New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has praised the “heart” on show after beating India to book their place in the World Cup final. The Kiwi will turn out in their second successive World Cup final on Sunday, having lost against Australia in 2015, and they could line up against their Southern hemisphere rivals once again.
Australia take on England in the other semi-final on Thursday for the right to face New Zealand at Lord’s in the showpiece on Sunday. It proved to be a tight affair over the course of two rain-affected days at Old Trafford after New Zealand set India a total of 240 to win.
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India made a slow start and were reduced to 24-4 and 92-6 before Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni struck up a 116-run partnership. Ultimately, India crumbled under the pressure, needing 37 runs from 18 balls, and they were bowled out for 221. Williamson was clearly delighted with the performance but insists they can’t afford to get carried away as they look to win the title for the first time.
“It’s a different feeling to last time. We’ve had to skin it over the round robin, so it’s been quite different. A lot of heart has been shown by the guys so far but we’re keeping our feet on the ground. It was a great semi-final and we’re happy to be on the right side of it,” Williamson said.
“It was really tough batting conditions yesterday. We had to assess conditions quickly, I think both sides thought it would be a higher scoring game. We spoke about getting 240-250 and we knew that would be competitive. There were a lot of contributions from everyone to get us to that total.
“We spoke about the conditions during the interval, we wanted to put the ball in good areas and move the ball around and put some pressure on India, they are a world-class side. It was a great start from the bowlers, we knew it would get tougher for us as the innings went on. We showed plenty of heart and the fielders and bowlers were outstanding.”
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