Black Caps slammed by former Australian cricketer for assisting ...
SKY SPORT
Daryl Mitchell and Kane Williamson led the way, but the Black Caps ultimately came up well short in a mammoth chase against India.
The Black Caps have been slammed for being ‘too nice’ to Indian superstar Virat Kohli during their World Cup semifinal defeat.
Kohli made a century which helped his side win the semifinal by 70 runs as the hosts batted first in the Mumbai heat against New Zealand, and suffered from cramp later in his innings.
As Kohli battled cramp, several New Zealand players checked on his welfare, and helped him stretch his hamstrings when struggling to run between wickets.
That drew the ire of former Australian ODI allrounder Simon O’Donnell.
“I had a problem a couple of times last night. Virat Kohli gets cramp, they’re heading for 400 and blokes go over and help him,” O’Donnell said on Australian radio station SEN on Thursday.
“Why would you go and help Virat Kohli when he had a cramp? When they’re heading for 400. In a World Cup semifinal. Spirit of the game is playing within the laws. Virat Kohli is tearing your country apart and you want to go over and give him a hand?”
Robert Cianflone/Getty Images
Virat Kohli of India stretches as Mitchell Santner of New Zealand looks on during their World Cup India semifinal in Mumbai.
O’Donnell, who played 87 ODIs and six tests for Australia, was especially bothered by the Kiwis approaching Kohli and picking up his bat for him.
“Under no circumstances should you have gone within 20 metres of Virat Kohli when he had a cramp,” he said.
“He threw his bat away and one of the Kiwis went and picked it up. ‘Go and pick your own bat up while you’ve got a sore hamstring and a cramp. Stop hitting us for sixes and fours’.
“That’s not a big deal. That’s not outside the spirit of the game. It’s being competitive and saying, ‘OK, he’s being physically challenged, why are we assisting him to stay physically OK to belt the crap out of us?’
“I don’t get it, I just don’t get it. Stuff helping him out, he’s made 50 one-day hundreds, why help him make the 50th against you in a World Cup semifinal? Give me a spell.”
Several New Zealand players congratulated Kohli on his century after he was eventually dismissed and captain Kane Williamson paid tribute to his rival after the loss.
Rafiq Maqbool/AP
New Zealand's captain Kane Williamson congratulates India's Virat Kohli after his dismissal following a century.
Williamson hailed record-breaking Kohli as “the best” batsman in the world and warned India’s rivals that the superstar is “getting better.”
“That’s something quite special, I think if you play 50 games, some people would call that a great career,” said Williamson.
“But to get 50 hundreds … and not just that, actually the way he goes about it, it’s actually about winning games for his team.”
The 33-year-old added: “I mean he’s the best, isn’t he? And he seems to be getting better, which is a worry for the opposition all around the world.”
India will play Australia in the World Cup final starting on Sunday night (NZ time) after Australia beat South Africa in the other semifinal on Friday morning.
