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London - New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is not letting emotion get in the way of his side's efforts at winning a first ever World Cup against England on Sunday.
The 28-year-old was cool and composed throughout his pre-match press conference at Lord's on Saturday, placing a clear emphasis on performance rather than the result of Sunday's match.
If the Black Caps play close to something resembling their best, do the basics well and play the brand of cricket that is best suited to the conditions on the day, then they will have a chance of knocking over the pre-tournament favourites, Williamson implied.
Whoever wins on Sunday will win a World Cup for the first time, but it is England who go into the clash with all the expectation given their position as the hosts and No 1 side in ODI cricket.
"We are quite keen on winning as well," Williamson, with his dry sense of humour, said to laughter at Lord's on Saturday when asked if the pressure was completely off the Black Caps and on England.
It was England, after all, who emerged as comfortable 119-run winners when the sides met in a crucial group stage clash at Chester-le-Street earlier in the competition.
It all points towards the hosts going into Sunday as overwhelming favourites, and Williamson says that is a tag they fully deserve.
"I think England rightly so deserve to be favourites," he said when asked if he considers his side to be underdogs.
"Coming into this tournament from the start, they were favourites and they've been playing really good cricket.
"But whatever dog we are, it's just important that we focus on the cricket that we want to play, and we have seen over the years that anybody can beat anybody regardless of the breed of dog they are."
That drew another roar of laughter from the journalists in attendance, and the playful to and fro continued when Williamson was asked about the possibility of ruining England's World Cup party in front of what is expected to be a packed Lord's.
"Party-poopers? You are talking about dogs again, hey?" he said.
"Underdogs? Look, we are really looking forward to the occasion.
"There's a lot of time between now and the end result, so focussing too much on it I don't think is a positive thing.
"The focus for us as a group is what's in front of us.
"We know you go into any match and you have to deal with a number of different things, whether it's different moments of pressure, whether it's different moments of momentum and we have to be prepared to deal with all of those again."
Play on Sunday starts at 11:30 (SA time).
@LloydBurnard is in England covering the 2019 Cricket World Cup for Sport24 ...
