Follow UsIn five matches this season, Kane Williamson has scored a total of 124 runs at an average of 24.80 and a strike rate of 99.20. Even though his side have returned to winning ways, by registering three consecutive victories, his form has remained a concern, further exacerbated by the performance of other batters, barring Rahul Tripathi. It has cost them multiple bases, with Tripathi being put under pressure to deliver the goods.
With a dreadful strike-rate of just 51 in the first 10 balls, Williamson ranks the lowest in this ball range and not too far behind is his partner Abhishek Sharma which reads 74. The duo have put on 184 runs off 167 deliveries in the five innings they have batted together with the scoring rate not too high, and it could put a lot of pressure on the batters who follow. Former Australian pacer Dirk Nannes is not really a big fan of Williamson’s approach of going slow in the first 10-15 balls before making up for the lost time.
“Sunrisers Hyderabad’s change in form has come out of the blue for me. I don’t necessarily think they are playing scintillating cricket but they are getting wins on the board and that is all that matters at this stage,” Nannes said in an exclusive conversation with Cricket.com.
“I find Kane hugely frustrating to watch. And it is because of those first 10 balls or first 15 balls where he is just crawling through and there seems to be no intent. Over the last 10 years, I guess, whenever I watch T20 batters, I hate seeing straight leaves, defensive players with defensive blocks with no intent to score at all.
“That’s what Kane Williamson brings and I want to be critical of that but at the same time, you can’t argue with what he is delivering at the end. He is making scores and not ending up with horrible strike rates. I wish he would change his approach in the first 10 balls and imagine what he could do then.”
In the five matches so far, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Sunday opponent Punjab Kings have notched up 63, 62, 72, 43, and 65 in the powerplay overs respectively and that has helped them be in an advantageous position. That Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan are more focused on strike rate has made the approach more intrinsic to the team, which Nannes found something to hold onto.
“Punjab have gone big in the powerplay. Their worst powerplay score is 43/2 - which is still pretty decent. I don’t see any change in their approach because it is a strength for them. I wouldn’t change the position of Liam Livingstone. The reason being you don’t want him to be exposed to the new ball. Looking at when they have lost their first wicket, it is better to keep him for a later stage.”
Does that mean a promotion for Liam Livingstone in the cards? The Englishman has been superb in bashing the spinners in the middle overs and promotion to No.3 might add more impact to his batting. However, Nannes think it is better to use him as a floater but doesn’t see an immediate change in the batting position which he feels would disturb the dynamics.
“Of course, there is a case for him to be used as a floater depending on the position and the situation of the game. Like RCB have used Maxwell. But I don’t want to see him up against a swinging and seaming ball upfront. He is too valuable later on in the innings.”
The former Delhi pacer further suggested that Punjab must stick with using Kagiso Rabada in the later stages of the game instead of asking him to bowl more in the first six overs.
“If Rabada bowls an extra over in the powerplay, you are somehow expecting Robin to play the role of Paul kind of thing. If he bowls one more over in the first six overs, how would you compensate for that at the end? I don’t think Odean Smith is the answer because he is getting pummelled. Yeah, he took some wickets in the last game but he gets smacked everywhere. So I guess there is a lot of value in playing Rabada late in the innings. I am pretty reluctant to change it in that regard,” Nannes concluded.