Another year of New Zealand reaching the semi-finals or finals, another year of them returning home without winning the title. It's been the same story for the Kiwis in almost every ICC event. Barring the ICC Test Championship, the Kane Williamson-led side hasn't managed to go the distance in an ICC tournament since they won the ICC Knockout Trophy in the year 2000. Still waiting for their maiden World Cup title (T20 or ODI), New Zealand were eliminated at the semi-final stage this time by the Babar Azam-led Pakistan.
In the press conference after New Zealand's exit from the tournament at the penultimate stage, Kane Williamson's side was compared to a 'bridesmaid' by a journo as they always 'fail to get the wedding ring on the finger'.
The New Zealand skipper admitted that he was disappointed by his team's performance this time while also lauding Pakistan for their brilliant show with the bat.
Journo: How does it feel to always be the bridesmaid? You're always competitive, punch above your weight and then you can't seem to get the wedding ring on the finger at the end?
Kane Williamson: Yeah, to me it's about the game, the performance, and that's certainly what we look at. That's the frustrating thing for me today. If you get beaten playing your best cricket, then you certainly have to accept that.
Today was a little bit disappointing. There were some good bits, but we thought we had a defendable total if we were to be on our game, and the margins are small in this format, and Pakistan were outstanding with the bat and certainly chased that down.
New Zealand did really well to top the Group 1 which had teams like England and Australia. Pakistan, on the other hand, only qualified for the semi-finals after South Africa were eliminated by the Netherlands.