Rutherford came into bat when West Indies were 22 for 4 inside the powerplay. It was only the second time that he was facing a ball in the powerplay, in 15 T20Is. He responded with a career-best effort that not only repaired the collapse but also put West Indies in a position of strength.
“We told the guys that somebody has to play a blinder,” Powell said after the match. “It wasn’t going to be an easy wicket because of the inclement weather. We always believe that individual brilliance in T20 cricket is needed some time and Sherfane’s innings was a fantastic knock. It gave us confidence and at the halfway mark, we believed [we could win].”
After working his way to 31 off 27 balls, Rutherford took Daryl Mitchell for a trio of sixes in the 19th over, which cost New Zealand 19 runs. Then, in the final over, he aced his match-up against left-arm fingerspinner Mitchell Santner, dispatching him for two fours and six.
“The margins in the match are fine and in conditions like that, two or three balls where the match-up suits, that can be the difference, Williamson said at his post-match press conference. We saw a fantastic knock from Rutherford and he certainly timed it beautifully and got his match-up. I think at the end of the day, that was the difference.”
Rutherford’s knock was rightly the difference between the two teams tonight. But it was also as well as I’ve seen West Indies bowl for some time. Alzarri Joseph was as good as I’ve seen him bowl in this format.
— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) June 13, 2024
“I was in the IPL for two months, so you know I was preparing [there] even though I wasn’t playing,” Rutherford said. “I did a lot of work and planning. Keeping it simple and backing myself – that was the key.
“I was just telling myself to take it deep. Me and [Daren] Sammy had a talk and he said: ‘try and take it deep’. The deeper I went, I started feeling momentum and I thought I could always make up in the end.”
Williamson: Not the end of the road for NZ’s golden generation
“They’re still guys that will be here for some time,” Williamson said. “I think if we just look at the two matches to start off… no doubt disappointing. You come to a world event, you want to start well and to be honest, we need to be better in these conditions specifically. We know that it’s going to be a real scrap and it’s not going to be easy. But if you win some small moments, match-ups go your way and that can be a defining element to your whole tournament, really, and it hasn’t happened for us, which is frustrating.”
Williamson said that frontloading his fast bowlers was a gamble worth taking, considering the bowler-friendly conditions, which offered variable bounce throughout the evening.
“We knew that we needed to get Rutherford out and I think the batting depth of the West Indies side really shone through and it was beneficial for them certainly today on that surface,” Williamson said. “You know it’s going to be scrappy and you know that three balls here or three balls there can really put the score above par and that’s what they were able to do. So, for us to try and take that wicket and try to have the opportunity to restrict them to the 120 region, I think was worth doing and that didn’t quite pay off.
“I think whatever overs that we did bowl were going to be targetted and that’s the margins you deal with in T20 cricket nowadays with teams that’re batting deeper and you’re always playing that game of cat and mouse.”
Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo