Kane Williamson praised Rachin Ravindra’s match-winning century against South Africa in the Champions Trophy semi-final, highlighting the youngster’s ability to play with both freedom and responsibility, which proved crucial in securing New Zealand’s spot in the final.
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00:00Ken, today you and Ratan, that partnership, if you could take us through what the conversations
00:06were like, because you lost early wicket and then was it just another case of knowing the
00:12conditions too well, like having played here for the last few weeks, so did that help?
00:19Yeah, we've had some experience here which was nice and it is a high scoring ground historically
00:30but the wicket was used when we just wanted to try and get in on it and then with the
00:37speed of the outfield and the even pace of the wicket once you'd spent some time out
00:43there meant that we were able to build that partnership and try and increase the run rate
00:51throughout the innings and the guys coming in that obviously come out and play a few
00:56shots so it was a great all-round team performance today.
01:01Ken, congratulations. You scored 100 here against South Africa in that try series. You
01:07called that pitch really good, very good for batting, especially during that afternoon
01:13session when you were batting here as well again. Was this a similar wicket to that one?
01:21I think that last game the batting conditions were outstanding and I think this was also
01:27a good pitch but you did get the sense that the cutters and things were holding a little
01:33bit more but still a very good pitch for batting and I think it just took a little bit more
01:38time to start and get a rhythm and once we were able to do that and try and put South
01:43Africa under a little bit of pressure, they're a formidable team and they've got match winners
01:49throughout so it was nice we were able to get some good partnerships together in that
01:53first innings knowing that regardless of how many we got it was always going to be a tough
01:59job in that second innings they've got such a strong batting line-up too so some really
02:04good contributions throughout.
02:05Congratulations on reaching another ICC final firstly. Secondly, you've already played one
02:11match against India in Dubai and you know the conditions better than South Africa probably
02:15because they hadn't played over there. So what differently would New Zealand do as a
02:19team while playing against India in the final and how's that different from this match that
02:23you have played on?
02:25Yeah, definitely the conditions are a lot different but you know that's sort of the
02:32nature of the beast I think in any tournament that you have conditions change a little bit
02:36throughout. Somebody's cat. And you know for us it was nice to have that last match against
02:46India there's some really good bits there. India are an outstanding team and playing
02:51really well. So for us it's important we just.
02:58They know this place well, they're everywhere. And yeah so look it's important we try and
03:09take away some learnings from that last game. Parked this match at a final, anything can
03:14happen and it was a great atmosphere last game and I'm sure it'll be a good one again.
03:25It seems like South Africa is your favourite opponent to bat against. You scored three
03:29consecutive ODI centuries against them. So any specific reason behind them?
03:34In ODIs?
03:35Yes, ODIs. Three centuries. You scored three consecutive centuries against South Africa.
03:42Yeah, not, no I don't think so. You know my focus is just trying to go out and do the
03:50job for the team. I'm not totally aware of those numbers. I think probably large gaps
03:58in between. Yeah, so you know it's just trying to build partnerships, try and make contributions
04:04for the side and I think everybody sort of shares in that focus and I guess we bring
04:09it back today and it was a great sort of all-round team performance but knowing that
04:15we park it now and we look forward to the next one in quite different conditions against
04:20a different opposition.
04:23Your captain Mitch is bowling excellent in Pakistan. What do you think the secret behind
04:28this good bowling in Pakistan?
04:31Yeah, he's an outstanding operator, a great reader of the game and of batsmen and he's
04:38done it for so many years now and so you know the way he changes his pace I think is key.
04:45We saw that when you did sort of take the pace off, it did react a little bit so we
04:52saw it turn every now and again which was probably a little bit different to the previous
04:55games that we had here but you know he's a world-class spinner and a big part of our
05:01attack and obviously the leader of our team now too.
05:05Well Kane, you have a stellar record and you have scored another ton tonight. I would
05:12like to ask you about this young guy, Rachin Ravindra, the way he was playing with you,
05:18what was going on between you guys, what you were suggesting him or what you were telling
05:23him just calm down and play your natural innings because it's really important a senior pro
05:29is joining a junior guy and playing well. So how do you see his talent? Secondly, probably
05:38this is your last ICC Champions Trophy, this is my thinking, so would you like to end this
05:49Champions Trophy on a very high note against India?
05:52Yeah, regardless of whether it's my last or not, that would be nice wouldn't it? It's
05:57a final so it's exciting. We go back to Rachin, an incredibly special talent, it's always
06:06great to bat with him and he goes out and he puts the team first and he plays with that
06:11freedom and when we were out there batting together there were moments where there were
06:19some good spells and it was sort of a little bit challenging, we tried to feed off each
06:22other and keep each other focused on the job. He's so gifted, really, really confident
06:31and clear in what he's trying to do and we've seen it on so many occasions. In big tournaments
06:38where he's stood up and shown and we've seen it here again in this one and hopefully he
06:44can continue that moving forward into this next match. A special talent, not only that
06:49but contribution with the ball too and we missed him while he had his little injury
06:55for a while there but just took a couple of weeks off and came back and is batting beautifully
06:59so great to watch, best seat in the house at the other end for sure.
07:04Hi Cain, everyone is talking about that India has an advantage because they are playing
07:07on the same venue. I will not ask you on behalf of the New Zealand Cricket Board but what
07:12Cain Williamson is thinking that either the ICC should have been scheduled a little more
07:17properly or it's good for you?
07:21It is what it is. Our focus is the next match, the location of that match, the opposition,
07:28they're all factors. Obviously we played India once there, the conditions are different so
07:35it's important that we try and take away some of those positives and be nice and clear in
07:41how we're trying to operate come two or three days' time in the finals. It's the nature
07:47of it and we're looking forward to the final and excited about it.
07:52Do you think India will have an advantage tomorrow for the final on 9th March?
07:57I suppose having played there on a number of occasions there's real clarity in how they
08:01want to operate. A little bit like our opportunity here having played a number of times at this
08:07venue as well and I think that's part and parcel in cricket. It's just not something
08:15we're really looking too closely at. It's about the cricket that we want to play and
08:20take into account obviously the opposition but be nice and smart come that final.
08:26Before the last encounter between New Zealand and India you guys have faced each other back
08:32in 2000 Champions Trophy final and New Zealand won that final against India. So you will
08:39be facing India a second time in the Champions Trophy in the final match. Are we going to
08:44see the same result which we have seen back in 2000?
08:47Yeah, it would be good wouldn't it? Obviously it was a long time ago and a great victory
08:52for our country but here now lots of things are different and like I say we'll celebrate
09:03tonight but we'll be changing our focus quickly to this next match which is an exciting opportunity
09:09for us.