International Cricket Council (ICC) picked New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell for the Spirit of Cricket Award. His gesture in the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup semi-final against England made him the top contender.
In the 18th over of the match, Jimmy Neesham hit the ball down the ground and it would have been an easy single. But Mitchell refused to go for the run after believing that he had not allowed Rashid to collect the ball by unintentionally coming in his way.
Neesham reacted to his teammate getting the Spirit of Cricket Award on Twitter. He quoted the video in which Mitchell thanked the ICC for naming him for the award.
While Mitchell said he felt to have got in the way of Rashid and hence decided to not go for the run, the Kiwi all-rounder joked that they refused to rotate strike because of a left-hander against the leg-spinner would have been a better option.
“All because we wanted to keep the left-hander on strike to the leggie. Very very well played @dazmitchell47,” the tweet read with couple of laughing emojis. Neesham is popular on social media for his humor.
All because we wanted to keep the left hander on strike to the leggie. Very very well played @dazmitchell47 š šš https://t.co/HsFT4fAz60
— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) February 2, 2022
New Zealand had ended up winning the match after chasing the target with an over to spare. Mitchell played a knock of 72* in only 47 deliveries.
However, the Kiwis lost the final against Australia and finished as the runners-up in the tournament. (CircleofCricket)