"They took a gun, but didn't fire any bullets" - Brendon McCullum assesses New Zealand's performance in the T20 World Cup 2021 final

Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has delivered his verdict on the national team's performance in the 2021 T20 World Cup final. McCullum felt the Kiwis had the quality but failed to produce the goods as Australia emerged triumphant.

Although New Zealand posted a formidable total of 172 after Australia inserted them, they were no match for the opposition. The Aussies, led by Mitchell Marsh (77*) and David Warner (53) who added 92 together for the second wicket, soared to an eight-wicket win.

Speaking to SENZ Breakfast, Brendon McCullum believes New Zealand played defensively and didn't 'fire the bullets' they took. He stated:

"I don’t want to say we took a knife to a gunfight … we took a gun, but we didn’t fire any bullets. They were a little bit timid. Just a missed opportunity, we didn’t fire the bullets we took."

Australia maintained their impressive record against the Black Caps in knockout games, with the latter's last win coming in 1981. Kane Williamson and co. would have also looked to avenge their 2015 World Cup final loss but were unsuccessful.

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"I just expected a bit more from Martin Guptill" - Brendon McCullum on New Zealand's batting vs. Australia

Brendon McCullum. (Image Credits: Getty)

McCullum pointed out that Martin Guptill's 35-ball 28 was disappointing as he failed to accelerate at the right time. The 40-year old added:

"I just expected a bit more from Martin Guptill, he got 28 off 35 balls in the final and that in isolation doesn’t look great. But then when you strip it down, he was 16 off 15 to get under way in the final, and then his next 20 balls he scored 12 runs, that’s the time where you need to be accelerating, and all it did [was] take the air out of us. That was the most glaringly obvious part of our batting."

Williamson, the Kiwi skipper, played an outstanding knock of 85 and cut loose perfectly. The right-handed batsman took Mitchell Starc to the cleaners, smashing him for 22 runs in his third over after starting slowly. Nevertheless, it wasn't enough to ensure a win for New Zealand on the night.