World T20: New Zealand win hearts but like all fairy tales, their story has come to an end

New Zealand's Colin Munro(L)runs between the wickets with Corey Anderson during the World T20 cricket tournament first semi-final match between England and New Zealand at The Feroz Shah Kotla Cricket Show more

The thing about fairy tales is that they are true only in the impressionable minds of four year olds.

New Zealand had lived a dream in the ICC World Twenty20 2016, convincingly beating India, Australia, Pakistan and Bangladesh in four different venues.

They sussed out the conditions so perfectly, juggled combinations so expertly and executed their skills – especially bowling and fielding – so efficiently, that Brendon McCullum of the Midas touch was barely missed.

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But fans of this team, which was well on the way to winning hearts once more, would have been forgiven for wishing that their leader had put off his retirement by only a few weeks when a muscular England team flattened New Zealand in the first semi-final at the Ferozeshah Kotla in Delhi.

New Zealand had travelled an estimated 4,885 kilometres within India, but they were now left facing just one more flight – a long one back home.

While Kane Williamson did his reputation as one of the world’s best batsmen no harm, even if he did not come up with the kind of masterful match-defining knock that Virat Kohli produced against Australia, and showed that his captaincy was in no way inferior to McCullum’s leadership, he will be the first to admit that the batting did far less than they should have, as a group.

Ross Taylor cannot be accused of consistency at the best of times, but even by his standards returns of 10, 11, 36, 28 and six represents a below-par performance.

A batsman who plays his strokes is given plenty of leeway when it comes to being bankable, but in exchange he must repay the faith in spades on his day.

That day did not come in the duration of this tournament.

Colin Munro and Corey Anderson could have combined their all-round efforts to take over the role of one batsman, but such experiments are fraught with danger.

The ability was clearly there, as the pair showed at Eden Park against Sri Lanka not long ago, when Munro clattered New Zealand’s fastest Twenty20 International half-century, off only 14 balls.

Anderson’s curriculum vitae includes a 42-ball 82, but in this tournament, neither showed the kind of assurance that caused the team to place so much faith in them.

Sometimes, the sum of the parts ends up being less than the whole.

To be fair to New Zealand, however, their run in this tournament was yet another case of them punching well above their weight.

It was not so long ago that India were thought to be outright favourites and teams such as New Zealand rank outsiders, given the conditions and the format of this World Twenty20.

As one observer pithily put it, it was perhaps tempting fate, and asking too much to expect a country of four million to simultaneously hold world titles in two different sports.

For the moment, New Zealand will have to be content idolising the All Blacks, but while they do so, there is no shame in embracing the Black Caps.

Anand Vasu is the managing editor of Wisden India.

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