World Cup 2019: Kane Williamson wants his men to focus on avoiding soft dismissals

New Zealand now stands at the top of the points table with 2 wins in 2 matches. They will now lock horns with Afghanistan on June 8.

After registering a narrow-win over Bangladesh in their second game of the ongoing World Cup, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson called on his batters to bat with more responsibility and avoid soft dismissals. On Wednesday, New Zealand came out with a brilliant bowling performance as they bowled out the Bangla Tigers for 244 at the Kennington Oval. Chasing 245, the Black Caps were cruising at one stage having 160/2 at the board. However, that's when the drama unfolded. A middle-overs squeeze saw to the wickets of Williamson and Tom Latham, who fell in the same Mehidy Hasan over, preceding a nervy finish. Ross Taylor (82) tickled Mosaddek Hossain down the leg-side for Mushfiqur to take a sharp catch, but, though the Tigers struck regularly thereafter, they had left themselves too much to do, and the Kiwis eventually got home with 17 balls and two wickets in hand. "It was very nice to get across the line, I thought the first innings was outstanding. The fielding was brilliant throughout by both teams," Williamson said after the match. "We thought 250 could be a competitive score and we just needed to keep wickets in the hand. It wasn't a clinical effort with the bat, but it was nice to get over the line. There were a few soft dismissals that we need to address," he added. New Zealand now stands at the top of the points table with 2 wins in 2 matches. They will now lock horns with Afghanistan on June 8.