Eoin Morgan of England cuts a dejected figure as his team leave the field following their Twenty20 World Cup semifinal defeat to the Black Caps. Photo / Getty
Eoin Morgan of England cuts a dejected figure as his team leave the field following their Twenty20 World Cup semifinal defeat to the Black Caps. Photo / Getty
Withfour overs remaining in their chase of 167 for victory, the Black Caps still needed 57 runs, but a wayward over from Chris Jordan, combined with some sensational hitting from Jimmy Neesham, saw 23 runs come off the over.
Fourteen runs followed from Adil Rashid's 18th over, and when 20 came off Chris Woakes in the 19th, the game was remarkably won with an over to spare.
Morgan felt England had the Black Caps right where they wanted them, until that ill-timed over.
"I thought we were right in the game, from our innings right through until probably the 17th over. They built right up until they had to push the button and then they came good. Their gameplan paid off.
"I thought we held them at bay and had them exactly where we wanted them up until that point, so if you can do that, you give yourself the best chance of winning, but unfortunately we didn't.
Eoin Morgan of England cuts a dejected figure as his team leave the field following their Twenty20 World Cup semifinal defeat to the Black Caps. Photo / Getty
Morgan felt his side's total of 166-4 was a par score, and one made far more daunting when Woakes picked up the wickets of Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson in the first three overs.
"We're a six-hitting side, we like hitting sixes and we struggled to hit sixes, but we hung in there, we changed our gameplan, we adapted to conditions, and posted probably around a par score, so we felt right in the game at the halfway stage. Given the start that we had, taking early wickets, it couldn't have been any better."
While Daryl Mitchell's 72 not out off 47 balls took the plaudits, Morgan felt that Neesham's 27 off 11 balls – including taking 19 of the 23 runs off Jordan's over – was the turning point in the game.
"I thought Jimmy Neesham was probably the only guy that came out and was showing the ability to strike the ball cleanly from ball one.
"I think when you look at particularly our innings, our hitting ability within our squad is quite strong, and the indication that the guys didn't feel like they could clear the ropes due to the nature of the pitch was a good indication that it wasn't coming on to the bat that well. I think that continued throughout the Black Caps' innings until he came to the crease.
"To have an ability to come out and hit sixes like that from ball one like that is something that not a lot of people have, full credit to him, he swayed the game in the Black Caps' favour.
"We've played against Jimmy a lot. He's not struck the ball like that against us - ever."
Morgan was still proud of his team, but acknowledged the Black Caps were the better side.
"Unfortunately in a tight game we've come off the wrong end of the stick. I can't fault anything that we've done – we fought unbelievably hard throughout this tournament, and I thought we've represented ourselves really well, but we've come up short.
"Full credit to Kane and his team - they outplayed us."
