T20 World Cup: Eoin Morgan gives credit to New Zealand team, praises Jimmy Neesham's blistering knock

England captain Eoin Morgan gave full credit to the New Zealand team after losing the semi-final match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, which is underway in UAE and Oman. Morgan also said that Jimmy Neesham's blistering cameo made the difference. 

Put into bat, England posted a competitive 166-4 on a slow track at Abu Dhabi's Zayed Cricket Stadium. While chasing the target, New Zealand were off to a shaky start and were in trouble at 13-2 and 107-4 when Neesham hit an 11-ball 27 and Daryl Mitchell finished it off with a boundary. Mitchell smashed an unbeaten 72 as New Zealand chased down the target with an over to spare. 

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New Zealand will be in their first-ever T20 World Cup final where they will face either Australia or Pakistan. 

During the post-match presentation, Morgan said, "Coming into the game we knew both sides were close in skill. Full credit to Kane and his team. They outplayed us today. Have represented ourselves in this tournament really well. Proud of the guys. They have given everything in this tournament."

He added, "Thought we were right in the game until probably the 17th, 18th overs. We had them exactly where we wanted them up until that point. It was (sluggish). We're a six-hitting side but we struggled to hit sixes. But we hung in there and posted probably a par score."

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Praising Neesham's knock, Morgan said, " To come out and hit sixes from ball one like that - full credit to him (Neesham). Absolutely love playing cricket at the moment. At the forefront of change both on and off the field (the team)."

"I think it was a very closely fought game right throughout. I thought Jimmy Neesham was probably the only guy that came out and was showing the ability to strike the ball cleanly from ball one," Morgan said.

"Hitting ability within our squad is quite strong, and the indication that the guys didn't feel like they could clear the ropes due to the nature of the pitch was a good indication that it wasn't coming on to the bat that well. I think that continued throughout the Black Caps' innings until he came to the crease," said Morgan. 

(With inputs from agencies)