NZ vs IND 2020: Virat Kohli hails Kane Williamson's blitzkrieg inning; admits Kiwis deserved to win

Virat Kohli hailed New Zealand captain Kane Williamson’s splendid 95-run knock and admitted that he told Ravi Shastri that the Kiwis should’ve probably won the game.

Williamson put on a batting clinic at Hamilton, dispatching the Indian bowlers all around the park with consummate ease. Jasprit Bumrah, who’s considered one of the best death bowlers in world cricket, went for 45 runs in his four-over spell, courtesy of some exquisite batting by the Kiwis' captain.

Unfortunately, though, he wasn’t able to hold his nerve in the decisive stages of the match and fell prey to Mohammed Shami’s last-over blitz.

As a result of his magnificent onslaught with the bat, Williamson created a new record by becoming the captain with the most number of fifty-plus knocks in T20I cricket (9), overtaking Kohli and Faf du Plessis (8 each) in the process.

In the post-match press conference after India’s enthralling Super Over victory that saw them win their first-ever T20I series in New Zealand, Kohli praised his counterpart Williamson and stated that at one stage during the Kiwi captain’s inning, he felt India were down and out.

Also see - India New Zealand schedule

The Indian skipper went on to add that with the series now in the bag, India will look to give a few of the fringe players like Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini a chance to showcase what they’ve got and maybe stake a claim for a spot in the starting eleven.

"I thought we were gone at one stage. I told our coach that they deserved to win. On the last ball, we had a discussion and we came to the conclusion that we had to hit the stumps.

"In the super over, Kane came out and smashed Bumrah who is one of best death over bowler in World Cricket. There are a couple of guys who are sitting out like Sundar and Saini, they deserve to get a game."