2 instances when captain Kane Williamson's weird tactics paid rich dividends
Kane Williamson, who is widely known for his batting technique and his unique ability to pace the innings to perfection, is also rapidly establishing himself as one of the best captains to lead the New Zealand cricket team. He took over the reins from Brendon McCullum who retired from all forms of international cricket three years ago.
Some fans expected Ross Taylor or Martin Guptill to take over the captaincy from Brendon McCullum but it was Kane Williamson who emerged as the next skipper of the side.
Williamson has been very successful as captain, having recently won a difficult Test series against Pakistan in the UAE. Also, he led the Sunrisers Hyderabad to the IPL final in 2018 in absence of David Warner.
The Kiwi player has proved his wit and intelligence frequently but there have been some instances when he used some of the weirdest tactics to get the best results for his team.
Here are two occasions when those weird tactics of his paid rich dividends.
#2 Proving that silly mid-on was not at all silly against Australia in 2017
In an ODI match between Australia and New Zealand at Auckland in 2017, New Zealand batted first and set a target of 287 for the visitors. Australia's top order suffered a collapse as they were reduced to 67/6 by the New Zealand bowlers.
Marcus Stoinis was the only recognized batsman in the middle but he played a miraculous innings batting with the tail-enders and took the Australian total to 226/9 with 61 runs needed from 7 overs.
Stoinis continued his onslaught as he brought down the occasion to 7 runs off 19 balls with Josh Hazlewood on the other end. It was the last ball of 47th over and just 7 runs remaining, Kane Williamson shockingly placed himself at the short mid-on position sensing that Stoinis would try to take a single to retain the strike heading into the 48th over.
His great presence of mind paid off as Marcus Stoinis hit the ball straight towards Williamson and Josh Hazlewood, the non-striker left his crease for a single. The New Zealand skipper displayed his athleticism and ran out Hazlewood to win the match for his team.
New Zealand won the match by 6 runs as Marcus Stoinis remained unbeaten on 146 runs off 117 balls.