Cardiff:
Ecstatic to reach the semifinals of the ICC Champions Trophy, England captain Alastair Cook on Sunday lauded his team for putting up a good show with both bat and ball in their must-win Group A match against New Zealand at Sophia Gardens here.
England first scored 169 all out against New Zealand and then restricted their rivals to 159 for eight in their crucial rain-curtailed 24-overs a side match.
Cook was happy with the performance of his team.
"It was quite a stressful day, especially with those last few overs. We thought we were above the rate but Anderson and Williamson took it on, luckily we got over the line," said Cook, who was adjudged the Man of the Match for his 64.
"It was a very fine bowling performance. We were very good in the field today and I thought we were good with the bat, maybe 10 runs short. We`re happy to be in the semi-final, that was a good performance.”
"We`re two games away now. Graeme`s got a calf injury but we`re very lucky to have James Tredwell to step in," he added.
New Zealand captain, Brendon McCullum said it was the good spells by English pacers early on which put them on the back foot in their chase.
"England bowled outstandingly well at the start of our innings and set us back," he said.
"Kane and Corey gave us a chance but it wasn`t until they got going and in the end we were short. It`s one of those things (dropping catches), Nathan is normally very good.”
"The run rate has kept us going, it`ll be hard to cheer for Australia but if it keeps us in the tournament, then good," he added.
