DUBAI (Reuters) – Skipper Mitchell Santner was proud of the way New Zealand went about their Champions Trophy campaign but was left with a bittersweet feeling after the Black Caps once again ended up on the losing side in a major global tournament.
New Zealand went down to India by four wickets in the title-decider in Dubai on Sunday, suffering a fourth loss in four short-format global finals over the last decade.
“It’s starting to add up a bit now,” Santner told reporters after the final.
“But if you make finals, you’re coming up against another pretty good team who’s also playing some good cricket.
“I was proud with the way we fought tonight. I think we pride ourselves on not giving up, and I don’t think we did…
“I guess it’s bittersweet. You always want to win one of these, and I don’t know how many more chances we’ll get, but this one was up there for us.
“I think we were playing some good cricket leading into this, and we thought we were a real sniff today, but I guess we just got beaten by a good team.”
New Zealand suffered a blow before the final when pace spearhead Matt Henry was ruled out with a shoulder injury he picked up during the semi-final against South Africa.
That followed a freak injury to Rachin Ravindra, who was on Sunday named Player of the Tournament, that ruled the all-rounder out of New Zealand’s opener.
The Black Caps players have, however, resolutely refused to engage in the debate over India’s perceived advantage at having been based in Dubai throughout their campaign and Santner was not about to start complaining about adversity after the final.
“It’s never going to go perfectly in these tournaments,” the spin bowler said.
“And you could take it back to a few different things but I think we didn’t really complain about anything. We just kind of get on with it. That’s how we like to operate.”
New Zealand won three of five matches during the Champions Trophy, losing only to India twice, and most gratifying for Santner was the way the whole team contributed.
“I’m incredibly proud of this group the way we’ve gone about it throughout this tournament,” said the 33-year-old, who was captaining his country for the first time at a major global event.
“We had a mix of experienced players, but a few younger players in the squad.
“It’s been an easy one to captain, different guys stepping up at different times throughout the tournament, which has been outstanding. And we came up against a very good team today.”
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney in Sydney; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
