The New Zealand cricket team has lost two back-to-back games against Afghanistan and West Indies in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024.
The Kiwis lost their T20 World Cup opener against Afghanistan by 75 runs as they failed to achieve a total of 160 runs and bundled out in the 15.2 overs. They then failed to achieve a total of 150 runs against West Indies on Wednesday and fell 13 runs short.
New Zealand skipper, Kane Williamson, talking after the loss stated that the “equation is looking tough” as they face nearly impossible circumstances to qualify for the Super 8s.
"Yeah, frustrating, absolutely, to start the way we have. The conditions are the same for everybody, so it's trying to learn. We've got a game again [vs Uganda] quite quickly and so we need to get better for the experience, we need to put out improved performances and gain that knowledge but like you mentioned the equation is looking tough,” the skipper stated after the match.
He also accepted that the playing conditions are what they are and not excuses so the team needs to bounce back, “Conditions here are what they are and we can't make excuses. We need to keep getting better and keep finding a way, 10-15 runs that can make a big difference. We need to bounce back quickly, we are back in two days, we need to be smarter. The learnings are important and we need to pick ourselves up and go again.”
The New Zealander also revealed that Rutherford was the star of the match and he needed to be dismissed quickly to turn the result in New Zealand’s favour.
"Yeah, we knew that we needed to get Rutherford out and I think the batting depth of the West Indies side really shone through as beneficial for them, certainly today on that surface," Williamson said.
New Zealand’s situation in the T20 World Cup 2024 is troublesome for them as they are currently at the bottom of the Group C points table.
The New Zealand cricket team has two more games left in the group stage of the T20 World Cup against Uganda on June 14 and Papua New Guinea on June 17.
It is essential that New Zealand wins its upcoming matches by a huge margin and hope Afghanistan lose their remaining fixtures in order to stay in the race for the Super 8.
- Kane Williamson
