The Cricket World Cup
Images courtesy of Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com
The Cricket World Cup
The Cricket World Cup came to England and turned out to be a tournament
to remember, capped off by one of the closest games ever at any level. And,
when the dust settled, it was England holding the trophy aloft thanks to a
brilliant innings from Ben Stokes and fine support from Jos Buttler.
This England team has gradually
grown into the number 1 fifty over
side in the world over the past four
years which is an achievement
in itself and here they had their
crowning moment. England are
World Champions in this format for
the first time.
The match itself was played to
the style New Zealand would have
liked with a steady score defended
by some superb bowling from the
likes of de Grandhomme, Ferguson
and Neesham. They seemed set for
victory with a few overs remaining
8 Issue 50
but England managed to claw back
to force a super over.
Buttler and Stokes then did the
job with the bat and Jofra Archer
recovered from early pressure to
hold firm and clinch the victory,
albeit the scores were tied with the
number of boundaries over the
course of the match proving to be the
decider. It was incredibly harsh on a
New Zealand side that have played
consistently high-quality cricket
over a sustained period.
For England now is the time to
enjoy their victory and some of their
performances in this competition
will be remembered for a long time.
The Australia semi-final in particular
was a combination of terrific bowling
and nerveless batting, serving to
highlight just how good this team
really is.
Speaking after the match, England
batsman Joe Root said, “Wow! It’s
hard to sum it up. What a day, what
a tournament. Everyone has done
everything asked of them. We have
performed under pressure. It was
almost written in the stars for Ben
Stokes. He’s had such a tough time.
I’m so proud of him and pleased for
him and his family.”