Captain Kane Williamson stated on Tuesday that New Zealand will approach their highly anticipated World Cup semi-final against India with a fresh perspective and confidence in their ability to outperform the in-form hosts in Mumbai. The Black Caps commenced the tournament with four consecutive victories but faced the first of four consecutive defeats against Rohit Sharma’s side during a period of injury issues. However, they secured a spot in Wednesday’s semi-final with a late surge. Williamson, who returned from knee surgery for the World Cup and recuperated from a fractured finger during it, was absent in the loss to India. But, he anticipates a similarly challenging test from the hosts, who remained undefeated in the group stage. \u201cWe know it\u2019s going to be a tough challenge. They\u2019re a side that\u2019s been playing extremely well, but we also know come finals time everything starts again and it\u2019s all about the day,\u201d Williamson told reporters. \u201cSo for us as a team, it\u2019s very much the focus on our cricket again. We\u2019ve played good cricket throughout. We\u2019ve had a couple of narrow losses and a few wins along the way which have put us in this position we\u2019re in. We\u2019re excited about the challenge ahead.\u201d New Zealand dashed India’s hopes in the semi-finals of the 2019 edition, and Williamson expressed no concern that his side were still considered underdogs. \u201cI don\u2019t think it has changed too much, but that\u2019s fine and India have been exceptional,\u201d Williamson said. \u201cOne of the, if not the best team going around and playing cricket that matches that. But we know as well, on the day when we play our best cricket it certainly gives us the best chance. And come finals time anything can happen.\u201d Opening batter Rachin Ravindra admirably stepped up in the absence of Williamson throughout their campaign, amassing an impressive 565 runs and earning accolades from the captain. \u201cIt\u2019s not just the volume of runs that he\u2019s achieved so far but how he\u2019s been scoring them and how it\u2019s been geared towards trying to move the team forward,\u201d Williamson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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