England crowned champions after tied World Cup final even after Super Over
- The Nightwatchman
- Jul 15, 2019
- 7 min read
England has won its first men's Cricket World Cup, incredibly beating New Zealand in a super over after the greatest ever final ended in a tie at Lord's.
A crazy finish to England's run chase, which saw chaos reign and Ben Stokes drag England to within a single run of victory, was not enough to separate the two sides, with an unprecedented super over called upon to crown a champion.
England's over at the crease was executed brilliantly, with Jos Buttler and Stokes combining for two boundaries and 15 runs, setting New Zealand the target of 16 runs from six balls to win the tournament — if scores were still level after the super over, England would win as it hit more boundaries throughout the match.
New Zealand's over started well, as Jofra Archer bowled a sloppy wide before Jimmy Neesham raced back for a sharp two. Neesham then dispatched the third ball into the stands over mid-wicket, and it looked like New Zealand's to lose.
With seven to win from four balls, Neesham took two, then two again, then a single, leaving Martin Guptill the task of hitting two runs from one ball to win the World Cup.
Guptill made good contact, sending the ball sailing out into the leg side, sparking a race between himself and the ball flying back towards his stumps from the outfield — the ball won.
Buttler broke the stumps, New Zealand finished on 15 runs from its super over and England was champion of the world.
"So much hard work has gone in, this is what we aspire to be," man-of-the-match Stokes said.
"I don't think there will ever be a better game in cricket than that."
Buttler said he felt England always had a chance if he and fellow super-over hero Stokes stayed together.
"I thought I'd seen everything in cricket, and that game was just ridiculous. Hard to put it in words," he said.
"We wanted to take it deep. We didn't feel like the run rate would be an issue if we were both there.
"Don't know what happened there in the end. Unbelievable."
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, who was named man of the tournament, said his players were gutted.
"The guys are shattered at the moment. It's obviously devastating at the moment," Williamson said.
"They've played at such a high level and given us every chance to go on and win this comp, but it's pretty tough to swallow at this stage."
It looked destined to be England's day from early in the hosts' run chase — the first ball of the innings, in fact.
In-form Jason Roy was struck on the pads by a brutal Trent Boult inswinger, but umpire Marais Erasmus turned the appeal down. A New Zealand review found that the ball would have hit leg stump, but not quite by enough to overturn the decision.
It started a trend of misfortune for New Zealand, as England's openers played and missed and edged to safety a number of times in the early overs. Then when Roy or Jonny Bairstow got a rare bad ball, it was put away.
Roy finally fell to a Matt Henry ripper — one of many — edging through to keeper Tom Latham. Bairstow and Joe Root then took their time to settle the innings down, until the latter found the pressure to be too much and fell blazing at a wide delivery from Colin de Grandhomme.
The lack of pace on the ball from de Grandhomme caused England's middle order some problems, but it was the express pace of Lockie Ferguson that did for Bairstow when he chopped on to his own stumps.
De Grandhomme's tight bowling piled the pressure onto England, and captain Eoin Morgan was copping a barrage of short balls. It would prove his undoing, as Neesham's first ball drew a rash cut shot that was quite brilliantly caught by Ferguson at deep point.
At that stage, Stokes and Buttler came together at the crease and the pair conspired to set the game up for England. They batted with patience and purpose, frustrating New Zealand's bowlers and slowly ticking off the runs required.
They each moved to half-centuries, seemingly taking the game away from New Zealand in the process. And then, another twist.
Buttler fell in similar fashion to Morgan, well caught at deep point, before Chris Woakes came and went swinging hard. At that stage, England still needed 39 more runs from 23 balls, with four wickets in hand.
Liam Plunkett came and swung, briefly successfully, before his cameo ended with England still needing 22 off nine balls.
Stokes then should have followed him, in what would have been a potentially killer blow — he skied a ball straight down Boult's throat at long on, but the Black Caps quick lost his bearings and stood on the boundary rope, meaning no wicket and six runs instead.
It threatened to be the match's decisive moment. It turned only to be just one of many.
The last over was out of this world. England needed 15 off it, and Stokes declined singles from the first two balls to keep the strike.
