Cricket world cup 2019 has undoubtedly been an enthralling and a sheer entertainment affair for all cricket aficionados. Two sensational semi final games have given the world the worthy finalists. It’s going to be England vs New Zealand on the 14th of July 2019.
New Zealand beat India in a one-of-its-kind, two day spanned one dayer by 18 runs. Rain affected match was taken on to the reserve day where the play resumed from where it was halted. India showed remarkable resistance when MS Dhoni and R Jadeja came on to bat. New Zealand were better at the end of the day to clinch the victory.
England beat their arch rivals Australia in the second semi final. England was on the front foot throughout the game and never let Australia recover from the initial blow by the England pacers. C Woakes and J Archer, supported by Rashid bowled brilliant spells to bowl them all out in the 49th over, restricting them to 233. England convincingly claimed the victory by 8 wickets. Australia has suffered their first defeat in a world cup semi final in eight matches. They had won in 1975, 1987, 1996, 2003, 2007 and 2015 while the 1999 semi-final against South Africa had ended in a tie.
Both New Zealand and England will look to lift the cup for the first time. The world will witness a new world champion on the 14th. Both the teams displayed refined cricket and befittingly thrashed their opponents in the semi-finals to secure a meriting position in the final.
New Zealand was the runner up in the 2015 WC edition whereas England was knocked out in the group stage of the previous world cup. It is commendable how England has progressed in these years. They have build their team and played exceptional cricket over the years to rightly claim the position as the CWC’19 finalists. England has reached the world cup final after 27 years. Last they played the world cup final was in 1992, against Pakistan.
Since 1992, England has never made it into the semi-finals and has had a dismal run in the world cups. New Zealand on the other hand are 4 times semi-finalists (1992, 1999, 2007, 2011) and were the runners up in 2015.
In their head to head in the round-robin stage, England beat NZ with a comfortable 119 runs. Despite the victory, England captain, Eoin Morgan has labeled them “the hardest side to beat”
“I think New Zealand throughout the whole tournament has been probably the hardest side to beat and the best side in the group stages,” Morgan said as he soaked up the reality of appearing in a World Cup final at home.
“I think their performance in the semifinal was probably their best.
Former England captain, Michael Vaughan had predicted earlier on in the tournament that whoever will beat India will lift the cup. New Zealand and England are the only two teams, which have beaten India and have advanced into the world cup final.
The much-awaited final of the biggest tournament of the cricket is all set to take place at the home of cricket, Lord’s, on 14th July 2019, between the No.1 ranked ODI team (England) and No.3 ranked ODI team (New Zealand).
We wish the very best to both the teams and hope to see a great game.
Image courtesy: Dkoding.in