"Teams have been getting more exposure...": NZ skipper Williamson on T20 WC's expansion following win over Uganda
Jun 15, 2024
Tarouba [Trinidad and Tobago], June 15 : Following his side's nine wicket win over Uganda, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson said that more teams getting exposure of playing at the highest level in the tournament is a great experience for them.
Thanks to fiery spells from pace duo of Tim Southee and Trent Boult, New Zealand secured their first win in the ICC T20 World Cup, defeating Uganda by nine wickets in their Group C encounter at Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday.
Speaking after the game in the post-match presentation, "Our guys were good. It was a tough surface. Obviously, there was plenty there in the surface, which made life pretty difficult. It was nice to do that job in the first half. The teams have been getting more exposure at the highest level, which helps to develop as a team. Having that exposure is always a great experience to learn from. We need to train again and play again. The same discussions are going on again, to recover tomorrow and then train and play again, being respectful of the conditions and the surface, and playing as well as you can."
With this win, New Zealand is in the third spot with a win and two losses, with two points. They are not in contention for the Super Eights stage for which West Indies and Afghanistan have qualified. Uganda is in the fourth spot with a win and three losses, giving them two points.
New Zealand won the toss and asked Uganda to bat first.
Uganda was given two big jolts in the first over, as pacer Trent Boult cleaned up Simon Ssesazi and Simon Ssesazi for two golden ducks.
In the fourth over, Southee gave Uganda their third successive dismissal as he trapped Alpesh Ramjani leg-before wicket for a six-ball duck. Uganda was 2/3 in 3.4 overs. At the end of the powerplay in six overs, Uganda was 9/3.
Uganda just could not handle the top class pace of Boult (2/7) and Southee (3/4). Halfway through their innings, they were at 21/5 in 10 overs.
Spinners Mitchell Santner (2/8) and Rachin Ravindra (2/9) also chipped in with some fine contributions. Except for Kenneth Waiswa (11 in 18 balls, with two fours), nobody could reach the double digits and Uganda was cleaned up for 40 runs in 18.4 overs.
During the run-chase, New Zealand lost their young opener, Finn Allen for nine runs in 17 balls to Riazat Ali Shah. But Devon Conway (22* in 15 balls, with four boundaries) showed glimpses of his form and knocked off the rest of the target along with Ravindra (1*) with 88 balls to go.
