A day after losing to New Zealand in the semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup, India opening batsman Rohit Sharma admitted that they failed to deliver, and thanked fans for their colossal support to the Men in Blue during the tournament.
"We failed to deliver as a team when it mattered, 30 minutes of poor cricket yesterday and that snatched away our chance for the cup. My heart is heavy as I'm sure yours is too. The support away from home was incredible. Thank you all for painting most of UK blue wherever we played," he tweeted on Thursday.
Sharma is the highest run-getter of the tournament as he amassed 648 runs. Moreover, he scripted history by scoring five centuries in a single edition of the quadrennial tournament.
India, who had topped the points table, faced fourth-positioned New Zealand on July 9. However, after 46.1 overs, the match moved to the reserve day due to rain. Continuing the match on the next day, New Zealand finished at a total of 240 runs.
India's top-order crumbled as they were on just five runs after the loss of three wickets in four overs. All three top-order batsmen - Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli - scored just one run.
However, Ravindra Jadeja and Mahendra Singh Dhoni played cautiously and tried to save the sinking Indian side. Jadeja scored 77 runs while Dhoni played a knock of 50 runs.
After the wickets of Jadeja and Dhoni, the match slipped from India's hands and New Zealand easily registered an 18-run victory to secure their spot in the tournament's final.
New Zealand will face England, who defeated Australia by eight wickets in the second semi-final on Thursday, for the 2019 World Cup final at Lord's on July 14.
