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'This Man Is A True Legend': Twitter Is All Praise For New Zealand's Kane Williamson

“The New Zealand side showed a great amount of heart to get us to this point, but it just wasn’t meant to be," the skipper said.
DIBYANGSHU SARKAR via Getty Images

New Zealand may have lost the World Cup 2019, but skipper Kane Williamson is winning hearts on Twitter for his dignified response after England was adjudged the winner on Sunday.

England needed 9 runs from the final three balls when a throw from the deep touched a diving Ben Stokes’ bat and raced to the boundary ropes, giving England six runs when they should have got only two.

It impacted the equation to the extent that the match stretched to the Super Over and eventually the hosts lifted their maiden World Cup trophy.

“It was a shame that the ball hit Stokes’ bat, but I just hope it doesn’t happen in moments like that. I don’t wish to nitpick, just hope it never happens in such moments ever again,” Williamson said.

“The NZ side showed a great amount of heart to get us to this point, but it just wasn’t meant to be. The guys are shattered at the moment — it is devastating. It’s pretty tough to swallow at this stage. But a fantastic effort from our guys,” said the skipper.

Stokes later apologised to New Zealand for that lucky unintentional touch.

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After the Super Over also resulted in a tie, England was declared the winner on the basis of boundary count. Several former cricketers have slammed the International Cricket Council (ICC) for its boundary-count rule, but Williamson did not question them.

“It is what it is, really. The rules are there at the start. No-one probably thought they would have to sort of result to some of that stuff. A great game of cricket and all you guys probably enjoyed it,” he said.

Twitter is reminding Williamson that despite New Zealand’s loss, he is a “legend”.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.