Kane Williamson's New Zealand are in a pole position to qualify for the semi-final of the ongoing T20 World Cup in Australia after securing a thumping win against Ireland in Adelaide. Kane Williamson led from the front with a scintillating half-century to set a daunting total for the Men in Green. Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi then played their part with the ball to secure a 35-run victory.
Before listening to comments of the skippers from both sides, we look at the talking points from the game:
The class of the man
New Zealand's Kane Williamson put an end to all the talks of his lean patch by smashing a 35-ball 61 against Ireland. The Kiwi skipper took charge of things while opening batter Devon Conway struggled from the other end. The influential batter was dismissed in the penultimate over the New Zealand innings but not before dragging his side to a more than competitive total.
High-flying Kiwis almost there
New Zealand are on the verge of becoming the first side to lock down their semi-final spot after a comfortable victory against a spirited Irish side. Last year's runner-ups have got all their bases covered and barring their defeat against England, have looked like the team to beat in the tournament. Kane Williamson will be hoping to go one better this time around on the home soil of their arch-rivals.
No little feat
Ireland's Joshua Little has been one of their best players since the turn of the year and the young left-arm pacer showcased his abilities by claiming a record-setting hat-trick against the Kiwis. The 23-year-old became only the second Irishman to bag a T20 World Cup hat-trick. His heroics ultimately went in vain as the Irish batters fell well short of the New Zealand target.
Losing skipper, Andrew Balbirnie said:
We played a top-class team and when you play such teams, you need to capitalize on all opportunities. We bowled well right through the tournament, the fielding was a bit off. (Coming to today) It was nice to set-up a platform - that has been a trend in this tournament, but we needed someone to kick on from there. We're quite happy with what we achieved (in the tournament), compared to where we were in the last 12 months, we have improved a lot, especially against good teams and we are looking forward to meeting these sides once again. (On Josh Little) He's a class operator and showed it today
Player of the match and winning skipper, Kane Williamson said:
A really good team performance which was required. We knew what Ireland were capable of. They have played some stunning cricket. We played to our best and came out well. It [The ball] was just holding in the surface standing up. The openers did a great job to give a good PP. The Guys played well throughout the innings and adjusted nicely. We made those adjustments with the ball in the middle overs. Try and take your options and work with your partner at the other end. One's going and the other one is trying to make the adjustments. [On the spinners] We spoke about that. It was just about bowling a little bit slower and adjust your line. They made the adjustment beautifully and pulled the game back.
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