New Zealand cricketer, Daryl Mitchell has been awarded the ICC Spirit of Cricket after his performance in the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup semi-final against England in Abu Dhabi.
Mitchell has become the fourth player from New Zealand to earn the award, after former Captain, Daniel Vettori, Wicket Keeper-Batsman Brendon McCullum, and current Captain, Kane Williamson.
Thankyou @ICC for the honour of recieving the ICC Spirit of Cricket award 😍
Cricket is such a beautiful game.
I consider myself very lucky to be able to play the game we all love & represent my country with a smile on my face 🏏 https://t.co/kGC6zvrQcz— Daryl Mitchell (@dazmitchell47) February 2, 2022
Mitchell wins the award for refusing to take a single in the high-pressure T20 World Cup semi-final against England on 10 November 2021 at Abu Dhabi.
Mitchell said in an official release that it’s an honour for him to receive the award. It was an amazing experience for him to be a part of the tournament in the UAE and to receive an award like this. He further added that it’s something that we pride ourselves on as New Zealanders, the way they go about playing cricket, and also the spirit of the game.
In the first semifinal of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 at the Shaikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, England and New Zealand were competing to reach the finals. With Moeen Ali’s half-century, it led England to a decent target of 166/4.
New Zealand was on a course to reach the target with well-settled Mitchell making partnership with James Neesham.
Eventually, New Zealand emerged victorious against England, as Mitchell opened the batting and came out to be a match-winner. He scored 72 runs not out of 47 deliveries, hitting the winning runs. But unfortunately, New Zealand could not win the tournament as they lost to Australia by eight wickets in the finals.
