Cricket: Taylor left to ponder poor legacy

Ross Taylor channelled emptiness walking away from last night's World T20 super over loss to the West Indies.

The New Zealand captain could have done little more to keep his side in the contest with 62 runs off 40 balls as other batsmen got the jitters around him.

Taylor was left to ponder a New Zealand T20 legacy which includes one semi-final appearance (2007) in four world tournaments.

The New Zealanders performed credibly for periods of the match - and the tournament - but equally their composure scarpered at crucial times. Yesterday it came in three places: the West Indies' first six overs where they reached 60 for two prior to Chris Gayle's dismissal; a series of seven batting partnerships which failed to get more than 33 runs apiece and a super over which had Tim Southee start with a no-ball which Gayle obliterated for six.

Taylor shrugged his shoulders to the malaise; his disappointment was palpable but there was also realism that this was familiar territory for New Zealand teams.

"It's three World Cups in a row we haven't made the semi-finals. Today we still weren't guaranteed that with a win. It's disappointing to come so close, we've played well in patches but haven't been consistent. To lose as many as we have, you know you haven't played to your potential, especially losing two super over matches in the space of five days. It takes a bit out of you."

There were no such qualms from West Indies skipper Darren Sammy who, along with Gayle and others, launched into a sustained period of jigging and jiving in front of a receptive Pallekele crowd revelling in the party atmosphere.

"Chasing 18 runs [in the super over] was nothing," Sammy joked. "With Chris batting it's always possible. We backed him to get the boundaries and one thing we know how to do is dance."

Taylor fronted the aftermath for New Zealand, yet he was the spine behind achieving the tie and backed up with 15 of the side's 17 super over runs. That made Southee's response more galling.

"You win a game in the first two balls of the super over and when the first one goes for six we knew straight away the pressure was on Timmy. Pressure affects people in different ways. He'll learn from this. He has been our go-to man in the past and while he hasn't delivered as much in this game we'll still use him in the future.

"Having said that, Tim got Gayle early [in the T20 proper]. That stopped their momentum."
"I would've taken that score [139] at the start of the day. It was always going to be tough on that wicket when the ball gets older and the spinners come on.

"We've played [Sunil] Narine [who took three wickets for 20] enough but he's dangerous when you lose wickets. When he starts against a new batsman he puts pressure on the run rate, especially with two or three dots balls in a row. If he hadn't been bowling we could've won in normal time."