New Zealand - 185/6, Ireland - 150/9
THE MODERATOR: Thank you for joining us this afternoon for this post match press conference with New Zealand Kane Williamson.
Q. After the game against England, was there any additional pressure knowing this could have the potential to be a knockout game given how the rest of this group ends out?
KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, I mean, obviously that was the situation that was presented to us. There was some good stuff in the England game, and they're a good team, and they played better than us on the day.
So coming here, it was clearly a game that we would like to have played well in, and it was nice we were able to put together a really good team performance and get across the line today.
Q. Lots of scrutiny around your play after the previous game. Was this a game where you maybe approached your innings in a different way? Because you started out perhaps not as explosively as you ended up.
KANE WILLIAMSON: I was trying to make good decisions and bat within a partnership. It was nice that throughout the innings we were able to build a lot of those partnerships. I thought the guys at the top of the order got us off to a really nice start on a surface that was difficult to be fluent on straight away, and the likes of Finn Allen who managed to get a big over in the power play and even Devon to support him in that.
I think sometimes you can look at some of the innings without context, but for us, that platform was a really important part to us getting a good total today.
Q. You played four games here now. You know a fair bit about your side. How does this side compare to the one that played the final about a year ago? How confident are you about this New Zealand side?
KANE WILLIAMSON: I suppose it's pretty similar, I guess, maybe one or two new faces. It was just the other day too, wasn't it? It wasn't all that long ago.
Yeah, different conditions. The team's played some good cricket. We've been faced with a variety of surfaces, which is what you'd expect in World Cups, all different opposition, of course.
It's nice. We have to wait now and see how the other games progress, but as long as the team keeps looking to improve and build on some of these performances, and hopefully we see ourselves in the next phase.
Q. You said yesterday that it felt like you were just a boundary away from finding that rhythm. Did it come today with the first boundary, or did you feel that it was there beforehand?
KANE WILLIAMSON: I don't think there's any sort of magic bullet, but it was nice to get a couple away and build a bit of momentum with the partners at the other end.
Yeah, some of these you're sort of looking to make the contributions, and there's a lot of thought that goes into trying to position ourselves, whether it's my batting or someone else's in terms of the partnership. And you're always wanting to try and get that momentum and take those options and feel quite good about it. So it was nice to make a contribution today.
More importantly, it was nice we were able to build partnerships throughout as a team, and like I mentioned, the top both really valuable contributions for our side and then throughout with Glenn coming in and doing what he's been doing all tournament and Daryl as well. So it was a nice total to have at the halfway stage.
And I thought the bowlers, after being put under pressure early, did a really nice job to adjust and change their pace a little bit and make it nice and difficult for our position.
Q. And just now that you know you're going to be in the semis, what do you do as far as those remaining games go? Are you going to sit down and watch them? Do you stay away from them? What do you do?
KANE WILLIAMSON: I think in a tournament you're always interested in what's happening. It's nice because we have a few days now and guys will be able to just relax. Tomorrow observe with what's happening in the other matches and see how it goes.
Q. Even during the whole wrist spin revolution when everybody wanted your spinners, Mitch Santner has been one constant and has been doing really well for years now in both the limited overs format. What makes him click? What does he do that good that makes him so relevant?
KANE WILLIAMSON: Mitch has been a great player for us, being an all-rounder as well, but certainly a top class spinner and reads the game really well. I think with his action he can see the batsman make adjustments and change what he's looking to do.
He has a lot of variety and really clear with how he wants to operate. So he's been a huge part of our side for a long time.
Q. Even when you face him in the nets, do you find his variations that difficult to pick?
KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, we face him obviously quite a bit. He's quite tall, and he can change the angle of a seam and get the ball to drop, or bowl those side spinners and make those adjustments on a variety of surfaces we're faced with all around the world. So he's always a tough customer to face.
Q. Just a quick follow-up on the spinners. You said the first two overs from the spinners went for about 25, 28 runs, and then they kind of slowed down the pace, especially Mitch Santner. Are these spinners taking these decisions on the fly when they bowl the second over, or having batted on the surface, did you have some inputs to give in terms of the pace?
KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, we had a little chat, absolutely. Obviously being out in the middle and feeling that, when the spin is on the slow side and you bowled a particular line, that made it much more difficult to control. They made that adjustment quickly, which was great.
Also being put under pressure, we know how dynamic that batting lineup of Ireland is, and they'll keep taking it on. They bowled beautifully to make that adjustment quickly and adjust their line and take a few Ks off their deliveries, which definitely made it a little bit more difficult.
Q. There's a saying that batsmen win your T20 games and bowlers win your T20 tournaments. With this amount of bowlers you have with Southee and the rest of them, is there a genuine belief that we can defend any score? If we put runs on the board, the bowlers can get the job done for us?
KANE WILLIAMSON: Teams, you need a bat, you need a ball, and the guys have been operating well adjusting to the surfaces really well, which I think is always very important in tournament cricket, certainly world events.
They've been outstanding, and they were put under pressure today in the game early on and didn't get much assistance in terms of swing but knew that throughout that middle period we could make some adjustments and try to make it difficult for Ireland. They were able to do that, and that's the experience that's in the camp.
But every team you come up against has different strengths, and you play at different grounds, and you're having to really think on your feet and adjust your plans. But they've all done it for a long time, so it's nice to see them operating together.
Q. Any choice of opposition or choice of ground for the semis for yourselves?
KANE WILLIAMSON: No, not really. We have to just wait and see when the card's full and changing our focus when the time comes.
Q. Unlike in test cricket, where two, three days before the test, you see the pitch, you see how it's behaving, in T20 tournament play, you walk up, sometimes you don't even see the pitch the day before the match. How do you go about assessing the pitch because New Zealand have been one of the best teams at assessing and adjusting to those conditions? Can you just outline the process that is there when you see the discussions that go on, or is it all on the fly?
KANE WILLIAMSON: Often it's very difficult to know exactly how a pitch is going to play until you start playing, and then trying to be really clear with your communication, whether it's as batters or a bowling unit. Make sure you're getting around each other to report back and either identify what a competitive total is and what options for some of your better ones to take. Then same with the ball really.
It's one of the challenges of tournament cricket, but it certainly makes it enjoyable to do to try to make those adjustments. Therefore, the value of the contribution isn't always what it might seem.
So it's really trying to commit to what you're trying to do as a team and be nice and clear on how that looks. Then from there just really trying to make those adjustments as you go.
Q. Say you're batting first. When does the communication happen? At the tenth over or also do you keep sending messages back and forth?
KANE WILLIAMSON: Yeah, it can depend obviously. The two that are out there are the two that are out there, and then you might get a drink that comes out, and they might, how's it going? Someone on the sideline might be curious. So you report back what you feel is happening.
Then sometimes it is your team blueprint, where do we need to be? How do we get there? And doing your best to do it.
Q. Hi, Kane. You're going to be in the semifinals for the fifth white ball World Cup in a row. What do you make from those past ones that's going to be the key to getting over the line this time around?
KANE WILLIAMSON: Depends who we play and where we play. At the end of the day, it's another game of cricket, another opportunity as a team to try to put together a strong performance. That's something that we can try to control to the best of our ability.
In the past there's been some good tournaments and everything in between. Yeah, for us it's just focusing on what's happening now, and I guess in the next few days getting a slightly clearer picture of who we might play and where we might play.
Q. Just on today, was there any thought given to seeing Glenn ahead of you. Obviously it could have been a like for like situation if Finn got out or if Devon got out, and then you and Devon did go pretty slowly here and there?
KANE WILLIAMSON: I think it was just trying to make adjustments to the pitch and guys coming in and playing their role. Pitches vary a lot, so I think making those assessments when you're out there and reporting back so when guys come in.
I thought Glenn played beautifully again to change a bit of momentum. I thought the partnerships throughout were good to get what was a very competitive total on that wicket.
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