Twitter Reactions: England become the new World Champions after a real humdinger at Lord’s

Cricket was the real winner in the end. But spare of thought for New Zealand!

By CricTracker Staff verified

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Chris Woakes
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Chris Woakes. (Photo Source: Twitter)

What a game! This was the closest ever World Cup final by a mile. It took the most boundaries hit by each team to decide the champions of this tournament. Jofra Archer you beauty! Ben Stokes has redeemed himself after that dreadful last over in the 2016 World T20 to take the game deep and what about that overthrow four which hit his bat and went for four? Surely, the luck was with England. But spare of thought for New Zealand and Kane Williamson!

Trent Boult delivered a decent super over but still conceded 15. Jos Buttler and Stokes were once again at the helm. And then James Neesham literally took his team home to bring it down to 3 off just 2 balls. But Archer kept his cool in the end and that throw from Bairstow and perfect collect from Jos Buttler to run Martin Guptill out etched England’s name in the history. England have won the 50-over World Cup for the first time! Wow! New Zealand hard luck in the end.

New Zealand were never going to make it easy for England in the tricky chase. And Trent Boult made life tough for Jason Roy off the very first delivery. He pinned the batsman in front of the stumps and for some strange reason, the umpire ruled it not-out only for the Kiwis to review. The hawk-eye showed umpire’s call on the hitting and the on-field official should’ve given it out.

Nevertheless, both the England openers rode their luck only for Matt Henry to break through with a peach of a delivery to Roy. Jonny Bairstow kept batting but finally played on one from Lockie Ferguson. The Kiwis tightened the screws superbly from here on and Joe Root’s wicket before also added to the pressure. Eoin Morgan never looked settled in the middle and the short ball barrage at him worked wonders.

James Neesham got him off the first ball of the spell and at 86/4 in the 24th over England looked doomed. But Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes calmed their nerves by rotating the strike and kept the team alive. The duo played with utmost patience and got the boundaries whenever needed. The England fans also got their voices back as they completed the century partnership.

England restrict New Zealand courtesy brilliant bowling

After opting to bat first, the duo of Martin Guptill and Henry Nicholls played out the new ball with some luck. The former seemed to have found back his touch but Chris Woakes pinned him in front of the stumps with a beautiful delivery in the seventh over. But Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls continued to bat and stitched a partnership to make the hosts nervous.

After scoring 33 runs in the first 10 overs, New Zealand recovered to reach 91/1 after 20 overs. But just when they were looking dangerous, Liam Plunkett broke through with a brilliant ball to get the Kiwi skipper. Nicholls looked good with some of his shots but was bluffed by Plunkett with a cross seaming delivery on 55.

Ross Taylor too soon got out on 15 courtesy a poor decision from Marais Erasmus and New Zealand found themselves in a hole at 141/4. This is where Tom Latham decided to dig in and take the innings deep. He built up small partnerships with James Neesham and Colin de Grandhomme. Both the all-rounders were expected to play a crucial knock but they were foxed by variations from the opposition bowlers.

Woakes and Jofra Archer didn’t give an inch to the Kiwis in the death overs as they could only score 62 runs in the 60 deliveries. New Zealand finished on 241 runs for the loss of eight wickets after 50 overs as Woakes and Plunkett returned with three-wicket hauls.

Eventually, it took a super over which also was tied to decide the World Champions and for the second consecutive time, New Zealand had to come second.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

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