“You do need to be hitting the ground running”

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has made it clear that his side will play a more attacking brand of cricket during the Champions Trophy in England next week.

The Black Caps won the event back in 2000 and were runners-up in 2009, but going into the upcoming edition of the tournament, they find themselves in a tough group as they will have to take on Australia, Bangladesh and England.

But, fresh off an ODI tri-series in Ireland, where they won all of their games except the last one against Bangladesh, Williamson knows that his side cannot afford to slip up at any point during the competition.

“It counts for something but not for everything because we still come back to one-off clashes with opponents and if you win then you can go a long way in the competition,” Williamson said. “But there is not much time for slip-ups or conservative cricket.”

With India, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka making up Group B, Williamson conceded that all eight sides have the chance to go all the way and be crowned champions.

“It’s such an interesting tournament, such a short tournament, that on any given day, things can happen that might be out of your control and go one way or the other,” he said. “You do need to be hitting the ground running and we do have a very tough pool. Both are pools are tough.”

Meanwhile, Williamson also condemned the terrorist attack in Manchester earlier this week, where 22 people were killed in a suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert.

“The tragedy in Manchester was horrific and our thoughts are with those people,” he said.