Sherfane Rutherford's smashed a match-winning half-century against New Zealand helped West Indies secure a crucial win in match 26 of the ongoing edition of the T20 World Cup 2024 at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad, on June 13 (Thursday). The former two-time champions even confirmed their spot in the Super 8 stage with this stunning win. After the match, BlackCaps captain Kane Williamson heavily praised Rutherford and said it was his innings that set the real difference in that game.
Kane Williamson praises Sherfane Rutherford
"It was good, we had an inkling it would be quite tricky if we hit an area and that proved to be the case. The quality of Sherfane's innings was the difference, incredibly impressive and quite frustrating for us. The batting depth from their side was quite beneficial, we took the aggressive option to take the wicket and T20 is a game of small margins and unfortunately did not work out that way," said Kane Williamson in the post-match presentation.
Sherfane Rutherford turns table on Kiwis
West Indies were down on 112/9 by the end of the 18th over with almost all hope lost and even reaching the 120-run mark seemed way too difficult but that is when Sherfane Rutherford single-handedly changed the flow of the game. He hit three big sixes in the 19th over and smashed 19 runs in the 19th over. After this, he concluded the Windies' innings by hitting 18 runs in the 20th over which included two fours and one six. This completely changed the scenario of the match and brought the hosts back into the match. Rutherford completed his fifty in 33 balls and returned to the dugout after scoring an unbeaten 68 off just 39 balls.
“Want to thank God for the opportunity. I was in IPL for two months. I was preparing even though I wasn't playing. I was preparing for this. To take it deep was the plan. Me and (Daren) Sammy had a talk. We spoke of taking it deep and just keep rotating the strike as I can make up for it later on. (On his strategy for the last two overs where he scored 37 runs) Looking at their bowling lineup I knew they were short of two overs and I was telling myself to take it deep. Wanted to maximise on those overs. That was the plan and I think it did that well. Hopefully the start of something to come. I will have chicken curry for tonight,” said Sherfane Rutherford after receiving the Player of the Match award.
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