They say to was the best ever World Cup final. I say it was the best ever game of cricket. Period. So many twists and turns, so much drama, so much of emotions – anger, despair, frustration, disappointment, excitement, joy, heartbreak, and much more. As a fan, I didn’t think I was capable of feeling so many different emotions at once. I can’t imagine what the players must’ve gone through that night.
We’re talking about the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup final where the hosts England took on New Zealand, both teams having never lifted the prestigious trophy in the past, since inception of this tournament way back in 1975. England had come close in the past but it was New Zealand’s first final. Either way, we were set to have a new champion!
Both teams had done brilliantly to get here so far, with England knocking out Australia and New Zealand knocking out India in the semi-finals, both past World Cup winning teams. Then, New Zealand’s Kane Williamson wins the toss and elects to bat first, as the players walked out to achieve all glory on the 14th of July 2019!
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Henry Nicholls was the only player who got past a score of fifty and New Zealand posted 241/8 – a much lower score than the tournament average but they would’ve fancied their chances as they had just won a low scoring semi final against India as well. In the chase, the middle-order stalwarts Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler proved their importance in the side as they got past scores of 50 each!
Stokesy was out there till the end, but just narrowly. Each time, we thought his time at the crease had ended, but we were proved wrong. He was caught at the boundary by Trent Boult only for the latter’s leg to touch the rope and be declared a six. Then, he dived into the crease to complete a run but the ball deviated off his bat for England to get a controversial 4 additional runs.
Everything that happened on the ground that day is something you’ve probably never seen in an ODI before and that’s what made it the best every cricketing game in history; we’re lucky that game turned out to be a World Cup final. At the end, England needed 15 runs off the final over and they only managed 14, tying the game and showing that nothing could separate these two world-class teams on the day.
However, one’s a winner and one’s a loser and that’s how sport is, so we had to go on to a super over to try and separate the two teams. The outcome? After a topsy-turvy over apiece, the super over was tied as well! However, the harsh rules of the game meant we couldn’t have another super over but instead, England was awarded the World Cup because of more boundaries during the match than New Zealand – 26 vs 17!
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It probably still haunts the Kiwis, one year later, but the cricketing world has nothing but praise and adoration for the spirit with which they played the game. They were declared as losers on the day for no real fault of their own but they gained respect from the world because of how well they accepted the loss. The on-air commentator said it right – “Absolute ecstasy for England, agony for New Zealand.”
Today, one year later, I still stand by my words and say we were treated to the best ever game of cricket, which was played on the same day that the Wimbledon finals took place – which also proved to be a epic finale. England lifted the ICC World Cup for the first time ever and for those who want to make the trip down memory lane, take a look (I’ll change my name if it doesn’t give you goosebumps):
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