‘Sport is a great teacher’

Jimmy Neesham nearly quit the game after being dropped from New Zealand's one-day squad in 2017 but four years later he now stands on the cusp of Twenty20 World Cup glory.

History beckons for New Zealand and Neesham after he became an unlikely match-winner in his team's remarkable win over England in the first semi-final on Wednesday.

Neesham smashed an 11-ball 27 in New Zealand's tense chase of 167 and then sat calmly in the dugout amid the celebrations after Daryl Mitchell hit the winning boundary in his unbeaten 72.

The photos of the moment went viral on social media and Indian website ESPNcricinfo captioned it "Jimmy Neesham didn't move" to which the allrounder replied: "Job finished? I don't think so".

New Zealand will play either Pakistan or Australia in their first ever T20 World Cup final on Sunday in Dubai but the spotlight remains on 31-year-old Neesham who came close to delivering the Kiwis the 50 over World Cup trophy in 2019.

The allrounder, a left-hand batsman who bowls medium-pace, scored 13 runs off five balls in a super over during the dramatic final which England won.

Neesham also took three wickets and was involved in the final ball run out to level the scores on 241 before the super over also ended in a tie.

Hosts England won on boundary count.

Neesham took to humour to pass off their heartbreaking loss and wrote on Twitter, "Kids, don't take up sport. Take up baking or something. Die at 60 really fat and happy."

He has shown real strength of character since a poor 2017 Champions Trophy -- he scored one half-century in 11 ODI matches and took four wickets -- led to him being dropped.

He later admitted to being frustrated by the turn of events and took help from an Auckland-based psychologist Paula Dennan.

He also revealed that Heath Mills, the head of the New Zealand Cricket Players Association, talked him out of retirement and advised him to "take one game at a time".

The suggestion not only helped him get back to the game he loves but also gave the Black Caps a winner they needed.

"I had observed him and suspected that he was struggling mentally. I got in touch with him and we started talking," Mills told The Indian Express, hours after Neesham's thrilling knock in the T20 world cup semifinal.

"I told him why don't you just step away from the game for a while. A short break. This isn't the time to take any drastic decisions," said Mills.

And then Neesham agreed and went to see a psychologist Paula Dennan in Auckland. "I think I got to the point where I needed to have a full overhaul of the way I was approaching the game and she facilitated that," Neesham said in the past.

Now praise has flowed for the Auckland-born cricketer with both captains--Kane Williamson and Eoin Morgan, saying Neesham's knock was the "deciding factor".

"Jimmy Neesham , was thinking of quitting the game in 2017 and today playing a match defining innings to help New Zealand qualify for the final," India's batting great VVS Laxman wrote on Twitter. "Never give up is the lesson, Sport is a great teacher."