45 minutes of mayhem cost us a place in final: Kohli

Manchester (IANS): Indian skipper Virat Kohli rued the manner in which India lost the World Cup semifinal against New Zealand at the Old Trafford on Wednesday, saying the team played so well throughout the tournament only to bow out in the last-four stage due to a poor stretch of "45 minutes".

"Forty-five minutes of bad cricket puts you out of the tournament. Difficult to take it -- but New Zealand deserve it. Our shot selection could have been better, but we played good cricket throughout."

"We got what we needed in the field. We knew we had a good day yesterday, we felt like we had the moment, but credit has to go to NZ bowlers for the swing and help they got from the surface," Kohli said.

The skipper also showered praise on Jadeja, saying: "Jaddu had an outstanding couple of games. He went with so much clarity... MS had a good partnership with him. It was a game of margins and MS was run-out."

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said: "It's a different feeling from four years ago – the surfaces, and the way we've had to try and skin it, has been quite different to the last World Cup. The guys have shown a lot of heart throughout the campaign. It was a tough match and a great semi-final. Batting was really tough – we had to assess the conditions, because at the start I think both sides thought it would be a much higher-scoring game. We spoke about trying to get 240-250. We thought if we did that we'd be right in the game.

Indian batsmen made a mountain out of a mole hill: Tendulkar

Manchester (PTI): Sachin Tendulkar led the cricketing fraternity in lauding the fighting spirit of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja in the World Cup semifinal against New Zealand, but said the Indian batting can't always rely on the famed top-order to deliver the goods.

A visibly disappointed Tendulkar said Indian batsmen made a mountain out of a mole hill during their 240-run chase. India lost the match against New Zealand by 18 runs to crash out of the World Cup. "I am disappointed because we should have chased 240 without any doubt. It wasn't a big total. Yes, New Zealand got off to a dream start by picking those 3 wickets upfront," Tendulkar said.

"But I feel that we can't be all the time relying on Rohit (Sharma) to give a good start or Virat (Kohli) to come and make sure that a solid foundation is built. Players around them also will have to take more responsibility," the batting maestro told 'India Today'.

"I felt Kane Williamson's captaincy was incredible." Former India middle-order batsman VVS Laxman said Dhoni and Jadeja were brilliant even though they couldn't finish the job.

A heart-broken Harbhajan Singh wrote on Twitter: "Feeling heart broken for @BCCI. Congratulations to @BLACKCAPS. Well done @imjadeja."

Cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar wrote: "India no less a champion side in my eyes. Won 7 lost 2. Last one narrowly. Well done India!" Former Australia skipper Michael Clarke was effusive in his praise for Williamson's captaincy.

"Congratulations absolutely brilliant win. Kane Williamson take a bow, outstanding captaincy. Bad luck to team India," he tweeted.

Ex-Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi tweeted: "Stunning result in Manchester!! I had predicted an England-India final but NZ have been brilliant, unbelievable effort to restrict this India batting for such low total. Great game for Jadeja, hard luck India."