Backed by Destiny, England Make History at Lord's
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What did they win it on, boundaries? We had two attempts to separate us and still couldn’t – it is what it is. New Zealand skipper MONDAY, JULY 15, 2019 Ken Williamson Backed by destiny, England make history at Lord’s Spirited New Zealand lose after 50-Over tie and a Super Over tie! SCOREBOARD NEW ZEALAND AJAY NAIDU M. Guptill lbw b Woakes .....................................19 LONDON H. Nicholls b Plunkett .........................................55 K. Williamson c Buttler b Plunkett ......................30 R. Taylor lbw b Wood .......................................... 15 IT was the most incredible T. Latham c sub (Vince) b Woakes .....................47 World Cup final ever in his- J. Neesham c Root b Plunkett ............................19 C. De Grandhomme c sub (Vince) b Woakes .....16 tory. And in a high-pressure M. Santner not out ............................................... 5 game, where fortunes fluctu- M. Henry b Archer .................................................4 ated every ball both England I’ve said incredible T. Boult not out ......................................................1 and New Zealand went for the Extras: (lb12, nb1, w17) ...................................30 TOTAL: (For 8 wickets, 50 overs) ..................241 broke in terms of attitude. 50 times since lifting Did not bat: L. Ferguson And yet, there was very Fall of wickets: 1-29 (Guptill), 2-103 (Williamson), little to separate the two first- the trophy. Our fans 3-118 (Nicholls), 4-141 (Taylor), 5-173 (Neesham), time finalists. A full 50-over 6-219 (Grandhomme), 7-232 (Latham), 8-240 (Henry). are the best people Bowling: Woakes 9-0-37-3 (w4, nb1), Archer 10-0- contest ended in a tied with 42-1 (w5), Plunkett 10-0-42-3, Woods 10-1-49-1 both teams scoring 241. As if on the planet. (w2), Rashid 8-0-39-0, Stokes 3-0-20-0 (w2). that wasn’t stunning, even the England captain Eoin Morgan Super Over couldn’t break the ENGLAND (TARGET 242) on the World Cup triumph J. Roy c Latham b Henry .................................... 17 deadlock as teams scored 15 J. Bairstow b Ferguson ........................................ 36 runs each. J. Root c Latham b de Grandhomme ....................7 However, on this day and E. Morgan c Ferguson b Neesham ........................9 B. Stokes not out ............................................... 84 in this mood, England were J. Buttler c sub (Southee) b Ferguson ................59 not to be denied their moment C. Woakes c Latham b Ferguson ...........................2 of glory. They were declared L. Plunkett c Boult b Neesham ........................... 10 winners by virtue of having J. Archer b Neesham .............................................0 A. Rashid run out (Santner/Boult) ........................0 struck more boundaries in M. Wood run out (Neesham/Boult) .......................0 their 50-over innings. Extras: (b2, lb3, w12) ....................................... 17 Indeed in a match full of TOTAL: (All out, 50 overs) .............................241 suspense, thrill and drama, Fall of wickets: 1-28 (Roy), 2-59 (Root), 3-71 (Bairstow), 4-86 (Morgan), 5-196 (Buttler), 6-203 Eoin Morgan’s side was lucky (Woakes), 7-220 (Plunkett), 8-227 (Archer), 9-240 to have the last laugh winning (Rashid), 10-241 (Wood) their first World Cup title at Bowling: Boult 10-0-67-0 (w2), Henry 10-2-40-1, the expense of spirited New Grandhomme 10-2-25-1 (w1), Ferguson 10-0-50-3 (w3), Neesham 7-0-43-3 (w1), Santner 3-0-11-0 (w1). Zealand side. “I’ve said incredible 50 SUPER OVER ENGLAND times since lifting the tro- Ben Stokes not out ...............................................8 phy. Our fans are the best Jos Buttler not out .................................................7 people on the planet. We had Total: (1.0 overs) ............................................15-0 two must win games and we Bowling: Boult 1-0-15-0 scraped through and we con- NEW ZEALAND tinued it on to today,” said J. Neesham not out ............................................13 M. Guptill run out (Roy/Buttler) ........................... 