One of the most thrilling and dramatic ends to a world cup has to be the CWC Final of 2019. The match was closely fought by both the teams, England and New Zealand, and was so close it went down to the super-over. However, the way it finally ended is quite controversial but surely due to it this match will always be remembered by cricket fans around the world. So let’s go back in time to 2019 and relive this incredible match.
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England Vs New Zealand in World Cup Finals
England were always the favorites to win the 2019 world cup owing to the aggressive brand of cricket they started to play after Eoin Morgan became the captain of the team. They had made scoring 400+ a habit and had a good batting lineup. They had defeated arch-rivals Australia in the semi-finals by a convincing margin of 8 wickets.
On the other side, New Zealand were always the underdogs, their team didn’t have superstars as England had but were very smart cricketers who knew how to come back from any situation. They were coming into the finals after defeating a strong Indian side.
New Zealand Bat First
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won the toss and decided to bat first in the all-important match. However, the team weren’t able to put on a big score and ended with a decent total of 241, the key performances being Henry Nicholls’s 55 and Tom Latham’s 47.
The England bowlers did well to restrict them to 241, Chris Woakes and Liam Plunkett took 3 wickets each.
English Chase Goes Wayward
England now had to chase 242 which though didn’t look like a huge task, in a world cup final could prove to be challenging.
And that’s exactly what happened as soon enough the England side was reduced to 86/4. Trent Boult, Matt Henry, and all-rounder Colin De Grandhomme bowled beautifully in the initial stages of the match to dismiss England’s top order.
The Stokes – Butler Show
Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, by far the 2 best batsmen for England put on a crucial partnership to bring England back in the game. They put on a 115-run stand for the 5th wicket and batted together till the 44th over.
New Zealand’s Comeback
That’s when Jos Buttler gets out to Lockie Ferguson and it is up to Ben Stokes to win the match for England, with 46 runs still needed off 31 balls. New Zealand follows this with the wickets of Chris Woakes and Liam Plunkett.
Stoke’s Stroke of Luck
In the 49th over, Stokes hits a ball that goes straight towards Trent Boult at the boundary and what should have been a safe catch, ended up being a six as Boult oversteps the boundary ropes. This six reduces the equation from 22
Last Over Drama
Last over, 15 runs required and to be bowled by Trent Boult, New Zealand’s best pacer.
Stokes is on strike for the first two balls and refuses 2 easy singles
The third ball, he hits the ball for a 6.
Next ball, it is another 6 but not because the ball went over the boundary. In fact, Stokes was taking a double when the ball hits his bat while he was diving, and the ball deflects towards the boundary.
Now the equation goes from 9 off 3 to just 3 runs required off 2 balls.
However, in the next 2 balls, Mark Wood and Adil Rashid both get run out while going for the extra run.
England now need 2 runs off 1 ball to win
Thus, the match is tied. Now the World Cup final had to be decided by a super-over!
Super Over: England Bat
England bat first in the super-over and the 2 batsmen who were in form during the match, Buttler and Stokes come out to bat and make 15 runs.
Super Over: New Zealand Need 16 to Win the World Cup
So that was it New Zealand needed to chase 16 runs in the super-over and the world cup trophy was theirs.
Nessham and Guptill come out to bat, and the over is bowled by Jofra Archer who was not just playing his first-ever world cup but it was just 2 months for him in the England team. He bowls a wide off the first ball and the next three balls Neesham manages to hit him for 10 runs.
5 runs are now required off the next 3 balls and Archer bowls the next two bowls beautifully under pressure conceding just 3 runs
Last ball, 2 runs are needed, and Guptill takes 1 run and he gets run out while taking the second run by Stokes.
Super Over Tied: England Win by the Barest of Margins
Super over is also tied as both teams score exactly 15 runs off it. However, while both teams made the same number of runs in the same number of overs, one team was celebrating while the other looked dejected.
The reason? At the time the rules stated that in the event of a tied super-over, the result would be decided by boundary count, that is the team who hit more boundaries would be declared the winner. England had hit 26 boundaries, while New Zealand had hit only 17.
This rule never got any attention as such an instance happens rarely. However, after this match and the fact that a world cup winner was decided by this dubious rule, it was finally changed.
By the barest of margins 🌍🏆
14.7.19 🗓 7:29pm ⏰#OnThisDay pic.twitter.com/eI0q2ktDVb
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 14, 2020
“England have won the world cup by barest of margins”-Ian Smith
2019 World Cup Final: Match Summary
New Zealand – 241/8 & England – 241
Result – England Win On Boundary Count
England: World Champions
However, even though England won the trophy and were crowned champions, it was the New Zealand team that won the hearts of cricket fans. The team had lost the world cup quite unfortunately, yet the captain Kane Williamson showed no anger, no irritation and kept his head high, and graciously accepted defeat.
2019:
Kane Williamson smiling at the presentation after losing the all important final just because of boundaries!England finally winning it after all the methods and calculation! pic.twitter.com/NzU7DhuV06
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) December 10, 2019
One winner, but two champion teams.#SpiritOfCricket #CWC19Final pic.twitter.com/qOX8R0C7J0
— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) July 14, 2019
That was the story of the most thrilling match in recent ODI history, England’s win in the 2019 world cup was a testament to their 4-year journey leading up to this point. They changed the way they played white-ball cricket and completely overhauled their team. Not only that, they ushered in a new brand of aggressive cricket which they now have started implementing in Test cricket, called Bazball.
With that, we come to the end of this article about the Cricket World Cup 2019 Final, hope you enjoyed reading this article, and we will continue bringing you cricket content like this, till then adios!