After New Zealand’s heart-wrenching defeat against England in the World Cup title clash, Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson said that “no one lost the final but there was a crowned winner”.
On Sunday, the Black Caps missed their first-ever World Cup title after losing on boundary count to England in the finals as the match as well as the Super Over ended in ties.
England amassed 26 boundaries in total in the entire duration of the match as compared to 17 by the Black Caps and were thus crowned as champions for the first time ever in the Men’s ODI World Cup.
“At the end of the day nothing separated us, no one lost the final, but there was a crowned winner and there it is,” Williamson told Newstalk ZB on Tuesday.
He said the World Cup final was “pretty tough to get your head around – I think it will take time to reflect with a rational mind”.
Acknowledging his team’s performance, Williamson said, “It was a really good effort to get knockout stages.”
Notably, New Zealand, who were cruising at one stage with an “invincible” tag, lost their last three round-robin games and somehow made it to the semi-finals surpassing Pakistan on the basis of a superior net run-rate. In the semi-final, the Kiwis put up a good show defending a 240-run target against India, courtesy a brutal pace attack, and made it to the final.
“We were forced to play a style of game because of the conditions and adopted that really well. We thought it took us all the way but it was not to be.
“The rules are the rules and we all try and play by them as did England who also had a very good campaign,” the Black Caps skipper added.
(With inputs from IANS)