England Win Dramatic Maiden World Cup
England have won their first cricket World Cup in the most spectacular fashion; they claimed their maiden World Cup after the two teams both scored 241 in their innings resulting in a Super Over.
Both England and New Zealand were looking to win their first World Cup. New Zealand won the toss and decided to put a total on the board. The plan was to put pressure on the hosts with runs becoming increasingly difficult to come by.
New Zealand lost early wickets but managed to form important partnerships in the middle of their innings with opener Nicholls and Latham providing much needed stability. They crawled their way to 241 which seemed to be below par.
England would look to chase down this score with the power that is evident throughout their line-up. They did not get off to the best start with Jason Roy falling early to the bowling of Henry. Bairstow, Root and captain Morgan also fell with little contributions. England’s innings was rescued by the partnership between man of the match Ben Stokes and the enigmatic Jos Butler. The 100 run partnership brought England close to winning their first World Cup, but the wicket of Butler threw a spanner in the works. Plunkett fell cheaply and Archer was out first ball.
It came down to England needing 15 runs off the final over. England got a slice of luck with Stokes hitting a six. England got lucky again by scampering for a two, with the ball then bouncing off Stokes’bat and running away for four. England needed 3 off of two balls; Rashid was run out leaving England needing two off one ball. Again, England managed one run with Wood being ran out going for the second run.
This left the scores tied and consequently leading to a Super Over.
Super Over!
One over for both England and New Zealand would determine the winner.
England went first. Butler and Stokes walked out to face the single over. With two boundaries and quick ones and twos England managed to score 15 runs off the over.
New Zealand needed 16 runs to win. Guptill and Neesham walked out of the iconic pavilion at Lords looking to chase down the total. England gave 24-year-old Jofra Archer the ball; he started off his over in the worst possible way with a wide. Neesham cleared the boundary on Archer’s third ball. The New Zealand pair found themselves needing two from one ball. They scampered through for one; Guptill turned for the second run but was run out after brilliant fielding from Jason Roy and wicketkeeping from Jos Butler.
New Zealand were one run short with both scoring 15 off the over. The winner was then determined by the number of boundaries scored in their respective innings. England had hit 26 in their 50 overs whilst New Zealand only managed 17.
England’s First World Cup
This is England’s first World Cup and first World Cup final since 1992. For Eoin Morgan and the rest of the team this is the culmination of four years of hard work after a disappointing campaign in the last World Cup.
This World Cup victory was the desired result after the total reshuffling of England’s One Day International set up. “So much hard work has gone in, this is what we aspire to be” said man of the match Stokes.
This achievement was beyond even Eoin Morgan’s wildest dreams, “I'd never allow myself to imagine winning the World Cup. Cynical me!”
England have solidified themselves as the best team in the world and will look to continue their outstanding work over the past four years. They will look to solidify themselves as a great One Day International team and will look to continue their ascension in over the coming years.
