"Hit every ball for a 6" - James Neesham reveals his mindset while facing Chris Jordan in T20 World Cup semifinal
James Neesham recently shared the details of his mindset when he came out to bat against England in the first semifinal of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. The New Zealand all-rounder scored 27 runs off just 11 balls and guided the Kiwis closer to the target.
His cameo eventually proved to be a match-winning one as New Zealand secured their place in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 Final. James Neesham's three sixes and one four turned the momentum in New Zealand's favor.
The 17th over bowled by Chris Jordan was the turning point as Neesham hit two sixes and a four while aggregating a total of 23 runs from that over. Reflecting on those six deliveries, Neesham told New Zealand Cricket:
"I just said to Daz (Daryl Mitchell), I hit CJ (Chris Jordan) for a six second ball and Daz sort of came down and said: 'what do you think?' I just said I'm going to try and hit every ball for six. It doesn't always come out of the middle but chunked a couple and got enough to get over the rope."
You don't come halfway around the world just to win a semifinal: @JimmyNeesh
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James Neesham hit another maximum in the next over bowled by Adil Rashid before losing his wicket to the leg-spinner on the last ball of the same over.
We've got our sights pretty firmly set on the game in a few days' time: James Neesham
Job finished? I don’t think so. twitter.com/espncricinfo/s…
James Neesham also spoke about his unmoved reaction to New Zealand's semifinal win against England. The all-rounder clarified that it was an occasion worthy of celebration but there will be a bigger outpouring of emotion if the Kiwis win the T20 World Cup 2021 on Sunday.
"It's a situation worthy of celebrating I guess - winning a semi-final - but you don't come halfway around the world just to win a semi-final," he explained. "We've got our sights pretty firmly set on the game in a few days' time... I'm personally, and we as a team, are not getting ahead of ourselves. One game to go and I'm sure there will be a bigger outpouring of emotion if we manage to get across the line."
Having won the ICC World Test Championship earlier this year, New Zealand will be keen to end 2021 with another ICC tournament win.