Then, chaos. He slog-swept Boult into the stands for six to make it 9 off three, before hitting the fourth ball out to deep mid-wicket for what looked to be two — only for the returning throw to strike a diving Stokes's bat and deflect all the way to the rope, earning him six runs all up.
With three from two required, a run out kept the penultimate ball to a single. Stokes needed two from the final ball, but more excellent New Zealand fielding meant only a single — and a tie — would result.
Having scored just 183 in the 2015 World Cup final, New Zealand had an immediate chance to improve on that when Kane Williamson won the toss and chose to bat.
Opener Guptill has failed to pass 35 since the first innings of the tournament, but looked in command as he drilled two fours and a six en route to 19 off 18, before he was trapped LBW by Woakes in the seventh over and wasted a review to boot.
His fellow opener, Tom Nicholls, knuckled down with captain Williamson, and the pair appeared to be laying the platform for a big score as they put on a steadfast 74 for the second wicket.
Then, with the game meandering along, Plunkett got a cross-seam delivery to nip away and Williamson feathered a catch into Buttler's gloves.
Nicholls carried on to reach his first half-century of the tournament but he chopped onto his stumps one over later to give Plunkett his second of the day.
Ross Taylor and Latham struggled to get the team out of first gear as they put on 23 for the fourth wicket. Then, at the start of the 34th over, Guptill's failed review came back to bite the Black Caps when Taylor was given out LBW to Mark Wood to a ball that was sailing well over the top of the stumps.
Neesham briefly boosted the run rate in a 19-run cameo before he too was undone by Plunkett's cross-seamer.
Heading into the final 10 overs, the death bowling of Archer and Woakes came to the fore, and de Grandhomme failed to find the boundary once before popping a catch to mid-off off the bowling of Woakes in the 47th over.
Two overs later, Latham sliced a slow full toss to mid-off, ending his innings just shy of a half-century.
Archer finally got his wicket when the fourth-last ball of the innings hit the stumps of Henry, meaning Archer had 1-11 off his final three overs of an impressive campaign, until that fateful super over.
THE STAR
On a number of occasions in this World Cup, Ben Stokes would lead the rearguard action to push England towards victory. Joined by Jos Buttler for a vital 110 run 5th wicket partnership, Stokes would finish on 84 not out, off just 98 balls, and would single handedly face the final 9 balls, scoring 21 to tie the match. Rightfully so, Stokes was named Man of the Match, the first English player to do so.
THE MOMENT
Two moments within the last two overs of the England innings dictated the result more than anything. First, Ben Stokes hit a Jimmy Neesham ball towards the long on boundary, and was caught by Trent Boult, who stepped back onto the rope. If he managed to hold the catch England would have required 22 from 8, instead the equation dropped to just 16 off 8 with a set batsman at the crease. England's World Cup hopes still hung in the balance. Just five balls later, with the equation now 9 off 3, Stokes would hit a ball towards the deep mid wicket boundary. Martin Guptil would attack the ball and send a rocket through towards Tom Latham the New Zealand wicket-keeper. Ben Stokes, desperate to maintain strike and take two runs off the tally, would dive to make his ground. Unintentionally, the ball would hit his bat, and race to the third man boundary. Two had turned into six, the equation became just 3 off 2. Two absolutely drama filled moments which would dictate New Zealand's fate, and breath life into the English.
THE FAILURE
There were absolutely no way of labeling any player who contributed to arguably the greatest ODI of all time a failure. Everyone played their part, whether a composed 30 from Kane Williamson, or the brilliant economical bowling displays, or a match defining innings like Ben Stokes'. The failure is at the hands of the ICC. Although the rules were clear at the start of the day, after one of the all time classic ODI matches, cricket should have clearly been the winner. Tied, twice after the super-over, one would suggest that New Zealand should have won on the basis that they bowled out England in their 50 overs, whilst only losing 8 wickets themselves. Instead, the rule dictated that the side that had hit the most boundaries would be declared champions. Rightfully so, to the rules, England were declared the champions by -2 wickets, and by 9 more boundaries. Perhaps, it was the perfect opportunity to share the trophy. It does not seem fair that New Zealand lose under such circumstances.
THE PHOTO
WHAT NEXT - After 6 weeks, the World Cup is finally over. England will head into the Ashes with confidence, whilst New Zealand head to Sri Lanka for two tests and three T20I's.
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