When Black Caps captain Kane Williamson walked off the park for the final time at the Twenty20 World Cup, he felt a mixture of pride and disappointment.
Pride in how his team shone to make another world final, and how they committed to the cause and adapted to conditions totopple more fancied sides.
But disappointment in the result from that final, with his side not at their best as they fell to an eight-wicket defeat to Australia.
Asked for insights on where things went wrong, Williamson evades the questions like he does a well-directed bouncer, but read between the lines and you get the sense of a captain who needed one more brilliant display from his bowlers, only for them to come up short.
"The guys worked hard to get to what we thought was a competitive total. Unfortunately we weren't able to create many opportunities and get those breakthroughs.
"It was a little bit frustrating. We thought on that surface that we had a few opportunities to do that and build some pressure.
"Credit to the way the Australians chased that total, they didn't give us an inch really. We were relying on wickets throughout and making life a little bit difficult, but it wasn't to be."
Kane Williamson walks off the pitch after getting out. Photo / Getty
That's Williamson – always keen to credit the opposition rather than critique his own side, and in fairness, David Warner and Mitchell Marsh were superb in their chase of 173 for victory.
But equally, the Black Caps bowlers were wayward, with pool play and semifinal stars such as Tim Southee and Ish Sodhi picking the wrong game to have their worst display of the tournament.
Better showings from the bowlers and perhaps the result would have been different, or at least closer, with Williamson indicating that the Black Caps' 172-4 – of which he contributed a stunning 85 off 48 balls – was about par on the Dubai surface.
"With the start of [the innings] we were trying to get a bit of a platform and the surface was sort of holding a fraction. It was nice to be able to build some partnerships and get what we thought at the halfway stage was a competitive total.
"With runs on the board and you can build some pressure and you get a few opportunities, things can happen quickly."
Black Caps captain Kane Williamson saw his side come up just short at the Twenty20 World Cup. Photo / Getty
Unfortunately for Williamson, they didn't, with Warner and Marsh combining for a second-wicket stand of 92, before Glenn Maxwell joined Marsh to see Australia home.
In private, Williamson's views on where the final was lost will likely be more incisive than what he offered publicly, but he also provided a perspective that showed that the team won't dwell too long on defeat, and will take plenty from another impressive tournament.
"If you look at the campaign on a whole, which we do, and the type of cricket that we have been able to play, I can say that we are very proud of our efforts throughout this period of time. You get to a final and anything can happen.
"All these different fine lines and results, they happen, and we turned up and played some really good cricket. And it wasn't quite good enough. That's just the way it goes.
