‘Will think about those 20 centimetres for the next 50 years,’ Jimmy Neesham on World Cup final

Allrounder Jimmy Neesham recalled New Zealand’s heart-breaking Super-Over loss to England in the final of the World Cup, saying the 20-cm gap between a diving Martin Guptill’s bat and the crease will probably haunt him for the rest of his life.

Neesham found himself in the hotspot during two crucial junctures of the game, first rocketing the ball back to Trent Boult who wiped off the bails to force the match into the Super-Over and later walking out to bat for the decisive over.

New Zealand, requiring 16 to win, scored 15, tied with England as Martin Guptill’s desperate attempt to dive back into the crease coming back for the second run was not enough to prevent a run-out.

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“I think first and foremost you’ve got to take care what’s in front of you. Being at one of the hotspots in the field during the death overs (at long-on), I sort of knew that it will be a high chance I had to do something in the field before I batted,” Neesham told ESPNCricinfo.

“When we got out to bat, obviously getting 16 in a Super Over to win is almost unreachable. So, the pressure was pretty well off because I guess no one is going to blame you for not getting 16. It was all about making contact as long as possible but yeah 1 run, 20 centimetres short? Will think about those 20 centimetres for the next 50 years.”

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Neesham informed he was aware of the boundary-count rule and revealed the moment he was made aware of the fact that he’ll be facing Jofra Archer in the Super Over. The allrounder scored 14 off the first five balls of the over, including a wide, leaving Guptill with the responsibility of scoring two off the final delivery.

“I was padding up in the change room for the Super Over. I hadn’t been mentioned at any point before that. Although having said that initially I had actually won a match on boundary count in a Super Over before in my career so it wasn’t much of a surprise for me,” Neesham added.

“We had a bit of a group discussion after the 50-over game was tied. The boys had to get back into the changing room, have a bit of a drink and come back again. We just had a discussion in the middle and being a couple of senior guys, it came to be Me and Guppy.”