England skipper Eoin Morgan on Wednesday said his team were “devastated” after Jimmy Neesham’s clean striking took them by surprise in thei...
England skipper Eoin Morgan on Wednesday said his team were “devastated” after Jimmy Neesham’s clean striking took them by surprise in their tense T20 World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand.
Neesham blasted 27 off 11 balls and Daryl Mitchell hit an unbeaten 72 as New Zealand chased down their target of 167 with one over to spare in Abu Dhabi and make their first ever T20 World Cup final.
England looked in control after pushing the Kiwis to 107/4 in the 16th over but the left-handed Neesham took the bowling head on as he smashed Chris Jordan for two sixes and a four to get 23 runs from the over.
“We’re devastated. To be on the wrong side of a close game is not easy to take,” said Morgan.
“I thought we fought unbelievably well today on a wicket that didn’t necessarily suit our batting, but we managed to post in and around a par score. We were brilliant with the ball. We were right in the game probably until Jimmy Neesham came to the wicket, if not ahead of the game.”
He added: “I think bowling to the short side is never easy. We’ve played against Jimmy a lot. He’s not struck the ball like that against us...
