London: When New Zealand captain Kane Williamson walked off a room full of over 100 journalists, a long round of applause followed. It wasn’t meant to be sympathetic but a nod to the spirit with which New Zealand played the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 final and the character its 28-year-old leader showed after a heart-breaking result.
If there is one team that symbolises that cricket is a gentleman’s game, it is New Zealand, who have won the heart of every fan with the sportsmanship they have displayed in the World Cup. And it comes from none other than their captain, Kane Williamson, perhaps the nicest guy of the bunch.
While it is easy to be magnanimous after a win, how Williamson and his team took the heartbreaking, and some would say unjust, defeat on the biggest stage, the World Cup final, in his stride deserves all the plaudits.
The New Zealand Captain was adjudged the Player of the Tournament after Sunday’s match for his brilliant performances with the bat and for his captaincy. But the ever-modest player himself appeared to be highly surprised by the decision, as was visible from his reaction. The Kiwi captain was seen exclaiming “Me?!” as he looked at the informer with an incredulous expression on his face.
He admitted that New Zealand’s agonising defeat was “hard to swallow” after his team were beaten on Sunday because they scored less boundaries than the new champions.
Touching distance
Williamson’s side came desperately close to winning the World Cup for the first time at Lord’s after both the match and the Super Over shoot-out ended in a tie.
“I’m just gutted, the guys put in a huge amount of work to get this opportunity and we still could not quite get across the line,” said Williamson. I have spoken about ‘uncontrollables’ and there were a couple here that were pretty hard to swallow.
“Take nothing away from England’s campaign, not just this match, but throughout, all the cricket they have played, they are deserving winners. However, either side walking away with the title probably feels a bit fortunate. Someone had to win the title and we’re gutted that it’s not us.”
The heartbreak kid
At that moment, the 100 people present had one collective though: to get around Williamson and just laud the great man for the way he and his team had performed. Few gave them a chance. At max, they were supposed to make the semi-finals. And how emphatically have New Zealand proven them wrong? Almost… almost breaking 60 million English hearts.
Williamson, despite the disappointment, managed to smile, joke and remain his witty best throughout the session. When asked whether a boundary count was the best way to determine a winner of such a close contest, he passed a sly smile, almost indicating that perhaps a part of him felt robbed. But being the gentleman that he is, Williamson carried on with that smile intact.
“It was a fantastic game to be a part of,” said Williamson. “But it is quite hard to look at it in a rational way when we have just been through what we’ve been through. I don’t feel anger but there’s a lot of disappointment. This game is fickle at times.”
The nicest guy
The nice guys is a tag New Zealand have carried since a long time. Hence, it was a little tough to see them play so well and not be rewarded with what could have been a fitting reward for the efforts they have put together. From staying unbeaten the first six matches to enduring three straight losses to again regrouping and beating India, New Zealand played tough, attritional cricket.
“Everybody are allowed to be themselves. That is a good thing about the world. And everybody should be a little bit different as well. Really difficult question to answer. That is probably my best answer, just be yourself and try and enjoy what you do,” Williamson said before walking off to a round of ovation.
If that doesn’t tell you how incredible this side is, here’s what World Cup winning captain and Williamson’s counterpart said about them: “I think they’ve been incredible throughout the tournament. I said it before the game. They’ve been actually through a better tournament than we have. You’d have no qualms in turning around to your kid and saying, ‘Please idolise these guys, they are very admirable.’
