New Zealand cricket fans suffered through the night as their team fell excruciatingly short of victory at Lord’s

They emerged tired and emotional in the predawn light. They shuffled from living room couches or from the New Zealand bars lucky enough to organise short-notice liquor licences. Then, they went back to their Monday mornings.

No teacher or manager in the whole country would be naive enough to believe them if they said they had come down with the flu. They would have to wear their decision to stay up all night and watch the most thrilling cricket World Cup final ever played.

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If there was ever to be more cruel scheduling for a nation’s productivity it would be this game against England – starting at 10pm New Zealand time, ending at 6.30am. It was all the more cruel for the result. Almost 20,000km from the action, New Zealanders were enduring.

“It feels too familiar,” said one punter at a Nelson bar as the wickets fell during the Black Caps’ innings. “Like we are better than this.”

Towards the last few overs, an impromptu sweepstake was organised to predict the score that New Zealand would be defending. They were all woeful.

But the population dared to believe the disappointment that had permeated the history of this team might finally be shrugged off. They might finally rid the ghosts of the 1992 World Cup semi-final, or the 2015 final.

There were moments of brilliance when the punters who had found bars hosting the match threw their hands up in ecstasy. There was also the moment when Jimmy Neesham’s throw hit Ben Stokes’s bat and ricocheted over the boundary for a total of six runs in England’s final over. Then, those hands covered heads in agony. They would not soon forget that Stokes was born in New Zealand.

“Yeah, that was a bit of shame, eh,” said the Black Caps’ captain, Kane Williamson, of the ricochet incident. “Unfortunately, that’s the game we play, those things happen from time to time.”

It was typically understated. Kane was calm, Kane was collected. However, his fellow countrymen and women watching back home complained about having a simultaneous cardiac arrest or breaking down in panic attacks.

And then it came down to one super over and 16 runs to win.

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“I’m not sure there has ever been a more dramatic moment in sporting history in New Zealand,” said the commentator Ian Smith.

Most simply didn’t know what a super over was. Twitter users suggested their picks of potential batsmen who should represent New Zealand.

Grant Elliott, who hit a six off the final ball of the 2015 semi final to send the Black Caps to the final, was put forward. Stephen Donald, the accidental All Blacks’ hero, who kicked a winning penalty to win the rugby World Cup final in 2011, was another option.

Instead it was Martin Guptill and Jimmy Neesham, who managed to tie the score but not win the game. The natural order of disappointment was restored.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern joked to Radio New Zealand that she had been “traumatised” by the experience. “But regardless of that final outcome I just feel incredibly proud of the Black Caps, and I hope every New Zealander does because they played remarkable cricket,” she added.

Kiwis went on Twitter either to congratulate England on a game well played or call for an independent inquiry into the moments which, in their view, robbed New Zealand of the win.

The double tragedy was not lost on New Zealanders who then were forced to endure a sleep-deprived, honest day’s work.

There was only a meagre consolation, as one Twitter user put it.

“There’s always the All Blacks, eh.”