Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori is hopeful about the present New Zealand squad. He believes that the present Blackcaps squad can compete for the next Cricket World Cup title.
New Zealand national cricket team has grown up very well in the last few years. In the last two Cricket World Cup editions (2015 and 2019), New Zealand finished as the runners-up. The 2019 CWC final was very heartbreaking for New Zealand who lost the trophy despite not losing that game.
Former New Zealand left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori is confident about the present Blackcaps squad.
The two-time CWC runners-up New Zealand have never won the Cricket World Cup. However, Vettori believes that the present New Zealand national cricket team can compete for the title in the next CWC edition.
Recently, Vettori wrote in his column for ICC, “Looking ahead to where New Zealand go, we certainly won’t be seeing too much change from them. This is a settled team and the majority of this squad will be available for the next World Cup, so they’ve got the building blocks of something very special.
“They’ll take a lot of experience from this heading forward and there’s no reason why these 15 guys can’t be competing for a title in India in four years’ time.”
India will host the next ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2023.
New Zealand players should be forever proud of how they performed in the World Cup final – Daniel Vettori
On last Sunday (14th July), the world cricket experienced a high-quality game during the final of the 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. The home team England played against New Zealand in that final at Lord’s (London).
New Zealand scored 241/8 (50 overs) in the first innings while England managed to score the exact 241 runs (50 overs) in the second innings. Due to that tie result, that game entered the Super Over round. The Super Over round also had the tie result as both teams managed to score 15 runs. Finally, England won that final and the 2019 CWC trophy due to managing higher boundaries in that game.
Vettori claimed that the New Zealand players should be forever proud of their performances in that final.
The former Kiwi captain wrote, “The New Zealand players will be devastated on their way back home but they should be forever proud of how they performed in the World Cup final.
“Both teams were incredible, each had times where they were on top and in control before it was wrestled back, so there were so many parts that you could analyse and deconstruct from the match.”
The two ties are crazy
Vettori further added that the Kiwi players should be proud of themselves for their performances in the entire 2019 CWC.
The former left-arm spinner added, “Two ties in a World Cup final at Lord’s, you can’t even imagine that stuff. There was a lot going on, a lot packed into 102 overs and it was gripping from start to end.
“It is heart-breaking for New Zealand, you could see the emotion from Kane Williamson at the end of the game and there would be some devastating guys in that dressing room. The fans and the country will be devastated, they saw the effort, they saw the fightback and the opportunity to win the game.
“The two ties are crazy, but there will be a lot of pride around the performance not only in this game but with the way New Zealand have played throughout the whole World Cup.”
You can’t take anything away from England – Daniel Vettori
Daniel Vettori also praised the England cricket team for playing brilliant cricket in that entire tournament.
Vettori wrote, “You can’t take anything away from England, a couple of things went their way at the last but they were under an immense amount of pressure for the last few weeks of the tournament.
“They stood up and dominated, they beat the three other semi-finalists in successive games to reach the final and you can’t underestimate that type of performance.”
Vettori continued his praising the Kiwi players as he felt that they should celebrate for the right things.
The former New Zealand captain added, “New Zealand played very well in that final – they barely did anything wrong and in that seems unfair to be talking about them as a losing side. So for them it’s about celebrating the brilliance of their game and there was plenty of it. It’s a time to celebrate what went right and not focus too heavily on what went wrong.”
In international cricket history, Daniel Vettori (696 wickets) is the most wicket-taker for New Zealand.