The Black Caps booked a spot in the final where they will face India.
It almost seems appropriate. At a time when the Black Caps are seeing out the final days of New Zealand’s greatest batter, his heir apparent has more than emerged from his slipstream.
At 34, Kane Williamson’s career is winding down. Since his debut in 2010, Williamson has conquered every conceivable opponent, but no athlete in any sport has ever beaten time.
But, as has been the case since 2023, Rachin Ravindra has shown he’s more than able to wear the mantle of being New Zealand’s premier batter.
At the last 50-over World Cup in India, as Williamson raced against time to recover from an ACL rupture, Ravindra seized his chance, and has been a top-order mainstay ever since.
Williamson is rarely outperformed in a partnership. But as he and Ravindra added 164-runs for the second wicket against South Africa, Williamson was outscored 82-80.
That’s not to say Williamson’s time is up, by any means. He’s reached triple figures in two of his last six ODIs, and his last test knock was 156 - his 33rd century in the purest format.
However, as seen with Australia’s Steve Smith, there is precedent for Williamson to call time on his international white ball career when all is said and done with this year’s Champions Trophy.
While he may have debuted as an all-rounder, batting at No 7 in both test and ODI cricket, a move to the top of the order has been his making. Three World Cup centuries and another two in the Champions Trophy, so far: no other New Zealander has reached three figures at a major tournament.
The likes of Williamson, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill, Nathan Astle, Stephen Fleming and Martin Crowe, all sit behind 25-year-old Ravindra in that particular metric.
But despite the nature of cricket being effectively an individual sport disguised as a team effort, Williamson knows exactly what the Black Caps have on their hands in Ravindra.
“He’s an incredibly special talent,” said Williamson of Ravindra. “It’s always great to bat with him.
Rachin Ravindra is congratulated by Kane Williamson after reaching his century. Photo / Getty Images
“He goes out, puts the team first and plays with that freedom. When we were out there batting together, there were moments where there were some good spells, and it was a bit challenging.
“We tried to feed off each other, and keep each other focused on the job.
“He’s so gifted, really, really confident and clear in what he’s trying to do. We’ve seen it on so many occasions in big tournaments where he’s stood up and shown it. We’ve seen it again here again in this one.
“Hopefully he can continue that moving forward into this next match. I had the best seat in the house at the other end.”
While Ravindra is poised to eventually surpass Williamson as the Black Caps’ most important batter, the latter’s place as New Zealand’s greatest is realistically under no threat.
Williamson holds close to every conceivable batting record for New Zealand. He’s the most prolific scorer in test cricket, and is just 724 runs away from being the first Black Cap to the fabled mark of 10,000, to go with the most centuries.
In ODIs, his 7224 runs are a New Zealand record, even if he’s six centuries behind Ross Taylor.
Given the nature of modern cricket - where the international game is being squeezed into the margins to accommodate franchise T20 - those records will never be broken, by Ravindra or otherwise.
As captain, Williamson ended New Zealand’s 21-year wait for an international trophy when he lifted the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021.
But now without a New Zealand Cricket central contract, and having signed T20 deals in South Africa, England and Pakistan, just how much more the Black Caps see of Williamson outside of these pinnacle events is still uncertain.
If he is to call time on his white ball career, considering the structure of the World Test Championship being designed to accommodate bigger teams playing longer series, there is a very real chance this Champions Trophy final will be Williamson’s last for New Zealand.
If it’s any omen for New Zealand, the Black Caps’ only two world titles have both come against India.
The 2000 Knockout Trophy - what’s now the Champions Trophy - in Nairobi, before the World Test Championship at Southampton in 2021.
But the chance to be part of another last title-winning side is all the motivation he needs, as the Black Caps now return to Dubai to face India on Sunday night.
“Regardless of whether it’s my last or not, it’d be nice [to win],” Williamson added. “It’s a final, so it’s exciting.
“We’ll celebrate tonight, but we’ll be changing our focus quickly to this next match, which is an exciting opportunity for us.”
Alex Powell is an Online Sports Editor for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016, and previously worked for both Newshub and 1News.
