New Zealand Aim to Hit the Ground Running Williamson

New Zealand aim to hit the ground running Williamson

When the New Zealand cricket team enter into a global tournament, the phrase 'dark horses' is often bandied around. However, in a country where rugby rules hearts and minds, they have reached the final-four of the 50-over World Cup in 1975, 1979, 1992, 1999, 2007 and 2011. The Brendon McCullum-led New Zealand side also clashed with Australia in the summit clash in the 2015 World Cup.

New Zealand also won the ICC Champions Trophy once in 2000 (it was then called the ICC Knockout Trophy), when Chris Cairns reigned supreme to pilot them home by four wickets against India in Nairobi. Fast forward to 2017, where the perennial dark horses will look for a repeat performance and hoist the coveted Champions Trophy in England.

New Zealand, who have been drawn with England, Australia and Bangladesh in Group A, know that there is no room for slip-ups in a tournament comprising the top eight teams of the cricketing landscape. Skipper Kane Williamson acknowledged that they have to put up top-notch performances to make an impact in the tournament.

"It is such an interesting tournament because it is such a short tournament," Williamson said on Thursday (May 25). "On any given day things can happen that might be out of your control and it can go one way or the other, so we have to hit the ground running.

"It is a very interesting tournament having played in it before and everyone is a real contender so you need to play with freedom, be prepared to take the game and hope things land in your favour," he observed.

In 2015, when New Zealand played the hosts England in a five-match One-Day International series, the home side had played with a dash of fearlessness to clinch the rubber 3-2. Williamson, who was one of the vital cogs of that set-up, observed that the New Zealand think-tank won't look too much into what happened in the past and concentrate on the upcoming Champions Trophy.

The fulcrum of New Zealand's batting line-up also commended England, one of their opponents in the group phase, for their remarkable resurgence in limited-overs cricket after they bowed out of the initial phase of the 2015 World Cup.

"Any time you have those experiences against opponents you are coming up against in similar conditions, it is the same side too, it is only a good thing," he pointed out. "But you don't tend to look too much into it in tournaments like this - it is a one-off game and both teams will be playing with freedom and hope it comes off.

"England are playing some very good cricket and it is an improved brand in comparison to what it did in the ICC Cricket World Cup. It is an exciting team to watch it - they will be a threat," he added.

Key members of the set-up like Williamson, Martin Guptill, Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Mitchell McClenaghan were involved in the recently-concluded Indian Premier League. New Zealand's second string side also partook in a tri-series, involving Bangladesh and Ireland. The 26-year-old captain said that it would serve as good preparation for the forthcoming Champions Trophy.

"A lot of our guys have been heavily involved in the Indian Premier League and we sent a squad with perhaps 10 guys who are not involved in the Champions Trophy over to Ireland for the tri-Series last week.

"There are a number of guys getting cricket and preparation for this tournament. It counts for something but not for everything because we still come back to one-off clashes with opponents and if you win then you can go a long way in the competition," he said.