Hamilton, Nov 27 () New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson was in absolute praise of senior right-arm pacer Tim Southee completing 150 ODI appearances during the second match against India at Hamilton.
Though the match was abandoned due to rain, Southee got to clock 150 ODI appearances and is not at the 15th place in the most appearances for New Zealand in the format. In the first ODI against India at Auckland, he became the fifth New Zealand bowler to pick 200 ODI wickets.
“An amazing player for us across formats. We have been celebrating a number of milestones for him almost every week which certainly speaks about the quality he’s brought for so many years. His longevity and staying on the park, making valuable contributions for so long and being a leader of the group is nice. Not many people have achieved what he has,” Said Williamson in the post-match presentation ceremony.
New Zealand are currently the top-ranked ODI side and Williamson feels that it is a testament to the hard work put in by his team in the 50-over format. “Rankings float around a little bit, but at the same time, it recognises some of the hard work we have been doing and going into the side, which is great.”
“You always are trying to get better, and just focus on the series you have in hand. Everyone you come up against are tough. You don’t think about such things though. Just keep focusing on what you can control and keep playing the way you want to play.”
Talking about the ODI series opener, which they won by seven wickets, Williamson spoke highly of Tom Latham’s career-best 145 not out and the match-winning 221-run stand shared between the two.
“It was a nice partnership, reasonably important in the context of the match. It was a great view from the other end watching Tom flick the switch and play an amazing innings. Nice to make a contribution, but having said that the attempt is to do what the team requires, and the last match was like that for a lot of people.”
“A good team performance in the first ODI. There were some fantastic contributions and Tom Latham played an absolute blinder which was huge for us. A nice team performance to start the series. Looking forward to Christchurch now.”
Williamson signed off by expressing disappointment in rain washing out second ODI. “A bit disappointing, the weather seems to be following around us. But we did well to get some cricket in as we did today, but it wasn’t meant to be.”
nr/inj