Kohli: 45 minutes of bad cricket, and we’re out of WC

India captain Virat Kohli said his team played superb cricket all through the tournament and finished the group stage on top but 45 minutes of bad cricket against world class fast bowling of New Zealand threw them out of the tournament. 

“Of course, we are very disappointed. We played outstanding cricket as I have mentioned already throughout this tournament and to just go out on the basis of 45 minutes of bad cricket is saddening and it breaks your heart, also because you have worked so hard throughout the tournament to build momentum,” Kohli said after the match Wednesday at Old Trafford. 

“You finish No 1 in the table and then a spell of bad cricket and then you are out of the tournament completely. But you have to accept it. It's happened to us before and we have all come out better cricketers because of these setbacks, especially at a stage like a World Cup.

“But having said that, I mean, we have qualified to the semis and we have played some really good cricket, so we should be also proud of the way we have played and look at the positives also because there were a lot throughout this tournament, especially Rohit's [Sharma] performance, Jasprit [Bumrah] with the ball and [Ravindra] Jadeja given the opportunity, so there are many things that we can take back as positives.

New Zealand at the World Cup:

1975 - Semi-final
1979 - Semi-final
1983 - Group stage
1987 - Group stage
1992 - Semi-final
1996 - Quarter-final
1999 - Semi-final
2003 - Super Sixes
2007 - Semi-final
2011 - Semi-final
2015 - Final
2019 - ?

Is this their year?#CWC19 pic.twitter.com/wzgfIZF1DE

— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) July 10, 2019

“But yeah, not having played that bad cricket and then just, as I said, 40, 45 minutes of bad cricket puts you out. As a sportsman you have to accept it, this is part and parcel of this game. And when you lose three for six it is very difficult to come back into the game. Still, our effort was commendable but, yeah, that first spell made all the difference,” he added. 

The Indian skipper praised the valiant effort from all-rounder Jadeja as he scored 77 off 59 deliveries and formed a 116-run partnership with MS Dhoni which gave them hope after a batting collapse of the top-order.  

“In my watching Jadeja for 10 years, me playing with him as well, this is probably his top quality, like best knock according to me because the kind of pressure, the stage we are at, almost out of the game and then he produces that. So he was very motivated. I'm really happy for him because he's been a very understated cricketer but a top quality cricketer for India in the field, with the ball, with the bat, priceless, so he's had a great game,” Kohli concluded.

1ST SEMI-FINAL

NEW ZEALAND INNINGS        R    B

Guptill c Kohli b Bumrah        1    14

Nicholls b Jadeja            28    51

Williamson c Jadeja b Chahal        67    95

Taylor run out (Jadeja)        74    90

Neesham c Karthik b Pandya        12    18

Grandhomme c Dhoni b Bhuvneshwar16    10

Latham c Jadeja b Kumar        10    11

Santner not out            9    6

Henry c Kohli b Bhuvneshwar        1    2

Boult not out                3    3

Extras (lb 5, w 13)            18 

Total (50 Overs)            239/8 

Fall Of Wickets

1-1    (Guptill), 2-69 (Nicholls), 3-134 (Williamson), 4-162 (Neesham), 5-200 (Grandhomme), 6-225 (Taylor), 7-225 (Latham), 8-232 (Henry)

Bowling

Bhuvneshwar 10-1-43-3, Bumrah 10-1-39-1, Pandya 10-0-55-1, Jadeja 10-0-34-1, Chahal 10-0-63-1

INDIA INNINGS            R    B

Rahul c Latham b Henry        1    7

Rohit c Latham b Henry        1    4

Kohli lbw b Boult            1    6

Pant c Grandhomme b Santner    32    56

Karthik c Neesham b Henry        6    25

Pandya c Williamson b Santner    32    62

Dhoni run out (Guptill)        50    72

Jadeja c Williamson b Boult        77    59

Bhuvneshwar b Ferguson        0    1

Chahal c Latham b Neesham        5    5

Bumrah not out            0    0

Extras (lb 3, w 13)            16 

Total (49.3 Overs)            221 all out

Fall Of Wickets

1-4 (Rohit), 2-5 (Kohli), 3-5 (Rahul), 4-24 (Karthik), 5-71 (Pant), 6-92 (Pandya), 7-208 (Jadeja), 8-216 (Dhoni), 9-217 (Bhuvneshwar), 10-221 (Chahal)

Bowling

Boult 10-2-42-2, Henry 10-1-37-3, Ferguson 10-0-43-1, De Grandhomme 2-0-13-0, Neesham 7.3-0-49-1, Santner 10-2-34-2

New Zealand won by 18 runs

MoM: Matt Henry