
And it’s New Zealand who have defeated England by 5 wickets in the first semi-final at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi and have progressed towards yet another ICC tournament final.
With as many as 57 runs needed of the final 4 Overs whilst chasing England’s 166, the odds were in favour of England until the Kiwi all-rounder James Neesham (27 off 11) turned up and smashed 23 runs in Chris Jordan’s 17th over to turn the tables.
But, the real star with the bat was the Kiwi opener Daryl Mitchell who scored an unbeaten 72 runs off 47 deliveries, which included a 20-run Over off the 19th (bowled by Chris Woakes) to seal the win with six deliveries to spare. England’s death bowling woes stared them right at their face today, and it happened on a day they would never have wanted.
Post the win the Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson, singled-out Neesham’s knock of 27 in 11 deliveries and termed it a deciding factor in the match today.
Kane Williamson hails James Neesham
Neesham went after England’s lone death Over specialist in Chris Jordan and smacked him for as many as 23 runs thereby swinging the entire momentum in New Zealand’s favour, after which Daryl Mitchell finished off the proceedings.
Neesham came out and hit the ball hard, and changed the momentum of the game. Ultimately the deciding factor”, exclaimed an elated Williamson.
Speaking on the grand occasion and facing England in yet another ICC tournament knock-out game, Williamson said, “”We’ve played each other on a number of occasions, knew it would be a great game of cricket, and really chuffed with the heart that was shown throughout that performance. Outstanding from Mitchell at the top, but cashing in on the match-ups [was crucial]. His character stood out today, an incredible knock, not done it a lot at the top of the order. T20 cricket is a game of small margins, depending on the surface, short side… can all be match-defining. We had wickets in hand which was really important.
