A job unfinished for Neesham
Two years after the hurt of losing the ODI WC to England by the barest of margins, the all-rounder is keen for NZ to taste Cup glory
KOLKATA: “Kids, don’t take up sport. Take up baking or something. Die at 60 really fat and happy.” James Neesham was gutted, and who could blame him? He was just a Black Cap reacting to the unkindest result in cricket history inflicted on New Zealand at the 2019 World Cup final. “By the barest of margins,” said Ian Smith, hunched over by the suffocating tension.
Only New Zealand knew they hadn’t lost the final. None more than Neesham who was at the non-striker’s end when Martin Guptill dived well short of his crease. Lance Klusener kept running towards the pavilion in the 1999 World Cup semi-final against Australia, never looking back because he knew Allan Donald wouldn’t make it. But Neesham turned around, soaked in the shock. Then he shrugged it off. He never forgot though.
By now you have seen the photos of Neesham wearing his poker face, not even twitching an eyebrow after New Zealand finally put one across England at a World Cup.
Now you know how hard that final had hit him. Every player has a coping mechanism. And Neesham had kept his emotions wrapped tightly after the 2019 final. He had stayed back in England and spent the next week in Liverpool watching their netball team win the World Cup beating Australia in the final.
“I share a flat with one of the girls–Bailey Mes in that team–so at least we average 0.5 of a World Cup over the winter,” Neesham told The Guardian later.
Sharp, self-deprecating humour, posting a photo of his dog on the first anniversary of that defeat, taking sides on topics many cricketers would shy away from and playing leagues around the world are different ways Neesham kept July 14, 2019 from overwhelming him. But the wound, of course, remained.
“Kane (Williamson) explained it quite well, that it comes at you in waves, that you forget about it for a while and all of a sudden something sets you off,” Neesham said in that interview.
Then he got his opportunity to face his trauma head on, at Abu Dhabi, facing England, the most fancied team at the T20 World Cup. This may still not be the mother of all clashes but #ENGvNZ is fast acquiring the reputation of making viewers feel like they are watching a bomb disposal squad at work while the timer ticks down the seconds. How many times did you think the Kiwis were in a hopeless situation? When they lost their first wicket in the first over? When Kane Williamson poked and prodded and left? When they needed 109 from 60 balls? Or when it boiled down to 57 from 24? Daryl Mitchell has been a revelation as makeshift opener but Neesham thrives in these equations (it’s another matter Mumbai Indians can’t find him a place more regularly).
It was Neesham’s six off Jofra Archer—clearing his front leg and whipping it over the shorter deep midwicket boundary—that had brought down the 2019 World Cup Super Over equation to a very gettable seven off four balls before New Zealand blew it. This time, New Zealand needed a few more of those.
Chris Jordan came round the wicket, creating a natural arc for Neesham to free his arms, and he whacked it over midwicket. Six. On the backfoot, Jordan started to spray it around. One hit Neesham’s pads, the next was a wide before Jordan tried to overcorrect and Neesham punished a rank length ball on the off through long-on.
Rattled, Jordan bowled another wide. And then it happened. Neesham took on the farther side of the boundary off a slower ball that Jonny Bairstow caught brilliantly before replays showed that his knees had hit the boundary cushion, just like Trent Boult’s boots had touched the boundary while catching Ben Stokes at long-on in the 2019 final.
Six again. Twenty runs in six deliveries—including four legitimate balls—and Neesham had brought New Zealand back from the brink. One more six— this time going down on one knee to club it over midwicket— and Neesham brought down the equation to 28 from 16 balls. Mitchell took over from there like a synchronised act but it was Neesham’s 11-ball onslaught that turned the tide. “The way Jimmy came out and struck the ball from ball one was pretty special and gave us the momentum for the final few overs,” Mitchell later said.
Perhaps in line with the team philosophy, Neesham doesn’t take himself too seriously. He wouldn’t mind being called a bits and pieces player. He had done his part even before going out to bat, removing the dangerous Liam Livingstone and conceding 11 in the last over of England’s innings. This was only the third time in 2021 Neesham had bowled the 20th over of a T20I. And he has taken at least one wicket every time doing that now. When he made it to the top-three of a Mumbai Indians fans’ vote after a rare IPL win this season, Neesham tweeted: “Even my mum wouldn’t have voted for me”. But beneath the veneer of all that banter lurks the determination to win a World Cup. You see that in Mitchell too, almost shockingly respectful of cricket etiquette—refusing a run after Adil Rashid ran into him trying to stop a push from Neesham— while hanging back in the crease to flog the bowling. Bent on consolidating his start in front of his dad John—a former All Black who is now the defensive coach of the English rugby team—but also mindful about crediting his mates for grinding through the tough opening overs, Mitchell is emblematic of a true sporting team without a superstar where everyone fits into their roles perfectly.
They also do a fine job at bottling up and uncorking emotions. Kane Williamson and coach Gary Stead kept a straight face when the odds were climbing, Boult was seen explaining a trick or two to his mates and batting coach Luke Ronchi was busy taking notes even in the last over.
When Mitchell hit the last six, Mitchell Santner—wearing his nerdy glasses—gave him a cheeky wink. We are there, almost there, Mitchell tells Mitchell without even moving his lips. The dugout finally erupted when Mitchell swivelled the ball past fine-leg for four. Towels were flung around, Ish Sodhi almost burst a vein and Shane Bond was arms-up in joy. Flanking their mates delirious at reaching the first ever T20 World Cup final, Neesham and Kane Williamson were unmoved. Williamson still broke into a restrained smile but Neesham—with his arms and legs crossed—looked on, inscrutable. A few hours later Neesham retweeted a video of Kobe Bryant being asked by a reporter why he wasn’t smiling after being 2-0 up in the 2009 NBA Finals.
Kobe: “What’s there to be happy about?”
Reporter: “You’re up 2-0.” Kobe: “Job’s not finished.”