While the whole New Zealand team was jumping in joy after beating England in the semi-final of T20 World Cup 2021, there was one man from the New Zealand camp who was sitting quietly in the dugout, and it was none other than one of the heroes of the match, Jimmy Neesham.
With 57 needed off 24 balls, Neesham put his foot on the pedal and played a sensational cameo of 27 off 11 balls, hitting 3 sixes off Chris Jordan and Adil Rashid in a space of 2 overs and bringing the equation down to 20 off 12 balls. Although the left-handed allrounder got dismissed at the end of the 18th over, Daryl Mitchell got the job done for the Kiwis as they made the final of another ICC tournament, their third in a row.
Neesham, who was a part of the heartbreak that New Zealand suffered in the ODI World Cup final where they lost the game on boundary count, posted later on Twitter that he didn’t celebrate because the job is still unfinished for New Zealand.
Jimmy Neesham was soaking in the atmosphere by sitting still in the dugout
Neesham didn’t even leave his chair in the dugout after New Zealand won the game and sat there for half an hour even though all the players left. He was just soaking in the atmosphere and getting that victory sunk in after what happened at Lord’s a couple of years ago.
Job finished? I don’t think so. https://t.co/uBCLLUuf6B
— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) November 10, 2021
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New Zealand has qualified to the final nowhere they will take on one of Australia and Pakistan, two of the well-balanced teams and beating anyone of them won’t be easy. Neesham knows that well, and he wants to hold himself till New Zealand crosses the line and secures the title.
New Zealand had not come into the T20 World Cup 2021 as one of the favorites, and` they will probably go into the final as underdogs again whether they face Australia or Pakistan, but they might actually surprise everyone and go on to lift the trophy this time around, after missing out a few times in the last few years.
