Black Caps captain Kane Williamson has been recognised for his stellar Indian Premier League season after being named captain of the team of the year.
Williamson had the second-most runs in the regular season, knocking 661 at an average of 60.09 alongside a strike rate of 143 in 14 innings for table-topping Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The Kiwi batsman picked up eight half-centuries throughout the round robin.
His performances led to ESPN's Cricinfo naming Williamson the skipper of its IPL team of the year, where selections were based on Smart Stats - a new analytical process for T20 cricket which examines a batsman's strike rate at various parts of the innings, and dot ball percentage.
"Williamson was hard to dismiss and would bat smart: at a reliable pace in demanding conditions or in a small chase, and surprisingly faster when the situation needed it," the website wrote.
"Typical Williamson: little flash, lots of substance."
Williamson's role for Sunrisers grew heading into the season after former captain David Warner was banned for his involvement in the Australian ball-tampering saga.
With Williamson steadying the ship, the Sunrisers went on to collect nine wins from 14 games to finish top of the table, making a name for themselves in the process as time and time again they managed to defend low totals.
West Indies allrounder Sunil Narine, Afghanistan legspinner Rashid Khan and Australian fast bowler Andrew Tye were the other internationals named in the team of the year.
ESPN CricInfo IPL team of 2018
1. KL Rahul, 2. Sunil Narine, 3. Kane Williamson (c), 4. Ambati Rayudu, 5. Rishabh Pant, 6. Dinesh Karthik, 7. MS Dhoni, 8. Rashid Khan, 9. Andrew Tye, 10. Umesh Yadav, 11. Jasprit Bumrah
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