July 2019
World Cup Final: Two champions!
So after a couple of days to recover from that gut wrenching fist clenching nail biting palpable match, I felt I have to write about the game fully cognisant that words will not do justice to what the eyes were able to see.It was the sort of sluggish morning that held no indication of what was to manifest towards the end of day. Overnight and early morning rain had delayed the start by 15 mins. Given that, it seemed prudent that the toss winning captain would choose to bowl.
Kane Williamson chose to bat instead as he was simultaneously wary of chasing 325 in a World Cup final and aware of his team’s strength in defending a score. A fast start from Guptill promised much but he succumbed to Woakes’ accuracy. Henry Nicholls played as controlled a 55 you’ll see in a World Cup final. Williamson looked set to carry from where he left off against India but England’s success in the last 4 years have been largely due to their ability to pick up wickets in the middle overs. Plunkett, Wood and Woakes showed why they are such an efficient unit picking out Kane and Ross and Neesham quickly. In the end a good cameo by Tom Latham carried NZ to 240. It seemed exactly like the India semifinal. NZ must have been very confident going into lunch.
And the start was unusual for England and expected from NZ as Henry and Boult and then Ferguson cranked up pace and bounce and control to leave England at 85 for 4 with Stokes once again left to salvage it. Ben Stokes is a tremendously gifted cricketer and with his newfound zen like focus in the game, is England’s lynchpin. He laboriously carried the innings to the end along with Buttler. But NZ were not ready to give up just yet. They got Buttler and Plunkett and Woakes out quickly. Boult and Henry and Ferguson were squeezing England. Stokes single handedly keep England in the game with big sixes in the last couple of overs but fell agonisingly short of direct victory on the last ball. The Super Over was a continuation of Stokes and Buttler’s batting. When England finished their innings they already knew that if this was tied, they’d win on boundary count as NZ trailed 16-26 which meant NZ needed to win it outright.
The overthrow for 6 runs has been much talked about. I think people have been interpreting the rule literally. My view is batsman always chance one extra run on the throw. It is a risk they are taking knowing they could be run out. So just as it would be fine to run them out, it’s fine for the run to be counted if they don’t get run out. Similarly if the ball hadn’t ricocheted off the bat and didn’t go to the boundary, the batsman are within their rights to run for the overthrow. So I feel 6 runs was fair in the spirit of the game.What made it difficult to logic was the win by boundary count. There’s lots of opinion flying around on it. I think everyone is sure about one thing though, boundary count doesn’t seem to be a fair way to judge result in such a situation. So I hope the ICC take this opportunity provided by this game to review this rule for the future against the backdrop of a real match outcome.
It was an unbelievable match the likes of which haven’t been seen in a World Cup game let alone the final. It was fitting that the two best teams of the World Cup couldn’t really be separated at the end of an extended play. Neither team deserved to lose. New Zealand deserves ovation for the way they handled the result led by their outstanding captain and ambassador Kane who was so justly adjudged Player of the Tournament. England also deserve praise for profusely apologizing and commiserating New Zealand and not being cocky about the result.
It was a great advertisement for the game and rekindles people’s love affair for this format. And contrary to what people say, I believe people won’t forget the game or the manner in which it ended and will always know both teams deserved to be champions irrespective of scores. To watch it live was exhilarating and exhausting in the end.
What a tournament, what a finals!
THE CRICKET ROUND UP 