1 England captain Eoin Morgan Extras (w1) ...........................................................1 in his moment of glory. Total: (1.0 overs) ............................................15-1 Bowling: Archer 1-0-15-0 (w1) Result: England win in Super Over Toss: New Zealand. How they won Man of the Match: Ben Stokes (ENG) Player of the Tournament: Ken Williamson (NZ) England were declared winners by virtue of having bat in that super over.I defin- struck more boundaries in tely wasn’t going to bowl any- their 50-over innings. way after last time.” To be sure, the man who took brave decisions all day “There was certainly doubt was New Zealand captain Kane as to whether we’d even make Williamson who won the toss the semi-final and I’d never al- and, despite a slight drizzle in low myself to imagine winning England captain Eoin Morgan and teammates celebrate with the ICC World Cup trophy at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London on Sunday. (REUTERS) the morning and overcast con- the World Cup. Cynical me, I ditions, decided to bat first. guess,” he added. gle but was well short of the The Kiwis in fact followed SUPER OVER: BALL-BY-BALL On the decision to hand crease going for the winning the same blue print that the ball to Jofra Archer in the second run. worked perfectly for them Super Over, he said it was a ENG 3 1 4 1 2 4 England needed 15 to get against India in the semifi- no-brainer... off the last over by Boult and nals. Defying conventional WD 1/W “It was an easy decision to NZ 2 6 2 2 1 despite Stokes hitting a six wisdom on an overcast morn- bowl Jofra in the Super Over. over mid-wicket, another six ing, they decided to bat first. He’s our best yorker bowler, runs – thanks to the fateful And even as they did that, the one of the best in the world overthrow – off the following plan seemed to be more on and we asked him to do what ball really saved the day for grind from the top order. Thus he’s been doing. He’s a guy the hosts. opener Henry Williams (55), with the world at his feet. He’s Both England and Stokes skipper Kane Williamson (30) been incredible throughout had another close shave just a himself and Tom Latham (47) the World Cup.” Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar (left) presents the Man of few overs earlier when Stokes put a premium on their wick- By a quirk of fate, both the Match award to England’s Ben Stokes. (AFP) pulled Neesham to the mid- ets even if that meant they teams needed 15 runs off the wicket boundary where Trent played plenty of dot balls and last over of the match – Eng- was purely unintentional. run. First Abdul Rashid delib- Boult took the catch and crucial overs slipped by. land first and later New Zea- More cruelly though that di- erately ran himself out going surprisingly stepped on the England’s bowlers Chris land in the Super Over. How- vine intervention gifted Eng- for a non-existent second run boundary rope as he looked Woakes (3/37), Liam Plun- ever, England piggy banked on land four golden runs. And purely to ensure that Stokes back to see where exactly he kett (3/42 blossomed under their good fortune while Mark that left England needing to had the strike to the last ball of was standing. Perhaps he’s the cloud cover and a helpful Guptill, who neded a couple score another 3 off the last two the match. And as Trent Boult, wasn’t aware that he was just pitch to share six wickets be- of the last ball, could man- balls instead of 7. who had bowled an excel- centimetres inside the ropes tween themselves. However, age only a single to leave the As it were the last two balls lent last over, fired in another New Zealand’s Martin Guptill being consoled by teammate James when he took the catch. much like they did against In- scores tied again. saw two run out on the second Yorker, Stokes managed a sin- Neesham soon after the Super Over ended in a tie. (REUTERS) That lucky escape only dia, New Zealand bowlers one To be sure, all day New Zea- added to the drama. And a again exploited the conditions land batted with a purpose and The celebrations begin... despairing nation again held brilliantly. And backed by later bowled their hearts out its breath thanks to the lucky their outstanding fielding and and fielded unbelievably well. escape. The turn of events to- catching, they tightened the And yet, when it came to the wards the end may also make noose around England. crunch they were dealt a sledge- every home team supporter But then Jos Butler (59) hammer blow as much by a believe that whoever said for- and Ben Stokes (84*) staged fighting innings by Ben Stokes tune favours the brave must a fine recovery, after England as by the iron hand of fate. have had England in mind. slumped to 86 for 4, playing Luck first smiled on Eng- “It feels pretty good; I am their parts in England’s great land in the last over of the lost for words to be honest. So escape to victory. match when the hosts need- much hard work has gone in, “It was a tough surface ed 9 runs of there overs. As this is what we aspire to be. I and a fantastic game of crick- Stokes ran for his life attempt- don’t think there will ever be et.. To go to the last ball and ing a second run, the throw a better game in cricket than then the last ball again; it’s from the deep stuck his out- that,” said Ben Stokes who was tough to separate the sides,” stretched bat – as he dived to declared the Man of the Match.