Birmingham, Jul 11 (IANS): With India losing a close encounter against New Zealand in the first semi-final of the 2019 World Cup in England on Wednesday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president C.K. Khanna congratulated the team for putting up a spirited display.

"It was a tough game and I think our boys played their hearts out. No one wants to lose a game. Each player tried really hard but it was just not our day. Team India under Virat Kohli played brilliant cricket in league phase. I am sure our team will work hard and come up with more success in future. Congratulations to New Zealand team. I wish them all the best," he said in a statement.

Talking about the game, skipper Kohli had said after the game that India lost the match in the first 40 minutes after New Zealand picked the first three wickets.

"I think the game pretty much changed in those first 40 minutes when we were batting and, as I said in the post-match, New Zealand deserve a lot of credit because they put up a great display how to bowl with the new ball and they had perfect line and lengths and forced us to sort of make errors, if any, or bowl good deliveries to us so the pressure created was immense in those first 40, 45 minutes.

"And when you lose 3 for 6, it is very difficult to come back into the game. Still, our effort was commendable but, yeah, that first spell made all the difference," he had said.