Kane Williamson-led New Zealand are staring at an early exit from the T20 World Cup 2024 after suffering a second consecutive defeat in the Group C of the tournament, putting their chances of qualifying to Super 8 in jeopardy.
New Zealand suffered a shocking 84-run defeat against Afghanistan after they were bundled out for 75 in 15.2 overs, Now, the Kiwis latest defeat came against the hosts West Indies, where they lost the crucial match by 13 runs. With a target of 150, New Zealand were restricted to 136/9 in a stipulated 20 overs.
West Indies bowlers Alzarri Joseph and Gudakesh Motie ran through the New Zealand's batting line-up as they both combine picked seven wickets, Joseph registered the figures of 4/19 with an economy rate of 4.80 in four overs.
Gudakesh Motie too contributed to West Indies' bowling as he registered figures of 3/25 in 4 overs. Mitchell Santner, who played an unbeaten innings of 21 off 12 balls, gave the Caribbean side a scare by smashing three sixes off Romario Shepherd in the final over, but unfortunately, New Zealand fell 14 runs short of achieving 150-run target.
After the match, cricket fans expressed their disappointment over New Zealand's lacklustre performances against Afghanistan and West Indies in the showpiece event. Taking to their social media handles, especially X (formerly Twitter), fans opined it is an embarrassment for New Zealand as they are on the brink of elimination from the T20 World Cup 2024, while others said that it is heartbreaking to see Kiwis making an early exit from the tournament.
Here's Netizens reacted to New Zealand's two losses on the trot
New Zealand's qualification to the Super 8 stage of the ongoing edition of the T20 World Cup will be officially dashed if Afghanistan win against Uganda. Kane Williamson-led side will play their final two fixtures of the group stage against Papua New Guinea and Uganda at Brain Lara Stadium in Trinidad.
'We need to bounce back quickly': Kane Williamson
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson lamented that Sherfane Rutherford's innings made a huge difference in the match, adding that West Indies' batting depth was quite beneficial. He also said that New Zealand need to bounce back quickly and get smarter for the final group stage fixtures.
"The quality of Sherfane's innings was the difference, incredibly impressive and quite frustrating for us. The batting depth from their side was quite beneficial, we took the aggressive option to take the wicket and T20 is a game of small margins and unfortunately did not work out that way." Williamson said.
"You get the prep and do what you can. Conditions here are what they are and we can't make excuses. We need to keep getting better and keep finding a way, 10-15 runs that can make a big difference. We need to bounce back quickly, we are back in two days, we need to be smarter." he added.
So far, only South Africa, Australia, India and West Indies have qualified for the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup 2024.
