New Zealand need to adjust to surfaces quickly: Williamson

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson was pleased with Wednesday's 17-run victory over Scotland in the T20 World Cup, but felt that the bowlers need to improve after being tested on a batting surface at Dubai.

"We were patchy with the ball but we need to move on. Credit to Scotland for the way they played and hit the ball out of the park. We were tested and we need to learn from this," Williamson said at the presentation ceremony.

After losing Pakistan in their opening Super 12s match, the Black Caps bounced back with an eight-wicket win over India. Against Scotland, Martin Guptill put on a show with a 56-ball 93 which propelled New Zealand to 172/5 in 20 overs.

"We certainly knew coming into this tournament that there were match winners all around. It ebbed and flowed and we got a good first innings total."

Williamson praised the partnership between Guptill and Glenn Phillips (33 off 37) as they put up 105 runs for the fourth wicket.

"Guptill is a power player. He is hitting the ball beautifully. We really needed his innings. Also Glenn Phillips, and that partnership was necessary to get us to a good total."

"A quick turnaround now, recover as quickly as possible for the next challenge. There are always things to work on, and there are definitely a few things we want to touch on. We need to adjust quickly to surfaces. It was a hard fought match.

With Pakistan confirmed a semifinal spot, New Zealand will look to seal the remaining semis spot with a win over Namibia in the next match at Sharjah on Friday.

"We will go to Sharjah and take it from there. Every game is valuable and we know we try and prepare as well as possible for all of them. The next game is the only game that matters. For us it is all about playing the cricket we want to play and stay committed to that."

Asked about him tiring during batting towards the end, Guptill said, "We have a day off tomorrow, so I won't be doing much then. We didn't have a great start. It wasn't a rescue mission, but Glenn and I had to assess. I have played a lot of cricket with him, and we have put up a lot of partnerships for Auckland. A few missed balls and we were able to get them away and get some momentum.

"Not ideal with the running, but we got there in the end. Afghanistan are a great side and we can't take them lightly."

Scotland ended their innings at 156 for five and skipper Kyle Coetzer felt had they conceded 10 runs less to New Zealand, things could have been different.

"We will have to go back and look at those opportunities that we could take to get better. Martin Guptill played an outstanding knock. This is the best pitch we have played on thus far. If you restrict another 10 runs, the game could have been different."

Michael Leask was not out on 42 off 20 balls when the game ended.

"This is our best performance in the Super 12, but we have to go back and see. We were actually 2 runs ahead of NZ at the 10 over mark. Leask got us close," Coetzer said.