“They didn’t give us a sniff really,” Williamson said. “I suppose if you bat first and put 400 on the board, it’s a tick in the batting column and you go and try and do the job in the second half. And it was tough out there, the ball swung a lot initially, so we had to work pretty hard but credit to India, they thoroughly deserve to be where they are and they’ve played outstandingly well.
“At the halfway stage, with about 400 on the board was naturally going to be tough. But, credit to the guys, proud effort to stay in the fight, and in the halfway stage of an innings, [to] kinda give ourselves some hope there and a bit of a chance. It’s a tough game, disappointing to go out in the knockout stages but super proud of the efforts that’s gone into the seven weeks as a side.”
Williamson played only four of New Zealand’s ten games in the tournament due to injuries. Rachin Ravindra, who replaced the skipper at No. 3, had a breakout tournament with 578 runs at an average of 64.22 and Daryl Mitchell finished with 552 runs at 69 to keep the runs coming. The bowlers also suffered setbacks from injuries but pushed their way through to help take the team make the semis and move in the right direction.
“[There have been] some incredible contributions,” Williamson said. “As a team, there’s a real commitment to the cricket we wanted to play, and we wholeheartedly did that. Naturally, we got Rachin and Daryl Mitchell, who were special throughout this whole campaign. As a collective, bowlers chipped in here and there. It was tough for them at times, [they showed] a lot of fight, really proud of that. We certainly want to come into each game and show that even if it doesn’t quite go our way like today. Ultimately, it’s moving forward as a team and [we took] some really good steps in the right direction.”