Listen to Jimmy Neesham, yougaiz. Don’t take up sports. Why? A record 771 runs were aggregated in a nerve-wracking ICC World Cup 2023 game when New Zealand took on Australia at a packed HPCA Stadium in majestic Dharamshala on Saturday evening. Put in to bat first, Australian openers David Warner (81) and Travis Head (109) did the maximum damage upfront before skipper Pat Cummins played a late blinder (37 off 14) to catapult Aussies to a mammoth 388.
New Zealand responded well with Rachin Ravindra bringing up a sensational century (116) to keep the Kiwis well on-course of the steep target. But it was his partner James Neesham aka Jimmy Neesham who was tasked with a big challenge after set batter Ravindra was undone by Cummins. The NZ scorecard read 296/6 in 41 Overs.
Neesham, playing his first match in this World Cup, stuck around, playing some clean shots while wickets kept tumbling at the other end. Neesham smacked 58 in 39, an innings decorated with three maximums and as many boundaries.
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As things would turn out, 19 runs were needed in the final over bowled by Mitchell Starc. Starc then gave away five wides which got the Kiwi camp excited but Australia threw themselves on the field to take the match down to the final two deliveries of the day. 7 were needed off 2. Starc managed to bowl a bouncer where Neesham was looking for a double but ended up being short of the crease.
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In the end, Australia managed to win the exciting affair only by 5 runs and Neesham looked defeated in the dug out area.
It would only be fitting to revisit the Kiwi all-rounder’s famous tweet of 2019.
Kids, don’t take up sport. Take up baking or something. Die at 60 really fat and happy.— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) July 15, 2019
To jog your memory, Neesham had a tough time swallowing the “boundary count” defeat to England in the historic 50-over 2019 World Cup finals.
“Kids, don’t take up sport. Take up baking or something. Die at 60 really fat and happy,” a dejected Kiwi all-rounder had tweeted post the 2019 World Cup defeat.
The 2019 Cricket World Cup final was held on July 14, 2019, at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, England. The final was contested between England and New Zealand. It was a thrilling match that went down to the wire and ended in a tie, leading to a super over to determine the winner.
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As per the tournament rules, a super over was used to decide the winner. England batted first in the super over and scored 15 runs off the 6 balls bowled by Trent Boult.
New Zealand needed 16 runs to win the World Cup. Jofra Archer bowled the super over for England, and New Zealand managed to score 15 runs off it, also losing a wicket in the process. Since both teams scored 15 runs in the super over, the winner was decided by the boundary count rule.
