Kane Williamson - the epitome of calmness in a mad, mad world
Kane Williamson.is unlike any other player. Usually, when teams chase in a must-win game and they lose the first wicket rather quickly, there's a certain amount of panic that sets in. Even if it is the tournament favourites against the lowest-ranked team, panic is an understandable reaction.
That doesn't apply to Kane Williamson, though. When the New Zealand captain walked out to bat with the score at 26 for 1 against Afghanistan, New Zealand were in a spot of bother. Yes, they needed only 99 more runs to win, but the wicket was a tricky one to bat on.
Yes, it was only Afghanistan, but if 1.3 billion Indian fans were to believed, Afghanistan were no cakewalk. Ironically they believed that even after their team had thrashed Afghanistan by 66 runs only a week before. But it seemed as if they genuinely believed Afghanistan were a side capable of toppling Kane Williamson and co. However, the man himself didn't.
Well done @BLACKCAPS for getting into semis..you guys deserve it. How good is Kane Williamson wah.. love this man and his NZ team.. I know india isn’t going forward no worries we will get better and come back stronger @BCCI
That's because Williamson walked out as if it were a practice session. And then he proceeded to bat as if it was just a practice session, as if it was some big laboratory, and he was there to experiment and find new ways to practice his strokeplay.
This was a game as big as they come, but Williamson remained unflustered and uncomplicated in his approach. A loss here would have sent New Zealand tumbling out of the tournament. This was a virtual quarter-final for Kane Williamson and co. Win, and go to the semis. Lose, and you get nothing.
If only someone had told that to Kane Williamson.
Kane Williamson dashes India's hopes, takes New Zealand to World T20 semis
With 99 runs to get off 101 balls, one reckless swing of Kane Williamson's bat could have turned the tide against New Zealand. One more wicket and pandemonium could have set in. All it needed was a singular moment of panic - one loose shot - one brain-fade moment.
At the other end was Martin Guptill, a veteran of white-ball cricket and one of New Zealand's ever-present players in the last decade. And he has only one style of batting - go at it - and go at it hard. That is not a problem, unless, of course, one has to deal with four overs of the wily Rashid Khan.
So what does Kane Williamson do? He grinds nine runs off 16 balls, not taking a single risk and seeing out one over of Rashid. In the second over of the spinner, though, Guptill fell going for an ill-advised slog sweep. As is usually the case, whenever a batter misses Rashid's googly, the timber gets rattled.
One singular moment of restlessness. One rash shot. One brain-fade moment. It eventually comes.
Call him whatever you want, But Kane Williamson in last 8 innings in must win games has always performed for his team.
67,30,50*,67,49,52*,33*,40* https://t.co/JM9IbIDng0
However, that didn't come from Kane Williamson. He was on 11 off 18 balls at that moment. The required rate was now six to the dot - 67 required off 67. By the time Rashid came on for his third over, New Zealand needed 62 off 54. The New Zealand captain's score? 14 off 24, and with no boundaries yet.
Off the third ball of the over, Rashid Khan slipped in the same googly that flummoxed Guptill, but not Kane Williamson. Williamson calmly clipped it past mid-wicket, and the timing was too exquisite for the ball not to reach the fence. It was Williamson's first four of the game.
The next over by Gulbadin Naib went for four singles. The fifth ball - a full delivery driven past cover - was a shot as classic as they come as Williamson helped himself to his second four of the game.
Williamson's third and final four of the innings came only in the 16th over, and that too only because the ball was a full-toss. It got pushed through extra cover, and that was that.
With Devon Conway the aggressor at the other end, New Zealand eventually qualified for the World T20 2021 semi-finals without too much fuss. New Zealand's win meant India's last game against Namibia on Monday will now be a dead rubber.
It could have turned into a game with way too much fuss if not for the man at the other end - Kane Williamson. He might have finished the game with a rather sedate 42-ball 40. Not considering the context or the occasion, that might be considered a routine knock - below par even - by modern T20 standards. But this was as priceless an innings as you could have possibly got.
A famous saying from Bruce Lee about his philosophy of life goes:
"...You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put it into a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow, or it can crash. Be water, my friend."
Consciously or otherwise, Kane Williamson epitomises that. He has shown his adaptability, and that he can flow as long as he needs, and crash when needed.
There are many players right now who can go toe-to-toe with Kane Williamson, the batter. There are also a few who can go toe-to-toe against Kane Williamson, the captain. But as a complete package at the most crucial of junctures, when it is not just a matter of skill, but also a matter of temperament?
Kane Williamson almost stands alone.
View the T20 World Cup 2021 time table here.