T20 World Cup 2022: "Lost all respect" - Fans slam Kane Williamson for falsely claiming Jos Buttler's catch

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson was involved in a dramatic incident during the team's T20 World Cup 2022 fixture against England at the Gabba in Brisbane on Tuesday.

In the sixth over of England's innings, Jos Buttler attempted to play a lofted shot on the offside. However, the swashbuckler failed to get a proper connection and wasn't able to get the desired distance.

Williamson, who was stationed inside the ring at the cover, ran backwards and dived full stretch to complete a stunning catch. The Kiwi skipper suggested that he had taken the catch cleanly and Buttler had started walking back to the pavilion, believing his counterpart's claim.

However, Buttler got a big reprieve as replays showed that the ball had clearly touched the ground. Williamson was spotted apologizing to Buttler for being wrong in claiming the catch.

Following the incident, several fans took to social media, targeting the Kiwi player. Many netizens also accused Williamson of cheating.

Here are some of the reactions:

My grandson bats like Umesh Yadav but he idolizes Kane Williamson for his honesty. Today his favorite cricketer has let him down. Cricket won't be the same for him.

Kane Williamson apologized to Jos Buttler for being wrong in claiming the catch. https://t.co/f01j6PwhBG

Disappointed in Kane Williamson. Out of all the players in the world, he would've been the last player in mind to do something like this

Are we giving Kane Williamson the benefit of the doubt for claiming that catch? If that was Kohli.... 😄

It was not expected from #Kanewilliamson
It was clear drop.. he was toching turf to take ball back… #Cheater
#T20WorldCup
#ENGvNZ twitter.com/ctrlmemes_/sta…

Kane Williamson 🤝 Ahmed Shehzad

Deja Vu 🤩 #ENGvsNZ https://t.co/mHAN8NYA3G

A serious attempt to cheat by Kane Williamson , I don’t accept the apology which came after he had been found out , Surely he must have known he didn’t catch that fairly. !!! Very surprised in him .

Wow. Would not have put Kane Williamson down as a cheat! He knows what he did there, thank god for DRS #cricketworldcup #engvsnz

@_eamesy in one moment he lost all respect earned in a lifetime. he is now equivalent to Ahmed Shehzad..

Williamson knew he didn’t catch that! Can’t cheat infront of technology

Williamson is such a cheat 😭 He knew full well he had dropped that #ENGvNZ

Kane Williamson is a cheater, Karma will take care of him will be said by no one because he has a cute smile and doesn't run the non striker out like Ashwin

Notably, the dropped catch proved costly for New Zealand as Buttler struck a fine half-century in the crucial tie. The dynamic batter contributed with 73 runs off 47 deliveries before being run out.

England finish 179/6 against New Zealand in the 33rd match of T20 World Cup 2022

England's Jos Buttler won the toss and elected to bat first in the contest. The side were off to a fantastic start, with Buttler stitching together a brilliant 81-run partnership with his opening partner Alex Hales.

However, apart from the two openers, the other English batters failed to make a significant impact with the bat in the encounter. Liam Livingstone (20) was the only other batter apart from Buttler and Hales who managed to cross double digits.

For the Kiwis, spinners Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner chipped in with tidy spells as the pacers went for a lot of runs. Lockie Ferguson bagged two wickets, while Tim Southee, Sodhi and Santner finished with one wicket each.

New Zealand are still undefeated in the ongoing showpiece event and are the table-toppers in Group 1 with five points. England, on the other hand, have three points to their name and are placed fourth in the points table.