Kane Williamson gives funny reply when asked about Bairstow-Roy partnership

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is known for his witty takes, irrespective of whether his team is doing good or bad. The Black Caps have suddenly found themselves in a dark tunnel by losing three games on the trot and with the semi-finals set to kick off next week, Williamson will be a worried man despite leading his country to its eighth semi-final at the global event since 1975. New Zealand managed to make it to the last four because of a dream opening they got in the tournament by winning five of their six games while one was washed out.

Pakistan still had a chance to topple the Kiwis but that was more unrealistic. The Black Caps were handed a heavy defeat by 119 runs by hosts England at Edgbaston on Wednesday. It was the first loss that NZ had against England at the World Cup since 1983 as Williamson’s side had virtually no answer to the hosts’ 305 for 8.

The English openers’ second successive century partnership whereby they collected 123 runs in less than 18 overs made it difficult for New Zealand to contain them. Jonny Bairstow hit his second successive hundred while comeback man Jason Roy, too, made his second consecutive fifty.

NZ openers have had a horrible run with the bat in this World Cup

New Zealand have been plagued by their batsmen’s woeful form, particularly the openers. Even though they beat Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in their first game of the tournament, the Black Caps openers struggled against big teams. Their No.3 Kane Williamson had to come out in the first 10 overs or sometimes even in the first over on a number of occasions.

Veteran Martin Guptill failed to impress and yet was retained throughout. Colin Munro has been another big disappointment and so is his replacement Henry Nicholls. Contrary to the England openers’ mega batting display, New Zealand lost both their openers for a paltry 14 while chasing the big target.

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Willamson was asked at the post-match media conference about the same and he came up with a witty reply. When a journalist, asked him whether there is a better opening pair in world cricket than Bairstow and Roy at the moment, Williamson said: “You just told me there isn’t any.”

His response left the audience in splits. Inside his mind, Williamson must surely be ruing his openers’ ordeal.