Kane Williamson’s 85 runs knock help New Zealand post a competitive total

Williamson, who had a strike rate below 100 before this inning, brought up his fifty in just 30 oddballs in Maxwell’s over.

In the final of T20 World Cup 2021, the hot favorite New Zealand team found themselves sinking in deep waters. After being invited to bat first, New Zealand was just 57/1 in their 10 overs. With Daryl Mitchell departing earlier than anyone would have liked, the Kiwi batters are scoring runs really hard. However, they had wickets in hand, and the two batsmen on the crease looked set.

Kane Williamson was one of those two batters, and he decided to take charge of the situation. Remembering the excellent batting prowess Australia showed in their last game, New Zealand required some great Strokeplay to reach a competitive total. And Williamson provided just that starting from the 11th over of the game, in which he decided to take on Starc for the long handle and clubbed 19 runs in his over. This brought a change in the game’s momentum, and it started swinging in New Zealand’s favor. In the 13th over, Williamson once again took charge to smoke Australia’s fifth bowler, Glenn Maxwell, for 16 runs. Williamson, who had a strike rate below 100 before this inning, brought up his fifty in just 30 oddballs in Maxwell’s over. He wasn’t done yet, though, as in the 16th over, he again dispatched Starc all around the park for 22 runs; he hit 4 fours and 1 six in this over.

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Trying to keep up the ante, he took on Hazlewood, one of the most economical bowlers of the inning in the 18th over. However, the Aussie finally got the better of him, and Williamson departed at the score of 85 from just 48 balls. His magnificent inning included 10 fours and 3 sixes in total. In this inning, Williamson set the highest score by a Captain in the T20 World Cup final. The previous record was held by Kumar Sangakkara with his 64-run inning against Pakistan in the 2009 final.