"It Was Used Wicket, But...": Kane Williamson Shuts Down Pitch Swap Controversy Talks

16.11.2023 - 05:57 sports.ndtv.com

Right before the start of the Cricket World Cup 2023 semi-final between India and New Zealand, a controversy hit the cricketing world, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) being accused of changing the pitch at the last minute.

There were suggestions that India made the change in order to tilt the equation in their favour a little. When New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson was asked about the same in the post-match press conference, he played down the chatter.

Williamson, in the presser, admitted that it was a used wicket but since it was a good one, New Zealand had no objection. "No, I mean, yeah it was a used wicket, but a pretty good surface really, as we saw.

I mean, they got plenty out of it in the first half of the match. And conditions, I guess they change as they go under lights and things, and that's what we've seen throughout this competition.

cricket India Cricket Team New Zealand Cricket Team Kane Williamson World Cup 2023 New Zealand India state Indiana county Kane county Williamson

Kane Williamson struck a defiant century Wednesday but was unable to put New Zealand in control in the first Test against Bangladesh in Sylhet. The visitors reached 266-8 at stumps on the second day, still trailing Bangladesh by 44 runs in the first innings. Williamson hit 104 off 205 balls in his 29th Test century with 11 fours, before Taijul Islam broke through his defence to bowl out the right-hander. "I mean, you just see all around the world, he's amazing and how he sort of works out different attacks, different sort of ways people are trying to get him out, different surfaces," New Zealand coach Luke Ronchi said in praise of Williamson. "So to be able to do it the way he does and the calmness he shows in situations is awesome," Ronchi added. "He's done it a lot, but a lot of our young guys can see how he does it."

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