Williamson’s jailbreak shot was a one-time effort against both spin and pace, but with the ball spinning and holding at the Providence Stadium, there was no escape for him and New Zealand.
Ian Smith summed it up on TV commentary: “He would have known there was a mistake there.” “This is another sign of a team that hasn’t played any cricket.”
There was so much dust in the cobwebs that it was impossible to shake them off in three hours in New Zealand. Allen, patrolling the boundary towards long leg, missed the ball under the lights and dropped Ibrahim Zadran on 13 in the fifth over. In the next over, Conway failed to collect an accurate throw and squandered a run-out opportunity. Gurbaz was 19 years old at that point. The opening pair punished New Zealand’s sloppiness in the field and were bowled out for 103 in 14.3 overs. There were plenty of other defensive errors in performances outside of New Zealand that left every player, including Williamson, red in the face.
“Our defense undoubtedly didn’t help our cause,” Williamson said after the game. “I think that was probably the most frustrating part. “It was very disappointing because it was something we were proud of, but getting married and performing brilliantly in Afghanistan meant it wasn’t enough, and today we weren’t good enough and we were overwhelmed.”
Turning down those two warm-up games is a sobering move for me and I think it should be scrutinized.
Mitchell McClenahan
Former New Zealand fast bowler and current ESPNcricinfo expert Mitchell McClenaghan was baffled by New Zealand’s decision to suspend the warm-up match.
“To turn down a few warm-up games… there are going to be a lot of players sitting on the bench who don’t play in the IPL,” McClenaghan said on the Timeout show. “Conway looked incredibly out of touch. For Finn Allen, he didn’t go to Pakistan with a back injury. All these guys haven’t played in the last month or so and haven’t played in the Caribbean either. So those two warm-ups. Turning down a game is a sobering thing for me and I think it should be scrutinized.”
Former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson, who led Islamabad United to the PSL title earlier this year, was also critical of New Zealand’s defense and their callous decision not to warm up.
“We looked really underpowered,” Hesson said. sky sports new zealand. “We actually looked indifferent when things started not really going our way. The body language off the field is certainly not something Kane Williamson would be happy about at all. From there, they gave Afghanistan a bit of momentum and a few opportunities that New Zealand missed. Devon Conway clearly looked like he hadn’t played cricket in three months and I felt the Caps side had no warm-up game…unfortunately there were no surprises in their performance.”
“Well, they (West Indies) are an amazing T20 team. They are a strong team that can change the game very quickly and that’s obviously their home conditions as well,” New Zealand batting coach Luke Ronchi said after the squad’s arrival. Saturday in Trinidad. “They have a lot of Trinidadian players in their team, so they know the situation and the situation at the Brian Lara Stadium very well. It’s important to make sure we do what we do, and that’s what we missed in the first game.”
Even if New Zealand gets their first win against the West Indies, they could face an early exit considering their low net run-rate (-4.2) unless the co-hosts lose to Afghanistan.
They are rusty and one poor performance from New Zealand could ruin their entire World Cup campaign.
Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo.
