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'The guys are shattered' - Kane Williamson admits Black Caps teammates are taking World Cup loss hard

July 15, 2019
Captain Kane Williamson stands in front of his solemn Black Caps teammates after the 2019 World Cup final.

Black Caps captain Kane Williamson has already opened up about the anguish his team is feeling after their dramatic super over loss in the Cricket World Cup final this morning.

England were crowned the champions after the two sides couldn't be separated following 50 overs of play - where they both scored 241 runs - and a super over where both sides scored 15.

The Black Caps missed out on their first world title due to a rule which states if teams are still tied after the super over, the team with the most boundaries is the winner. England won in that area comfortably.

Williamson congratulated England on the result in his post match interview but said this year's World Cup was different from start to finish - not just this morning's match.

"It's been challenging; the pitches have been different to what we expected. There weren't many 300+ scores.

"I'd like to thank our side for the fight and heart they showed to get us this far. It just wasn't meant to be today. The guys are shattered; it's truly devastating."

Williamson added he felt like his team had done enough to secure the title.

"We wanted to bat first if we won the toss. We felt runs on the board would be challenging. We may have liked another 10-20 but in a World Cup final, we thought 240-250 might be enough.

"It was a fantastic game of cricket. For it to go down to the last ball – and then the last ball of the next little match – is tough. But credit to England. There are a lot of positives for us."

A moment that will likely haunt the Black Caps for some time will be the accidental six runs given up in the final over of regular play which were scored after the ball which was thrown at the stumps was deflected off English all-rounder Ben Stokes and rolled away to the boundary.

"That [Stokes's accidental boundary] was a little bit of a shame," Williamson said.

"You just hope it doesn't happen at moments like that. Perhaps it wasn't meant to be for us."

 

Williamson was named the player of the tournament for his efforts throughout the event.

Williamson finished second in batting average [82.57 runs per game] and fourth in runs scored [578].

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