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Ahead of New Zealand's match against Sri Lanka in the 41st match of the ODI World Cup here, skipper Kane Williamson said that the format ensures that every team is challenged in different ways and their focus is much more "on own cricket".
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Williamson said that they started off well in the tournament but lost some close games. The Kiwi skipper was asked if there is any kind of pressure on the team regarding the weather in Bengaluru. "I mean you naturally want to win as many as you can. We did start off well in terms of those results, but there were also some really close games and ones that we lost. I think if we look at cricket as a whole, there has been a lot of good cricket and we've seen a lot of teams here playing really good cricket and coming into it we knew that anybody can beat anybody and we've certainly seen that," he said. "There's been so many, every team's won a few. And it's just trying to focus on our cricket and try and put out better performances and I guess that's sort of the beauty of this type of layout is that you do play everybody, you are challenged by everybody in different ways, so the focus is much more about your own cricket and how you look to try and handle that," Williamson added. Williamson spoke on his squad's fitness and said that this is the first in the tournament that everyone in the team is fit. "Probably the first time we've had a fully fit squad, although obviously had to rule a player out and Matt Henry, but yeah, I believe everybody's fit coming into this one. Or fit-ish," he said. "I mean for us it's having a look today, looking at the surface. And for us as a team, it's trying to keep building on the positives that have been there and adjusting to the different conditions that you're faced with, which is part and parcel of playing at a World Cup. So small improvements, that's something we've wanted to do throughout. And there's been some good stuff, so we want to try and build on that going into tomorrow." Williamson also heaped praise on Glenn Maxwell for pulling out a solid partnership even when he was clearly struggling physically against Afghanistan. "An incredibly special knock. Not just obviously the runs specifically but the situation and he was clearly struggling physically and to be able to pull that off in a partnership with Pat Cummins is without a doubt one of the great World Cup victories for Australia and probably for any team to witness," he said. "At the same time, a tough one for Afghanistan. They've been excellent and, you know, probably won sort of 80 - 90 per cent of that game. And as we know in white ball cricket, it can change quickly. And that was an amazing example of that and a special knock to watch," he added. Asked about Lockie Ferguson's arrival in the team after a few games, the New Zealand skipper said that he brought balance to their attack and made some valuable contributions in the tournament. "He balances out our attack nicely and made some really valuable contributions in the tournament so far and brings a bit of experience as well. So, naturally comes in and bowls with that high pace and it complements our new ball bowlers. We'll have to have a look at the surface and decide on our balance," Williamson said. New Zealand's ODI World Cup squad: Kane Williamson (C), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young. Sri Lanka's ODI World Cup squad: Kusal Mendis (C/Wk), Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Dushmantha Chameera, Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama (Wk), Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, Angelo Mathews, Dilshan Madushanka, Dushan Hemantha, Chamika Karunaratne. (ANI)
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