Virat Kohli’s dreams of winning the World Cup was shattered by New Zealand on Wednesday. The last edition’s runners-up fought against all the odds to beat the fancied India by 18 runs to book their place in the final of the competition. India did well with the ball but their failure to turn up with the bat in yet another knockout match of an ICC tournament cost them. Not many would have thought that they would struggle during the chase when they restricted New Zealand to a modest 239 for 8.

However, it was just not India’s day with the bat. Matt Henry rocked the Men in Blue by dismissing Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul while Trent Boult accounted for Virat Kohli to leave them reeling at 5 for 3. Dinesh Karthik could not do much either before Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant steadied the ship. However, Mitchell Santner sent both of them back in quick time and things looked bleak at 92/6.

It was looking all over for Team India at that moment before Ravindra Jadeja played arguably the best knock of his career to revive the chase. The southpaw launched a stunning assault on New Zealand to bring India back in contention. While Jadeja was doing the hitting, MS Dhoni was playing the role of the second fiddle. The duo took India agonisingly close to a win, but got out at a crucial juncture. India were eventually all out for 221.

Virat Kohli’s message:

After the end of the game, skipper Virat Kohli took to Instagram to thank the fans for their support throughout the tournament. He also expressed his disappointment over the loss as he wrote:

“Firstly I want to thank all our fans who came in huge numbers to support the team. You made it a memorable tournament for all of us and we felt the love showered upon the team for which we are very grateful. We are all disappointed and share the same emotions as you. We gave everything we had. Have to accept this and move forward. Jai hind”

Firstly I want to thank all our fans who came in huge numbers to support the team. You made it a memorable tournament for all of us & we definitely felt the love showered upon the team. We are all disappointed & share the same emotions as you. We gave everything we had.Jai hind🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/rFwxiUdqK5

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) July 10, 2019