England’s men’s cricket team snatched an unlikely victory from the jaws of defeat on Sunday evening against a slick New Zealand side.
Led by an unbeaten 88 from redheaded all-rounder Ben Stokes, England recovered from a precarious 86-4 to match their opponents’ first innings total of 241 runs from 50 overs.
Watched by an understandably tense yet untypically raucous Lords crowd, England’s win was eventually sealed when, following the conclusion of the “Super Over” which also finished level at 15 runs a piece, the result was decided by the total number of boundary fours and sixes hit by each side throughout the entirety of the match. With England hitting 26 compared to New Zealand’s 17, the hosts were crowned world champions in the most inconceivably dramatic fashion.
Heading into this match New Zealand appeared to be growing in confidence as the tournament progressed. Following earlier heavy defeats to both Australia and England during the ten-team group stages, New Zealand’s arrival at the final seemed but a distant dream. However, following a commanding bowling and fielding display against pre-tournament second favourites (3-1) India in the semi final, New Zealand’s previous 118 run defeat to England was all but forgotten. After all this was the final, and any fan of any sport will tell you that nothing can lift a team like the opportunity to write their names in history.
Standing in the way of New Zealand were pre-tournament favourites (5-2) and hosts England. Looking to claim a long-awaited first world title, England’s consistently dismal performances in previous world cups arguably counted against them. When England last staged the event in 1999, they crashed out in the pool stages with minnows Zimbabwe qualifying at their expense. In 2015, defeat to Bangladesh saw England once again fail to reach the four-team knockout phase. However on this occasion, bolstered by their number 1 world ranking, England began this tournament with a heightened level of expectation.
Although favourites, England didn’t always look like prospective finalists. Following early defeats to Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia, England needed to win their final two group games in order to ensure that they progressed to the knock out stages. Following a brace of victories over India and then eventual fellow finalists New Zealand, England then secured a place in the 2019 Cricket World Cup with a comfortable 8 wicket victory over Australia, ahead of The Ashes series which begins on 1stAugust.
This year sees Australia bring the urn over to England after winning it down under in the 2017/18 Ashes series, with Australia outplaying England in the previous series, winning 4 of the 5 tests, with the other ending as a draw. That said, England have won 5 of the last 8 series and 4 of the last 4 on home soil, so head into the Cricket World Cup as slight favourites to reclaim The Ashes.
Since England’s dramatic final win on Sunday however, oddschecker now has England at 5/6 odds-on favourites, with Australia at 15/8 and a draw priced at 13/2. Given the dramatic nature of yesterday’s final, cricket has reminded us that anything can happen in sport, so for further updates be sure to subscribe to our weekly newsletter by entering your email address below.
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