Hamilton, Jan 29: “Super Overs aren’t really New Zealand’s friend,” skipper Kane Williamson said after a heart-breaking loss to India in the thrilling third T20 International here on Wednesday.
India defeated The Back Caps via Super Over to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. Rohit Sharma smashed consecutive sixes in the final two balls of the eliminator to lead the visitors to their maiden T20 series win in New Zealand.
The defeat brought back memories of the 2019 World Cup final, which New Zealand agonisingly lost to England on boundary count.
“Super Overs aren’t really our friends. To be honest we would have liked to get across the line earlier and not in the Super Over. It’s just a shame that we couldn’t get past the line,” said a disappointed Williamson at the post-match press conference.
“It is pretty disappointing to be on the wrong side of the result after doing a lot of hard work. (But) There was a lot of improvement after the first two games.
“If we reflect on the match, then it was a brilliant game. India had a good total on that surface and they did well with the ball because it was taking some turn as well. The guys fought back nicely after the start India got with the bat. And we were able to build partnerships and take the game deep,” he added.
Asked about yet another disappointing outing in the Super Over, the New Zealand skipper said: “In my opinion we shouldn’t have them (jokingly). Look it is what it is. It’s good fun. We had a full house at midnight, which is really cool. It’s good entertainment.
“I am probably not the person to ask as we came second in the Super Over tonight like a few other times. So it was not ideal but people have enjoyed that, and that’s fine.”
Williamon did all he could, both in the run chase (95 off 48 balls) and the Super Over (11), but still it did not prove to be enough.
