http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 Champions Trophy 2013 loss – Cricket news
England captain Alastair Cook is devastated to have lost the final of the last edition of the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 at Birmingham and feels that the pitch was not easy to bat on for both the sides.
The final of the all-important tournament was shortened to 20 overs due to rain, with the hosts winning the toss and opting to bowl first. Cook and company restricted the Men in Blue to just 129 runs for the loss of seven-wickets in their allotted 20 overs.
Despite being tipped as favourites at the halfway stage, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 succumbed under pressure and lost the encounter by five runs.
While expressing his disappointment in the post-match presentation ceremony, the left-handed opening batsman said that it was extremely tough to score freely on this pitch and praised the performance of his bowlers. However, Cook appreciated the efforts
of the ground staff who worked very hard to ensure play.
“The first credit has to go the ground staff to get a game. We've come up a little short. I thought we bowled well, you'd take 130. It's tough to take at the moment,” said the England captain. “I think both sides found the pitch quite hard to bat on. You
are always going to think of different reasons.”
England have never won a 50-overs global tournament, although they have an extremely rich cricketing history. According to the sporting pundits, it was an ideal chance for the Poms to prove that they have the ability to deliver the goods under pressure.
Cook was extremely upset after the match but the left-handed opener did not hesitate to praise the showings of his players who fought their way into the final of the eight-team tournament.
“I'm proud of the way the players have performed in this tournament. With 20-odd needed off 16 balls it was in our hands. There have been a lot of good performances, but at the moment we are a bit devastated,” the Test and ODI captain added.
England will now take on http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 in a two-match T20 series against New Zealand, which starts tomorrow at the Oval.
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