'New Zealand don't feel cheated', says Trent Boult after World Cup defeat

Auckland: New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult on Thursday said that the team does not feel cheated with England declared as ICC Men's Cricket World Cup champions.

The final between New Zealand and England at Lord's on July 14 could not separate the two sides despite the 50-over match and subsequent super-over. England finally became the winners on the basis of boundary countback rule.

When asked do you feel cheated, Boult simply declined, saying, "No."

While defending nine runs in the final over, Ben Stokes hit two sixes to Boult before the world witnessed the run outs of Adil Rashid and Mark Wood on the last two balls which tied the match. Boult said that he been reliving the final over a lot but stressed that it was amazing to be involved in such a final.

"I suppose it's just natural to nitpick and pull apart a game like that. Firstly, to be involved in it was obviously very amazing. But you know, you just wonder those little kind of things that went your way, or didn't go your way or whatever, it could've been a totally different game," Boult said.

"Yeah, of course, I'm living the last over throughout my mind a lot. Somehow we were hit for six along the ground which has never been happened before. And then, yeah, couple of run outs, to bowl them out and to see the scores level and to lose was a pretty unique situation."

"When I saw three off two, that's when the umpires said to us there would be a Super Over. We had a job to defend three of two balls and we did that and then Super Over it was. Just a crazy game to be part of," he added.

The Kiwi fast bowler further said that New Zealand could have been the champions but unfortunately it was not. He added that no one will ever get close to winning and then losing the World Cup as the Kiwis.

"I'm sure you could appreciate it's a nerve-wracking scenario to be a part of. A lot of people over there interested. A lot of people watching on the TV. It was an amazing stage to be on."

"Obviously saw what it meant for the Englishmen to get across the line. It could have been us. Unfortunately it wasn't. No one is probably going to get closer to winning the World Cup or losing the World Cup as us," he said.

Boult acknowledged the support of not just Kiwi crowd but also the cricketing fans around the world. He also apologised to the supporters for letting them down.

"You see a lot of disappointment in cricketing fans around the world, not just Kiwis but a lot of supporters that wanted us to win. It's a shame to let everyone down really. It's hard to know that after playing 15 hours..."

"A lot of Kiwis out there were saying 'we felt for you' kind of thing. Yeah don't really know too much more to say really. Obviously we're all hurting and yeah sorry for letting everyone down," he said.

When asked about the catch at the boundary he could not pull off in the penultimate over against England but managed to do so during a league match against West Indies, Boult said the boundaries in England are quirky, octagons and squares.

He further said that Martin Guptill was waiting for a relay catch but it was too late. Stokes hit a six to James Neesham at midwicket boundary which Boult nearly missed out.

"Obviously the priority is on the ball itself. That's all I was really worried about. Silly of me obviously to not know where the rope was. Similar to the catch I got against the West Indies earlier in the tournament but they're quite quirky boundaries."

"They're not actually circles. They're kinda octagons and squares and all sorts of things. Obviously you can imagine my feeling when I felt my left shoe hit the cushion and it was too late for me to throw it to Marty (who was waiting for the relay catch)," he said.

Boult praised Jos Buttler and Stokes for building a solid 110-run partnership when the match was slipping from England's hands and the asking run-rate was increasing.

"If you pull it back to the last 10 overs, if you could keep pushing the run-rate up towards 7, 8, 9 an over, I thought Jos (Buttler) and Stokes did extremely well to be there and build a partnership and obviously given the chance to try and chase it down. But yeah, take it as deep as possible."

"Of course me standing on the rope in the 49th over probably didn't help either but yeah we wanted to leave them as many as possible in the end. But yeah, for a Super Over to eventuate, I don't know if you know there was going to be a Super Over in a World Cup final so there you go. And 15 apiece, it's pretty hard to swallow," he said.

New Zealand became the runners-ups for a second successive time. The Kiwis under the leadership of Brendon McCullum lost the final of the 2015 edition to Australia by seven wickets. Boult said that the two finals were completely different and added that they were outplayed during the 2015 World Cup.

"To have it in our backyard in 2015, in front of all our family and friends and the hype and everything that comes with a home tournament, we can't escape it. It was one of those things over there, different time zone, different part of the day. No offence but we didn't hear too much of what was going on back home unless you really scouted it off," he said.

"But hey it was a great time to get there and obviously to be so close is the thing that hurts the most. The final in 2015 was a no show in my opinion. We were outplayed from kinda the first couple of overs. Definitely didn't hurt as much as the other day did," he said.

Boult will now spend time with his family and friends, and walk his dog along the beach. When asked how he is dealing with the final's result, the fast bowler said the outcome will not disappear as it is hard to swallow for next couple of years.

"Well, I'm gonna go home for the first time in about four months. Probably gonna walk my dog along the beach and try and put it aside. I'm sure he won't be too angry at me. And hey we've got a quick turnaround before we go to Sri Lanka in a couple of days time and back in the saddle."

"Like I said, it's not gonna be something that disappears in the next couple of days. It's probably something that's gonna be hard to swallow for the next couple of years," he said.