England won its maiden ICC Cricket World Cup defeating New Zealand at Lord’s in London on 14th July in what can best be described as the most dramatic match that cricket has ever witnessed.
Batting first, New Zealand scored 241, setting a target of 242 for England to win. England equalled the score in 50 overs, resulting in a tie and in a Super Over being played to decide the winner. A Super Over is when both teams play a single over, a total of six balls, to determine who the winner would be. The team that scores the most number of runs is declared the winner.
In the Super Over, England came in to bat first with Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler coming out to bat. The two scored a total of 15 runs. For New Zealand, Jimmy Neesham and Martin Guptill came out to bat, equalling the score of 15 in their Super Over.
So really, the match was tied two times.
ICC rules stipulate that it such a situation, the team that scores the most boundaries wins the match. England had scored a total of 26 boundaries when compared to New Zealand’s 17, making the hosts the winners of the tournament.
England’s Ben Stokes was awarded the Man of the Match for his brilliant batting prowess.
#WeAreEngland ? pic.twitter.com/4VXFhf5azO
— ICC (@ICC) July 15, 2019
Awards and Statistics from the 2019 World Cup
Kane Williamson, the captain of the New Zealand team, was awarded the Man of the Tournament Award for his performance throughout the series. He also became the highest run scorer as a captain in the history of the tournament.
Indian batting star Rohit Sharma scored the most number of runs in the tournament – 648.
Australian bowling ace Mitchell Johnson took the most number of wickets in the tournament – 27.
Despite the nail-biting thriller, at the end of the day, the sport won. While the Black Caps were unfortunate to lose, they won many hearts and they played like absolute champions.
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