While it was pretty clear that Australia were better than our Black Caps, there were still many moments that made you cringe a bit, especially with the bat. That's why it was a tough loss to take because jobs weren't done, after a World Cup where everyone had chipped in to simply do their role, in the final, that business as usual idea went out the window.

It pretty much all started with the bat and when you look at all our dismissals, they were pretty damn soft. Brendon McCullum missed a classic Mitchell Starc delivery, one they would have had many looks at leading into the final.

Martin Guptill missed, Glenn Maxwell hit.

Kane Williamson will be filthy with his chip back to Mitchell Johnson, at that stage you felt that it might not be our day.

Grant Elliot and Ross Taylor worked hard thought to get us back into the game, nudging it around and hitting the odd boundary. That's when you thought we might work our way to 250, hope still oozed through my veins until Taylor edged a wide one that he's probably smacked to the cover boundary over and over again.

Corey Anderson forgot about the old forward defensive shot, again showing signs that when there's time to bat and work to be done, he struggles. But that's not his fault, he's a pinch hitter down the order and the less thinking he has to do, the better. The lads above him hadn't laid much of a foundation.

Luke Ronchi flashed at a wide one, an edge was the only real possibility there.

There wasn't much hope from that point on.

We missed straight balls that while they definitely swung, you'd back an international batsman to defend. Elliot and Taylor showed that once you were in for a bit, it got much easier but no one else could really establish anything.

Michael Clarke came to the crease after the lads picked up a few wickets, there was still a chance. Clarke though, looked impeccable in his defence, balls thudded into the middle of his bat, confidence seeped through his defensive shots whether front or back foot. I had a bit of a moment right then, in a World Cup full of massive scores, sixes left, right and centre and aggressive batting all over the show, we couldn't defend good balls.

Steve Smith was there before Clarke and despite taking the early wicket of Aaron Finch, Smith never looked slightly in danger of loosing his wicket.

Australia's bouncers climbed up to our batsman's front shoulder, our bouncers flew over their heads, wide. We just lacked that execution, whether it was defending good balls, showing some application during that powerplay or putting batsmen under pressure on the biggest stage. Whether it was a lack of skill or just a lack of comfort compared to Australia who knew exactly what they were trying to do, who knows.

It's a starting point though. Our first World Cup final, hopefully the guys who will play in future World Cup finals saw how Australia executed their plans, hopefully there's a desire to learn and develop. It's hard to be content with our World Cup performance, we're good enough to be the best but we've got to turn a few more corners first.