England found cricketing bliss by dint of divine intervention and Ben Stokes’ brilliance, cracking a code that proved indecipherable for 44 years as history sliced through teary-eyed New Zealand’s grasp in a final that will be remembered for ages.
England won it via Super Over onboundary count.
The game twisted this way andthat till the very last ball, and beyond. Fittingly enough, the finale,inarguably the most gripping in the tournament’s history, unfolded in a venuethat is stepped in history.
In the end, it was England’ssuperior boundary count 22 fours and two sixes compared 16 by New Zealand thatsaw the ‘Cup’ finally coming to its spiritual home.
It was a good final delivery fromBarbados-born Jofra Archer and Stokes’ steely performance in a tricky 242-runchase that sent 60 percent of those present at the Lord’s into raptures.
The other 40 percent had tears intheir eyes for 11 committed souls who put their everything on the line. Theydid everything required from them but yet finished second best for the secondtime in four years.
The Indians cried, so did thePakistanis and the Afghans; they wanted to see crickets nicest men come first.It didn’t happen, but they played a final to remember.
Batting second in Super Overs isalways tough and even tougher if Archer is the bowler at the other end.JeemyNeesham had other ideas as he got 14 but Archer’s final delivery on theblockhole saw Martin Guptill failed to complete a second run.
Needing 15 in the last over,Stokes played two dots and then smoked Boult over deep mid-wicket for six, thengot a lucky overthrow while running a double that fetched them six runs. Thatis where Providence intervened.
With three needed off two balls,Stokes ran a desperate two but non-striker Adil Rashid was way short of hisground, leaving the hosts to score two runs off the last ball.
Boult kept one full on Stokes’legs and he could only hit towards the long-on and two was never on as thebowler effected an easy run-out under pressure. Stokes was left stranded on 84as England were all out on 241, paving the way for the first ever Super Over ofthe World Cup.
Buttler (59 off 60 balls) andStokes came together when England were precariously placed at 86 for four but theywere not circumspect in their approach and kept the scoreboard ticking withsingles and doubles. They waited for the occasional loose deliveries.
Buttler played some uppish drivesin his six fours as they added 110 runs for the fifth wicket. Stokes was anable ally as they ran hard between the wickets and dropped anchor at one end.
Once Buttler was snuffed out byFerguson and Williamson had to use one of his all-rounders, Stokes targetedNeesham to bring down the equation to 39 off 24 balls.
However, it was Ferguson, whoagain got one to climb big on Chris Woakes off his last over and Latham heldhis nerve to pouch the aerial ball to leave England at 203 for 6.
Having bowled the short ball,Ferguson used the slow cutters well to finish his spell with 3 for 50 off 10overs.
With not many runs to defend,Williamson carefully bowled Colin de Grandhomme (1/25 from 10 overs) at one gowhile using others in short bursts.
Jason Roy survived a touch and goleg before appeal off Trent Boult before Matt Henry saw him off with a peach offuller length delivery which was snapped up Tom Latham behind the stumps.
Joe Root (7 off 30 balls)struggled all through before flashing at de Grandhomme delivery for Lathambehind the stumps.
Jonny Bairstow (36) grafted onbefore Ferguson’s extra pace and the bounce saw him drag one back.
When Eoin Morgan (9 off 22 balls)looked intimidated by Ferguson’s pace and was moving towards leg-stump andfinally flashed one off Jimmy Neesham to make it 86 for 4 before Buttler andStokes joined forces.
Batting first, New Zealand onceagain put up a modest batting performance under overcast conditions to post 241for eight as the England pace unit kept on asking probing questions.
Henry Nicholls (55 off 77 balls)and skipper Kane Williamson (30, 53 balls) added 74 runs for the second wicketafter a fabulous first spell from Chris Woakes (3/37 in 9 overs) and JofraArcher (1/42 in 10 overs) on a helpful Lord’s track.
While Woakes had the best figuresstatistically, it was the tall Liam Plunkett (3/42 in 10 overs), who used thecross-seam variations effectively to stop the Black Caps on their tracks.
They would now be hoping thattheir pace bowlers use the conditions as well as the England bowlers did in thefirst half.
Only Tom Latham (47 off 56 balls)contributed in the middle overs in another mediocre effort from the NewZealanders on another big day.
Martin Guptill (19 off 18 balls)had started on a positive note but after surviving a caught behind appeal offArcher, he wasn’t lucky the second time when Woakes got one to slightly shapein and he was caught plumb in-front.
Williamson and Nicholls, justlike the India game, were trying to preserve their wicket with occasionalboundaries. They were steady during their 16.2 over stand without being spectacular.
It was Plunkett, who got the allimportant wicket of Williamson when the New Zealand skipper tried to play awayfrom his body and the nick was snapped by Buttler.
Plunkett then removed another setbatsman Nicholls with a cross seam delivery that had the left-hander playing onwhile shaping up for a big shot.