Kane Williamson acknowledged he dodged a bullet during his man of the match-winning performance in last night's opening T20 match against England in Wellington.
Runs production had been skinny for the New Zealand captain in his last three T20 internationals, just 17 runs in three innings.
On other days he would have been run out first ball last night. Instead, after misjudging a quick single, pushing the ball towards mid on, he saw fast bowler Mark Wood's hurl at the stumps at the non-strikers end fly narrowly past with Williamson still a couple of metres short of his crease.
About an hour later, Williamson was finally out for 72 off 46 balls, setting up New Zealand's 196 for five, which led to a 12-run win over England.
"It just happens," he said of the crucial moment.
"I thought the ball was going to roll a bit further. It didn't and I thought 'uh oh'," he said last night.
"Sometimes you get a bit of luck; sometimes you get a bit of bad luck. You just think about the next ball and try to stick to your plan."
Man of the Match Kane Williamson - ‘It was an important win in the context of the series’ #nzveng pic.twitter.com/R2ZjOR0Ejx
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) February 13, 2018
It was Williamson's eighth T20 half century, and his 82-run stand in nine overs with opener Martin Guptill (65 off 40 balls) was just the ticket New Zealand needed, having figured out there was no demons in a peculiar-looking pitch.
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