Kane Williamson regrets missing crucial opportunities after series defeat

As expected, England chased down the target of 296 runs successfully in their second innings of the final test of the three-match series against New Zealand at Leeds, courtesy of three magnificent half-centuries from Ollie Pope, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow. 

The Englishmen clean-swept the Kiwis in the process, thereby getting an ideal start to their new era in red-ball cricket under the visionary leadership of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum. 

On the other hand, the performance of New Zealand in the series was disappointing, to say the least. The defending World Test champions didn't seem to be anywhere close to their best. Their opponents comprehensively beat them in all three departments throughout the series. 

In the aftermath of their series loss, the New Zealand captain Kane Williamson regretted not capitalizing on crucial opportunities they got in the three Tests. In the post-match presentation, Williamson stressed that despite having the upper hand at times in each game, New Zealand couldn't make that count, which resulted in the harsh defeat of the visitors in the series. 

The stylish 31-year-old batter also heaped praises on the Englishmen for how they recovered from critical scenarios throughout the series. As Williamson put it, England's unique way of dealing with pressure situations by taking the danger head-on worked wonders for the home team. It was one of the significant differences between the two sides. 

"It's been an incredible series. In all three matches, we had our opportunities, and we were ahead of the game at times in each one but credit to England, they chose to counter-attack when they were under pressure and they did it well, especially in this match," Williamson said. 

"It is frustrating to lose the series but there were a lot of positives. There is a new theme to England's approach, and they did it extremely well. It was a highly competitive series, but they won those fine margins and those moments that changed the outcome of the matches," the Tauranga-born concluded. 

After being whitewashed by England in the series, New Zealand have moved down to the eighth spot in the WTC points table. With a win percentage of just 25.93, the chances of the Blackcaps playing their second consecutive WTC finals seem all but over.