London: Oh my Lords! So finally the ICC 50-over World Cup found its new Lords at the iconic Lord’s – ‘Home of Cricket’.
The entire world Sunday witnessed the most exciting finish to a World Cup final, or probably to a cricket match ever, as the Super Over also ended in a tie. In the end, it was England who edged past New Zealand by the virtue of hitting more boundaries. England struck 22 boundaries while the Kiwis had 15 hits to the fences. That sealed the deal for the nation, which brought up the game of cricket.
Batting first in the Super Over, England, who sent in Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, scored 15 runs. However, New Zealand who needed 2 runs off the final ball, ended up completing only one run and Martin Guptill was run out while taking the second.
Chasing 242 runs to win, England were reduced to 86/4 before Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler put together 110 runs for the fifth wicket to raise some hope in the English dressing room. However, Buttler’s departure made things difficult for the hosts.
England were needed 24 runs off the final two overs. But the big moment came when Trent Boult held a good catch but while doing that he touched the boundary ropes and it came as a six instead of a wicket. With 15 runs required off the final six balls, Stokes played two dot balls before clearing one over the boundary. Yet another big moment came when the ball deflected off Stokes’ bat while running for the second run in the fourth delivery.
With three required off the final two deliveries, Stokes managed only a single while going for a double where Adil Rashid sacrificed his wicket. In the final ball as well Stokes worked it to the long on searching for a double but he ended up scoring a single as Liam Plunkett was run out.
Earlier, winning the toss and batting first under overcast conditions on a stage as big as the final of the World Cup requires grit and that is exactly what New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson showed against England.
While it would be unfair to call the efforts of his batsmen outstanding, a total of 241/8 in the final can always be tricky for the opposition, especially when you have a bowling attack that is known to defend low totals well. If Henry Nicholls started well at the top with a dogged half century, Tom Latham made it count at the end with a knock of 47. For England, it was another quality show from Plunkett as he pegged the Kiwis back every time they looked to take the attack to the English bowlers. Plunkett finished with figures of 3/42 from his 10 overs and he was ably supported by Chris Woakes (3/37) and Jofra Archer (1/42).
Earlier, with incessant drizzle delaying the final by 15 minutes, it was a brave decision by Williamson to bat first. And openers Martin Guptill and Nicholls looked to repose the faith shown in them by their skipper as they held fort and looked to play off the new ball. But the partnership was broken in the seventh over when Woakes trapped Martin Guptill (19) plumb in front.
The in-form Williamson joined Nicholls in the middle and it was all about a steady show as the scoreboard read 29/1. They kept rotating the strike by picking the ones and twos before Plunkett struck, dismissing the Kiwi skipper with the score reading 103/2 in the 23rd over.
Nicholls also failed to make much headway after spending quality time in the middle and was dismissed by Plunkett. New Zealand’s semifinal hero Ross Taylor too failed to make it count as he was caught plumb in front by Mark Wood with the score reading 141/4 in the 34th over.
Even as the Kiwi batsmen looked to up the ante, the English bowlers kept striking at the right moments to peg them back. With the score reading 179/5 after 40 overs, New Zealand needed Latham to stay till the end and guide the innings to a perfect finish. While Latham was dismissed by Woakes in the 49th over, Kiwis still managed to score 62 runs in the last 10 overs.
