Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum talked up the luck factor in his country's run to the final of the last year's 50-over World Cup in the UK.
The Kiwis didn't have the best of first rounds and finished with just as many points and wins as fifth-placed Pakistan. But the higher net run-rate allowed them to sneak through to the knock-out stage.
They defeated India in the semi-finals and nearly won the final against England at Lord's, losing on the now-abolished boundary count rule after a super-over tie.
“I know they got very close last year in the World Cup - but I did feel they were a little bit lucky there as well to actually get themselves in that situation,” McCullum, who led his team to the final of the 2015 World Cup, said in a recent podcast as per PTI.
McCullum, though, also believes skipper Kane Williamson and company aren't far away from lifting a major title.
They'll have the chance to do so in the next two years when the T20 World Cups are played in India and Australia, before returning to India for the next 50-over World Cup in 2023.
“I think they’re close to doing something really really special, and under Kane Williamson’s captaincy and under the leadership of some of the other senior players, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t,” McCullum said.
“I think now is the time for them to put a real line in the sand though. I think they’ve done well, they’ve got the ear and eyes of not only New Zealand but the world, it’d be nice."
“I think they’re really well-led by Kane Williamson, someone who is a fantastic embodiment of what it’s like to be a Kiwi and he’s got a wonderful group of people around him."
“I think they believe now too - I think that’s the big key. For so long we were always just trying to peak occasionally because we didn’t feel we had the resources to compete with the bigger nations," he concluded.
