There's a bit of a hollow feeling at the moment: Gary Stead

With two losses in as many games, New Zealand are out of contention for a place in the Super Eights. They next take on Uganda on June 14 (Friday) in Trinidad, in a bid to pull one back and salvage some pride. The Blackcaps who have been consistent in the last few ICC events, have crashed of the tournament at this early stage, which has left everyone in the camp disappointed, admits Gary Stead.

"It's, I guess, a little bit of a hollow feeling out there at the moment. The guys are disappointed. We come here to try and win matches and win tournaments, and it looks as though that's sort of out of our hands at the moment," Stead said ahead of the Uganda game.

New Zealand did not play a single warm-up game ahead of the T20 World Cup, and many believe that it is the reason behind New Zealand's poor showing in the tournament. Stead believes that his side failed to adapt to the conditions. 

"I think you always look internally, I think, and say, well, how can we do this better? It would have been nice to have a game or two. But it didn't work out that way for us, but in saying that, I mean both Afghanistan and West Indies have played well against us in difficult conditions, and we were a little bit slow to, I think, adapt and get the upper hand in both matches," Stead said. 

"I thought we started really well today, but when they got away from the end, they probably got an above-par total on that surface, and it was always going to be tough."

Despite crashing out of the tournament, the New Zealand head coach says his side will not take the remaining games against Uganda and Papua New Guinea (PNG) lightly. "It's still matches to play for your country and I think that's very, very important to everyone that's here," Stead said of the upcoming matches.

"So, we're certainly not taking the next two games lightly at all. They're matches for New Zealand, and I know they're still held dear to the players' hearts.

After the Uganda match, New Zealand will conclude their campaign against PNG on June 17 (Monday) in Trinidad.

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