NZ vs AUS | Pretty strong performance from us; Sams and Stoinis were incredible, expresses Kane Williamson

On the back of a staggering loss in the first T20I, Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to chase yet again in the second T20I. While Australia got their first wicket relatively early, the partnership between Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson ensured a long night for the Australian fielders, who were swaying their neck beyond the boundary ropes to their carnage. While Guptill was dismissed for 97, the Kiwis scored 219 runs at the end of their 20 overs. 

And during the run-chase, barring Josh Philippe, who scored a quick-fire 45, Australia struggled to keep pace with the target, being reduced to 113/6 at the end of the 13th over of the innings. However, what followed was a one-of-a-kind partnership, with both Daniel Sams and Marcus Stoinis nearly taking Australia home. In the end, the winning skipper Kane Williamson expressed in the post-match presentation that it was a strong performance from the hosts. 

“Flashback scenes there. Incredible partnership from Sams and Stoinis. It was a pretty strong performance from us. On these grounds, you are always in the game. We know the power they have in their line up. It was about executing our plans. Fantastic atmosphere, the crowd was amazing and it was great to get the result. A number of contributions throughout. An outstanding knock from Martin,” Williamson said in the post-match presentation, reported Cricbuzz. 

While not just that, Williamson also stated that it was pretty hard to defend at the venue but reckoned that they would have to take the good things and build on for the next game. 

“It's not an easy thing to defend here, lot of things to take and build on for the next game. It's a bunch that's really enthusiastic about improving. We haven't played here for a long time, great to be out there,” he concluded.