Virat Kohli highlights reasons behind India’s elimination: The Indian captain admitted that New Zealand were the better team today.
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India captain Virat Kohli believed that India had restricted New Zealand to a “chaseable” total in the first semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Speaking during the post-match presentation ceremony, Kohli asserted that the momentum was with them.
“The first half, we were very, very good. With the ball, in the field, we were spot on. We got what we needed at that point. We thought we had restricted New Zealand to a chaseable score on any surface but the way they come out with the ball in the first half-an-hour was what made the difference.
“We knew we had a good day yesterday and were proud of it. Had a good time in the morning today as well and we had momentum with us,” Kohli was quoted as saying.
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Defending 240 runs, New Zealand’s bowlers put on display a splendid bowling effort to bundle out India on 221 in the last over. While conditions assisted them, their skills played a major role to make sure they take New Zealand to their second final of the World Cup.
“Credit to the New Zealand bowlers, they were really good with the new ball and hit the right areas. I think it was the skill level on display was there for all to see,” Kohli praised the opposition bowlers.
Virat Kohli highlights reasons behind India’s elimination
At 92/6, a 116-run partnership between wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja saw India staging a comeback in the match but that wasn’t good enough as India fell short of 18 runs. While Kohli lauded the effort put in by Dhoni and Jadeja, he questioned the shot selection of other batsmen.
“I think [Ravindra] Jadeja had a really good couple of games and it’s his performance today that’s are a huge positive for his skill-set. MS [Dhoni] had a good partnership with him, and again a game of small margins, run out by a small margin.
“Always feels bad when you play well all tournament and then 45 minutes of bad cricket puts you out. New Zealand deserve it, they put us under more pressure. At times, I think our shot-selection could have been better,” Kohli added.
Before concluding, Kohli admitted that New Zealand were “braver” than India and “deserved” to win this match. “Really proud of the way we competed throughout the tournament. As I said, come the knockouts, it’s anyone’s game and New Zealand showed more composure. They were braver than us and deserve to win,” Kohli concluded.
