It's a day that no New Zealand fan will want to remember, nor forget any time soon, but July 14 marks the first anniversary of the Black Caps' heartbreaking Cricket World Cup final defeat.
Taking on hosts England at Lord's, the Black Caps ended up on the wrong side of arguably one of the best games of 50-over cricket in the history of the game, losing by a boundary count back after both innings and a Super Over finished in a tie.
To make the result even more heartbreaking, a crucial decision went against the Black Caps with a deflection from the bat of Kiwi-born Ben Stokes being called as six overthrows, instead of five.
Speaking to 1 NEWS, several members of the Black Caps who played at Lord's on July 14 recalled the memories of the heartbreak.
"Yeah it still hurts, deep down, we were so close," wicketkeeper Tom Latham said.
"Crazy to think that was a year ago, and I'm sure we'll see a lot of images of that game unfortunately over the next couple of days."
Gary Stead joked he didn't know the significance of the date before admitting he's still a bit "numb" thinking about the match.
"Sometimes it feels like ten years ago and sometimes it feels like a minute ago," added coach Gary Stead.
"A match that will evoke a lot of pretty good emotions as well around it, if you take away the last ball or two."
However, despite the loss, the Black Caps' sportsmanship and grace in the face of such a defeat has seen the Kiwi cricketers earn global acclaim. The coach unable to hide his pride at the team's achievement.
"It was hard to be any more proud of the way they played and the way they fought in that match in particular."
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