T20 Cricket World Cup: Black Caps captain Kane Williamson looking for top gear

Kane Williamson is still looking for top form at the tournament. Photo / photosport.nz

Kane Williamson knows he's yet to hit top gear at the T20 World Cup but is staying steady as the semifinals race into view.

The New Zealand captain has faced criticism for slow scoring rates in the shortest format, with a run-a-ball 40 in his side's loss to England capping a patchy year with the bat.

Ahead of the Black Caps' final group match against Ireland tomorrow – when a win would essentially seal their semifinal place – Williamson acknowledged the need for improvement.

"You're always wanting to get better, and cricket is a pretty fickle game," he said. "You do go through different periods where there's better rhythm and then other times where you're working harder and you're trying to make sure that you're making a valuable contribution.

"So that's the focus – and staying a little bit patient with it as well. The game forever challenges us."

Williamson's patient approach is understandable in a batting order that is otherwise stacked with quick scorers, and against England he did join Glenn Phillips in a third-wicket stand of 91 runs from 59 balls.

But by soaking up a third of the available deliveries in the innings while contributing only 40 to a chase of 180, Williamson was asking much from his teammates.

If they must keep the scoring rate high at one end, they must also take greater risks, and the three batsmen below Williamson against England – Phillips, Jimmy Neesham and Daryl Mitchell – each picked out boundary riders while attempting big shots.

Williamson isn't required to come to the crease and immediately score as quickly as that trio. But when the required run rate reached double digits, as it was for much of the England chase, the Black Caps needed him to move through the gears the way he often had in T20 cricket.

"There's a number of phases or gears to go through," Williamson said. "I definitely want to keep touching on those third and fourth gears where you are exploring some different areas of the ground."

That ability was evident in both last month's tri-series final against Pakistan and last year's World Cup final against Australia, when Williamson carried his side with a 48-ball knock of 85 after striking at 100 during his first 18 deliveries.

But it has been absent so far at this tournament, in stark contrast to one of his peers. In T20 World Cups, according to analytics site CricViz, Indian captain Virat Kohli scores at a faster rate in each 10-ball block he faces: a run a ball when first at the crease before moving steadily up to strike rates of 162 in balls 30-39 and 212 in the next set.

While Williamson's steady approach against England detracted little to the Black Caps' chances of progressing, more aggression might be required in the knockout rounds, although the skipper was wary of looking past Ireland.

"If you just look at the tournament so far, you've seen upsets nearly every day," he said. "Everyone is pretty competitive. It's a World Cup – anything can happen."