Rotorua cricket fans proud of Black Caps despite World Cup final loss

Yesterday, New Zealand's exhausted cricket fans went about their Monday business bleary-eyed and shell-shocked after staying up all night to watch one of the most epic Cricket World Cup finals of all time. The Black Caps fell narrowly short of the win after the match and then the super over both finished all square and England took victory via being the side who hit the most boundaries. Rotorua Daily Post sports reporter David Beck caught up with some local cricket fanatics to get their thoughts on the game and the tournament as a whole.

Rotorua's Crispian Stewart was still in shock on Monday afternoon. It felt like his beloved Black Caps had somehow lost the Cricket World Cup final without really losing.

But still, after staying up all night with his equally cricket-mad children Cohen, 14, and Sadie, 11, he proudly wore his beige Black Caps shirt.

"You just felt like we were just behind the game the whole way but scrapping and scrapping to be competitive. Once we had them four wickets down for about 80 I thought this could happen. I always believed we could do it but man that was unreal.

"What a cruel way to finish. All the little decisions just didn't go our way and you have to feel for Guptill, the poor bugger. The end of the game was gutting, it's just a tough way to decide it."

Stewart has a close connection with English cricket. He was the first overseas import for the Parley Cricket Club in Bournemouth who he played for in the 1997 and 1998 seasons.

Last year his son Cohen became the first person to play for the club on an international junior cricket scholarship.

Stewart said the best way to describe English fans was "passionate" and he spent much of the night messaging those he knew from his time there.

"They went to the game and one of them summed it up well, he thought England were the better team in the tournament but New Zealand were the better team on the day. It just came down to small margins.

"The win will mean a lot to them."

Rotorua cricketer Cam Ingram is a 17-year-old with lofty ambitions in the sport. He lives and breathes cricket.

Like many, he stayed up all night to watch the final and went through the full range of emotions.

"I'm gutted to be honest. I thought we started so well, compared to the semifinal it was so much better and I thought we were in for a good total.

"I backed our bowlers to do the job and obviously it got towards the end and it was pretty tense."

Ingram plays for the Central Indians and is one of the youngest players in the Baywide Premier competition. He said the way the Black Caps carried themselves on and off the field inspired him.

"I think the way they showed themselves at this tournament was amazing. They showed emotion but they showed it in a sporting manner which I found some of the other teams don't always do.

"I look up to all those boys in the Black Caps and I try to play my cricket just like them. Being a good sportsman, being fair and being true to the game.

"It's definitely going to influence a lot more people to become a part of cricket, especially in Rotorua and Bay of Plenty."

Bay of Plenty Cricket manager Tai Bridgman-Raison says Williamson and Boult are the epitome of what athletes should be, holding positive traits that go beyond their sporting achievements and successes.

Their sporting skills are evident - Williamson as one of the world's best batsmen and Boult, one of the best bowlers New Zealand has had for years - but Bridgman-Raison says it's their sportsmanship that makes them even more inspirational to young cricketers in the Bay and around New Zealand.

He says the Bay of Plenty cricket community could not ask for two better role models for the sport.

Their success on the world stage is what Bridgman-Raison believes will surely prompt more young people to take up cricket, while their humility, character and genuine sportsmanship will teach the next generation of cricketers about being athletes worthy of being looked up to.

"What an advertisement for the sport," Bridgman-Raison says.