'Batsmanship Personified' - Kane Williamson's onslaught in T20 World Cup final sets Twitter on fire

‘Cometh the hour, cometh the man’ – Kane Williamson should be made the ambassador of this idiom. The New Zealand skipper blew hot and cold throughout the T20 World Cup 2021. However, he stepped up in the all-important final and slammed 85 runs against Australia at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Riding on his brilliance, New Zealand posted a daunting 172/4 in the first innings.

It has to be noted that New Zealand lost the toss in the all-important final and was unsurprisingly asked to bat first. Martin Guptill and Daryl Mitchell played some fine shots in the powerplay overs but things changed after the latter perished with 28 runs on the board. With Mitchell being New Zealand’s hero in the semi-final, the Aussies were over the moon and New Zealand looked on backfoot.

Kane Williamson – The man of big occasions

Williamson, who was short of runs lately, replaced Mitchell in the middle and steadied the ship with Guptill. While the duo didn’t let Aussie bowlers to make inroads, the scoring rate was on the lower side. In fact, the Blackcaps were 57/1 at the 10-over mark. While many didn’t back Kiwis to post a massive total, Williamson had other ideas.

The Kiwi skipper unleashed an onslaught and scored runs all over the park. From Mitchell Starc to Adam Zampa, Williamson spared none and scored runs for fun. Interestingly, he overshadowed dashers like Guptil and Glenn Phillips during his stellar knock. Overall, he scored 85 off 48 deliveries before falling prey to Josh Hazlewood in the 18th over. His knock was studded with 10 boundaries and three staggering sixes.

Jimmy Neesham took over the baton from Williamson and played some fine shots in the last couple of overs. As a result, the Kiwis managed to post – in their allotted 20 overs. Although this total might seem daunting, Australia will have an advantage with the dew factor coming into play.

Teams have struggled throughout the tournament while defending total as bowlers have to operate with the wet ball. Hence, the likes of Trent Boult, Adam Milne, and Ish Sodhi will have a job in hand. As far as Australia are concerned, most of their batters have runs under their belt and they would back themselves to get the glory. Not to forget, the T20 World Cup title is elusive for both sides.

Meanwhile’s let’s look at how Twitterati reacted to New Zealand’s batting blitzes:-