A narrow defeat in the nerve-wracking final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 against England was certainly a massive heartbreak for New Zealand that they might never forget for life and of course, star all-rounder Jimmy Neesham who witnessed the dramatic loss very closely.
The Black Caps lost an enthralling 2019 World Cup final on boundary count after both original encounter and Super Over ended in a tie, as England lifted its maiden coveted trophy in front of the home crowd at Lord’s last July.
Recently, Neesham, who was an integral part of New Zealand’s World Cup 2019 campaign, recalled the heart-breaking Super-Over final loss to England, saying the 20-cm gap between a diving Martin Guptill’s bat and the crease will probably haunt him for the next 50 years.
Guptill was brilliantly run-out by Jason Roy and Jos Buttler when New Zealand needed 2 off the final ball, as this was the moment that broke the Kiwis dreams and hearts at Lord’s, losing World Cup to England.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Neesham said: “I think first and foremost you’ve got to take care what’s in front of you. Being at one of the hotspots in the field during the death overs (at long-on), I sort of knew that it will be a high chance I had to do something in the field before I batted,”
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The southpaw further added, “When we got out to bat, obviously getting 16 in a Super Over to win is almost unreachable. So, the pressure was pretty well off because I guess no one is going to blame you for not getting 16. It was all about making contact as long as possible but yeah 1 run, 20 centimeters short? Will think about those 20 centimeters for the next 50 years.”
Neesham also revealed that he was aware of the boundary-count rule, saying: “I was padding up in the change room for the Super Over. I hadn’t been mentioned at any point before that. Although having said that initially, I had actually won a match on boundary count in a Super Over before in my career so it wasn’t much of a surprise for me.”
He signed off by saying, “We had a bit of a group discussion after the 50-over game was tied. The boys had to get back into the changing room, have a bit of a drink, and come back again. We just had a discussion in the middle and being a couple of senior guys, it came to be Me and Guppy.”
(With ESPNcricinfo Inputs)
