New Zealand came into the tournament after trumping Bangladesh and Ireland in a tri-nation series. Though they lost their last match of the series to the Asian giants, everyone expected a better showing from the team from Down Under come the group stages.
Featuring in Group A alongside England, Australia and Bangladesh, the Kiwis were expected to at least put up some fight. However, ultimately, a string of poor performances and failure to capitalise on favourable situations led to their ousting from the Champions Trophy.
Here we list down five reasons why the ODI World Cup finalists didn’t make it to the last-four stage of the tournament.
#1 No support for Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor
The Blackcaps, before coming into the tournament, knew very well that their batting has to revolve around skipper Williamson. The class act that the 26-year-old is, he did not disappoint and along with a century, scored a total of 244 runs in three innings at an average of 81.33.
What stung the team though was that the second highest run-getter for them was Ross Taylor with 148 runs. Other than the both of them, no other batsman reached three figures in the tournament. This inability of Kiwi batsmen to help their premier performers and help the team reach big totals cost them a place in the semi-final.
#2 Toothless finishers
New Zealand failed to reach the magical 300-mark in any of their games and the fault lies with their finishers. In the first match against Australia, courtesy a Williamson hundred, the Kiwis were cruising at 254 for the loss of four wickets in 39.1 overs. However, Broom, Neesham, Anderson and Santers failed to launch themselves and NZ ended with just 291 runs on the board.
Though the match got washed out, the Blackcaps knew that if their lower-middle order doesn't come out good in the following matches, they might end up losing a spot in the SF.
However, the trend continued in the other couple of matches as well and ultimately, they were knocked out of the tourney courtesy some brilliant batting from the Bangladeshis.
#3 Failure to capitalise after bagging early wickets
In all their three matches, the Kiwis managed to rattle the opposition batting with some crucial early wickets. However, barring the Australia match which was a washout, they were not able to contain the opposition middle order and ended up on the losing side.
Their performance against the Bangladeshis painted a perfect picture of what went wrong with their campaign. With the Tigers reeling at 33 for four, the Kiwis should have closed down the match and booked their place in the SF.
However, we all know how that innings panned out as Bangladesh won the do-or-die match and drew curtains to NZ’s campaign.
#4 Washout against Australia
After somehow managing to post a total of 291 runs in the first innings, the Kiwis came back strong in the second and reduced their Trans-Tasman rivals to 53 for three before the rain came pouring down.
Milne had removed Moises Henriques on the last ball before the break and the Kiwis looked set to pounce on the World Champions. However, with the rain, NZ’s chances of registering a win in their first match of the tourney were washed away.
Perhaps sharing a point in a match which they could have gone on to win dented their confidence and this was evident from their performance in the subsequent matches.
#5 Shakib Al Hasan-Mahmudullah partnership
Going into their last match, the Kiwis very well knew that a win against Bangladesh will seal their spot in the last four of the eight-nation tournament. Batting first, courtesy half centuries from Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor, Nz posted a total of 265 runs on the board.
Not an imposing total, but still defendable, even more so when Tim Southee swung a web around the Tigers and reduced them to 12 for the loss of three wickets. Milne dented Bangladesh's hope further by removing the experienced Mushfiqur Rahim 21 runs later.
The stage was set for New Zealand to take the game by the scruff of its neck and ensure they cross the finishing line without any hiccups. However, Shakib and Mahmudullah had other ideas.
They stitched perhaps the best partnership in Bangladesh’s cricket history, of 224 runs, with both of them hitting a century each. The Asian giants won the match with four overs to spare and moved to the last four at the cost of the Kiwis.
Also Read: ICC Champions Trophy 2017: 5 reasons why Australia did not make it to the semi-final
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