Twenty20 World Cup Black Caps captain Kane Williamson hits top gear at right time

Kane Williamson batted New Zealand into yet another World Cup semifinal. Photo / Getty

There was no magic bullet for Kane Williamson but that didn’t stop him from firing the Black Caps into yet another World Cup semifinal.

The New Zealand captain put behind him a patchy tournament with a match-winning innings against Ireland on Friday night, setting up a knockout clash likely against either India or South Africa.

That match will be the Black Caps’ fifth semifinal in as many limited-overs World Cups and Williamson playing an integral role in their progression is fitting: he will be the only player to have featured in all five.

His place in this team was never truly in doubt but his performances in the tournament did see that once unthinkable topic broached, with former batting coach Craig McMillan questioning whether New Zealand would be “brave” enough to drop their skipper.

Williamson, understated as always, acknowledged it was pleasing to make a pivotal contribution, with his 35-ball knock of 61 putting his side on the path to a total of 185-6 and a 35-run victory.

While his strike rate was still at 100 after 15 deliveries, a lofted boundary over mid off followed by a pull over the deep square leg fence sparked the acceleration he had largely been missing.

“I don’t think there’s any sort of magic bullet, but it was nice to get a couple away and build a bit of momentum,” Williamson said. “There’s a lot of thought that goes into trying to position ourselves – whether it’s my batting or someone else’s in terms of the partnership.

“You’re always wanting to try and get that momentum and take those options and feel quite good about it. So it was nice to make a contribution.”

Williamson described his approach at the Adelaide Oval as being determined by and reliant on the context of the three partnerships he formed.

At first, with Devon Conway, the pair (44 off 33) initially battled for fluency but Williamson said working out what adjustments were needed on a “difficult” surface was key in what was to follow.

Then, with Glenn Phillips assuming the aggressor role in the stand (18 off 11), it was about letting the in-form batsman do “what he’s been doing all tournament”.

And, finally, with Daryl Mitchell sharing in the best partnership (60 off 31) of the innings, it was time for Williamson to take charge and score at a strike rate of 219.

“I think sometimes you can look at some of the innings without context,” he said. “I was trying to make good decisions and bat within a partnership. It was nice that throughout the innings we were able to build a lot of those.

“I thought the partnerships throughout were good to get what was a very competitive total on that wicket.”

The Black Caps will now play the runner-up in group two on Wednesday at the Sydney Cricket Ground, a venue where they thumped Australia and Sri Lanka.

Either way, the team are by now well accustomed to what comes next, having in their previous semifinals beaten South Africa (2015) and India (2019) at the ODI tournaments while splitting two T20 matchups against England (2016 and 2021).

“It was just the other day too, wasn’t it?” Williamson said of their last knockout match. “We have to wait now and see how the other games progress, but as long as the team keeps looking to improve and build on some of these performances, hopefully we’ll see ourselves in the next phase.”