ICC World Cup 2019 | The mood in the dressing room is good, says Jimmy Neesham after loss against Pakistan
Jimmy Neesham has said the boys will discuss the match over a couple of beers and get back to business the day after. After a somewhat surprising loss to Pakistan, New Zealand go up against defending champions Australia on Sunday at the Lord’s and host-nation England, later in the next week.
The Kiwi streak was finally broken on Wednesday as a resurgent Pakistan defeated them by six wickets on their comeback trail in the bid for a spot in the top four of the World Cup table. But, all-rounder Jimmy Neesham, arguably New Zealand’s best performer of the match, said the team wouldn’t take the loss badly.Â
"There are too many quality teams going around to expect to win every game. We prepared for a tournament where we'd probably lose one or two games, but for us it's all about making it to the semi-finals, and you're only two good games away from lifting the trophy. So for us nothing changes,” said Neesham at the post-match press conference, reported TOI.Â
When asked about Pakistani players Shaheen Shah Afridi and Babar Azam, Neesham reflected that it was only a matter of time before quality players eventually shone through on the world stage. Azam’s unbeaten 101, and Shaheen’s burst of three wickets in the space of 20 balls played key roles in Pakistan’s win.
In hindsight, Neesham said the wicket didn’t play as per the information that they had received prior to the game, but at the halfway point he believed the Kiwis had a defendable total, after being 46/4 in the 13th over.Â
"I think Pakistan's bowling was obviously really impressive. We sort of try and dig ourselves out of that hole and that took a lot of doing, but I think we potentially got to a score that was defendable," Neesham said.
Playing only one spinner on rank turner didn’t help the cause for the Blackcaps, but Neesham believes that the partnership between Azam and Sohail never really let them get back into the game.Â
"Obviously, the way Babar and Sohail batted didn't allow us to get some momentum and try to get into their middle order and that was the difference," he added.
Going into the game against Australia and England, Neesham emphasized that they were solely focused on themselves, even after this loss.Â
“The mood in the dressing room is good. The guys were joking and laughing when I left. Australia are a very good team. But we certainly won’t prepare any differently for them as we would any other game,” Neesham said.Â
