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'At the end of the day nothing separated us, no one lost the final, but there was a crowned winner and there it is'
"No one lost the final," New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson said on Tuesday as his team tried coming to terms with the gut-wrenching defeat against England in the World Cup's greatest summit clash.
Cricketers, current and former, shared New Zealand's pain on losing the title on boundary count with many of them asking for a "serious look" into the rule, slammed as "absurd".
"The disappointment hits you in waves. You wake up and think it’s a bad dream. The guys are gutted .. truly gutted," he told reporters on Monday.
"At the end of the day nothing separated us, no one lost the final, but there was a crowned winner and there it is," Williamson told Newstalk ZB.
Widely praised for the grace with which he and his side accepted the defeat, Williamson said they had signed up to the rules that governed the tournament.
New Zealand lost to England at the Lord's on Sunday due to inferior boundary count (16 in 50 overs to hosts' 24) after both the regulation 50 overs and the Super Over ended in ties.
"I suppose you never thought you would have to ask that question and I never thought I would have to answer it (smiling)," was Williamson's first reaction when asked about the rule.
"While the emotions are raw, it is pretty hard to swallow when two teams have worked really, really hard to get to this moment in time.
"When sort of two attempts to separate them with a winner and a loser it still doesn't perhaps sort of shine with one side coming through, you know," Williamson, one of the finest gentleman playing the sport, said.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern praised the Black Caps for putting their all on the line and then accepting the gut-wrenching defeat with grace.
"That was undeniably an incredible game. I think as a nation we all aged a year in that super over. Congratulations to England. And to the Black Caps, I feel nothing but pride. What a team," wrote Ardern on Instagram.
Opting to bat, New Zealand had put up a modest 241 for eight. In reply, England ended at the same score leading to the one-over eliminator.
In the Super Over, England batted first and the duo of Ben Stokes, who kept the hosts in the game with a brilliant 84 off 98 balls, and Jos Buttler made 59.
New Zealand also ended at the same score but for the loss of one wicket, paving the way for an English victory on boundary count.