While the scheduling of the second leg of the IPL has been criticized a little bit for India’s performance in the T20 World Cup 2021, the New Zealand captain Kane Williamson thinks IPL’s second leg actually helped his players understand the conditions in the UAE.
New Zealand players were involved with different teams in the IPL and not only did they play a fair few games on all three grounds where the World Cup games were supposed to be held, they also had the opportunity to have a look at the preparation of the players from other countries and how they were going about their jobs in those conditions.
According to Kane Williamson, the fact that the World Cup was in the subcontinent, it was natural that some of the teams which had more experience of playing in these conditions on a regular basis were the favorites, but in T20 cricket, the games aren’t really decided by big margins. It’s always a case of fine margins or a certain passage of play which the better team on the day seizes and wins the game.
“The IPL and I suppose the other franchise comps add a lot to the knowledge of the players from all countries and also add to the experience of being able to share,” Kane Williamson said while talking to the reporters ahead of the semi-finals.
New Zealand has the opportunity to settle scores with England in the first semifinal of the T20 World Cup, 2021
New Zealand finished at no. 2 in the points’ table of group 2 with 4 wins in 5 games and will now face group 1 winners England in the first semi-final of the tournament, which will be held in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday evening.
England Vs New Zealand has been an interesting rivalry in recent times, particularly after the 2019 ODI World Cup final, where the game was tied after a controversial overthrow and went in the favor of England on the basis of the no. of boundaries in the super over.
