Hard to determine whether 2019 World Cup was high or low, states Kane Williamson
Kane Williamson has revealed his bittersweet feeling about New Zealand’s 2019 World Cup campaign that saw the team lose its second World Cup final in a row. On July 14, New Zealand and England were involved in what is considered as the one of biggest thrillers in World Cup history.
After a convincing victory against Virat Kohli’s India in the semifinal, Williamson’s New Zealand team made it to the 2019 World Cup final. The Kiwis faced the hosts England at the Lord’s Cricket ground in London on July 14 last year. After a thriller of a contest and an exceptional show of batting by Ben Stokes, the match was tied and decided by a Super Over. Although almost a year has passed since New Zealand are emotionally recovering from the defeat. According to New Zealand skipper, it is still hard to figure out whether the World Cup campaign was bitter or sweet for the team.
"To determine whether it was a high or a low takes a bit of time. And I'm still trying to work out what it was really. We didn't get the fruits but upon reflection, it was a pretty spectacular game to be a part of but a really difficult game to understand and get around because you were a part of the game,” Williamson told Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz In Conversation.
It was not just the final result, based on the number of boundaries scored by both teams, New Zealand faced many unlucky factors on that fateful day. As New Zealand batted first, Ross Taylor was wrongly declared out by Marais Erasmus and while England were struggling through the chase, Trent Boult had stepped on the boundary line while taking the catch of Ben Stokes.
Following that, Martin Guptill's throw had ricochetted off Stokes's bat and racing towards the boundary, and Kumar Dharmasena's error to giving Stokes an extra run had added to the chaos that led to the Super Over. According to Williamson, these were external factors that couldn’t have been controlled by the players. However, he believed that it was a great experience for the team to be part of such a great match in the history of cricket.
"Like any game, there are things on the outside that you can't control, when there were so many things that were out of your control, pivotal things that were so late in the match. It meant that you were trying to make sense and it was very difficult to do that. And the [boundary count] controversy that surrounded it after that... But at the end of it, you sort of think what you're here to do in the game, and that's perhaps to take the game to better places while you have the opportunity to play. Despite being on the wrong side of the result you still think you played your part and were perhaps able to do that. It was an amazing experience, an incredibly exciting journey if you look at the bigger picture instead of the last couple of minutes. But a real shocker of a game,” he concluded.