New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson has called on his players to be adaptable, forecasting a return to the scrappy one-day cricket of the past amid the talk about the 500-mark being breached in the World Cup.
Dark horses New Zealand open their campaign against Sri Lanka Saturday. There have been plenty of pre-tournament chat about hitting the 500-mark, but Williamson thought otherwise on the eve of their tournament opener. “There has been a lot of talk about really high scores but I think there will be a number of games where that isn’t the case and it will require adjustment,” Williamson said at the pre-match press conference.
“For us at the last World Cup, there was a trend in how we played. It was about being smart with the crop that we had to try and get the best performance. That meant we were aggressive, the ball swung and we looked to use that.”
Their approach has changed in the last four years with the retirement of the big-hitting Brendon McCullum. “We are yet to know how things will shape in this tournament, but the last few years we have been growing and it is about adjusting to the day. Guys maybe will have to push harder on a particular surface on a given day, but equally it might be about adjusting to what one-day cricket used to look a little bit like. Scores that are a bit lower and much more of that scrappy type.”
“There will not be one way to play. We know that not every game will be a 350 score, and it’s important to be made aware of that as we go throughout this tournament. It’s easy to get ahead of yourself and think, this is what we are going to need to do versus what do we need to do now in this current situation to give us the best chance?”