Leading up to that World Cup, I was sort of in and out of the team. I'd played for about two-and-a-bit years. I then went to the IPL, but yeah certainly exciting to be part of a World Cup squad. It was sort of a dream come true for me.
My role, obviously, was following Trent Boult and Matt Henry as a first-change bowler. And we were often off to a good start with those two guys leading the attack. So, there was some pressure on the batters and then that sort of played into my hands a bit more.
My big moment, I guess, was the Faf [du Plessis] wicket. I get tagged in that video a few times [on social media]. It's nice to look back at times when you've done well. As athletes, we tend to focus on times when we haven't had a good day out in the park, so yeah, it's nice to look at times when you've done well. Special game and a big player to get out.
Watch Lockie Ferguson's lethal yorker to Faf du Plessis, and all the other South Africa wickets #BACKTHEBLACKCAPS#SAvNZ | #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/qq4GqUfOIf
— ICC (@ICC) June 19, 2019
The pitch was offering a little bit and the conditions were cloudy. So, Trent and Matt were trying to swing it and get it full. But Faf was doing what Faf does best - dominate the ball. He would play and miss, but then he would crunch a lovely cover drive and really looked in good touch.
We hadn't really bowled a bumper in the first spell, probably because there was some swing around in the air and some nip in the wicket. So you try to hit the top of off. I guess that's where my plan came in, and I just tried to bump him. It was one of those ones you let go.
The way I bowl, I can't really see the ball until it passes the [batter's] head. I sort of saw Faf whip back. The next one, I just went at the poles and hoped for the best. It was just one of those moments where you try to bowl full and fast and try to execute. It doesn't always happen, but that was one of those moments where it did. Yeah, it was pretty exciting, and I was stoked.
We've always believed in our game and although we're from a smaller country, we feel we're on par with the big teams. And a World Cup is not a series, so there's extra pressure on that one game. Win or lose - you just have one opportunity each time you play. It puts a lot more pressure on the game, but it provides opportunity for us. Certainly, leading into that semi-final, we got comfortably beaten by England, who were having a hell of a tournament in their home conditions.
It was fortunate that it happened against England, and it didn't affect our chances too much, going into the semis. It was almost a wake-up call and an opportunity to look at where we went wrong. At no time during that period did we take a step back. We parked that game there and focused on the semi-final.
That game against India was crazy because the build-up was like, everyone had written New Zealand off. We kind of liked that. There was not much pressure on us, and we just had to enjoy it. We batted in the first innings and rain came. It was bizarre going to bed that night without finishing a one-day game, having to think about the game once again.
We felt comfortable bowling to 240 if we get some early wickets. And the way Trent and Matt started up, it was just a dream start. The lbw that Boult got against [Virat] Kohli, the catch that Neesh [Jimmy Neesham] took with his left hand - those were moments where it felt like it was clicking for us. It doesn't happen too often, but it's a pretty special feeling when things are happening for your group. The pressure very quickly went back on India.
Of course, with it being a semi-final and India being such a strong side, they were going to fight back and take it deep. It came down to [MS] Dhoni in the end. He left a few balls from me outside off stump. I know how strong he's with the helicopter off his pads, so I thought he was letting deliveries go to let me bowl towards him. In the next over [49th], he was biding his time a little bit and he hit that amazing shot just over the top of point. That was a big boundary and he managed to get it just over, so that forced me to go closer to him and get it up under his ribs.
He tried to dab it down and come back for two. Guppy [Martin Guptill] didn't quite have the tournament that he dreamt of, but I think for that moment, he was more than world-class. I was so happy for him. He's one of the great fielders and the thing I love about Guppy is, he always seems to do something special off my bowling. If you look at a lot of catches off my bowling, it always seems to be Guppy taking a one-handed screamer. In this case, he got the run out. I have a very close relationship with Guppy, and he certainly helps my stats!
You can say all the adjectives and superlatives you want about Dhoni. He is clutch, and he turns up during the big moments, so when you see the back of him, it gives you some comfort. Amazing to finish that game mid-afternoon and enjoy the celebrations. It was pretty surreal at the time.
Now the final. Of course, we've had many conversations and I have played a lot with the Englishmen. I play along with J Roy [Jason Roy] at KKR. To be honest, the players have… I don't know if "moved on" is the right word, but probably we've come to terms with it [tying the final but losing it on boundary count]. It's a part of sport and those were the rules. Whether we think it was right of wrong, or whether the fans probably wanted to see another Super Over, we can't really rewrite history and go back to it, but it was a pretty epic final.
I forget how long we were playing, but it felt like it was longer than the two-day semi-final game (laughs). So, two pretty big games and to come down to a callback like that, it's unfortunate. But at the same time, I think it's important for us to reflect on the tournament as a whole and not just a couple of moments. I think the way the New Zealand public got behind us was fantastic. And as a group, we've definitely motivated young cricketers to play the game and maybe go one step further and win the World Cup. Obviously we've got another opportunity to do that in a couple of months. Tough to swallow, for sure, but we have a lot of be proud about that World Cup. It certainly kickstarted my career and that tournament is a fond part of my career, so I wouldn't take it back at all.