England have won their first ever World Cup, overcoming New Zealand at Lord’s in extraordinary fashion
England made World Cup history on Sunday as they defeated New Zealand in the nerve-wracking final at Lord’s which saw the two sides tied twice in the game.
With the victory, England became first-time champions in the tournament.
The match took an unexpected and exciting turn at the very last ball when England reached the exact total posted by New Zealand (241 runs) – the first tie in a World Cup final.. That means the game was to be decided by a six-ball shootout known as the super over.
In super over means both teams would get one over each to bat, facing six balls each with a maximum of three batsmen.
In the super over eliminator round, England set a 16-run target for New Zealand which the Kiwis matched evenly.
Both sides finished on 15 so England won due to a tie-break rule because they hit more boundaries – 26 to New Zealand’s 17 – in the entire match.
England reached the World Cup finals after 27 years, being defeated in previous finals against Pakistan in 1992 and earlier by Australia in 1987 and the West Indies in 1979.
“My heart is still racing. It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever won, a great bunch of fellas, a really good family to me,” England’s Jofra Archer said.
Ben Stokes was in tears as England’s players danced around the pitch.
“I’m pretty lost for words. All the hard work over four years, to get here and be champions of the world. It’s an amazing feeling. I’m pretty done,” Stokes said with an expression that mixed elation with bewilderment.
“Playing against New Zealand is always a great event. They are a seriously good team and really good lads. I said to Kane Williamson I’ll be apologising for that for the rest of my life.”
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson was crowned Player of the Tournament and England batsman Ben Stokes awarded Player of the Match.