Cricket news round-up – 15 July: England edge out New Zealand on boundaries to win their maiden World Cup

England beat New Zealand in what could be the greatest ever World Cup final, at Lord’s, to win their first World Cup; Kane Williamson rued uncontrollable factors that hurt New Zealand in the final; Zimbabwe beat Ireland by eight wickets; and Jacques Kallis and Simon Katich parted ways with KKR.

England are the new world champions

In a game that will be remembered by many as the greatest ODI in the history of cricket, England shattered New Zealand’s dreams by denying the Kiwis their first World Cup en route getting to their own maiden title at Lord’s on July 14. The scores were tied after the completion of 50 overs and also after the end of the one-over tie-breaker – the Super Over – and England were rewarded the Cup because they had hit more boundaries (26) than New Zealand (17).

New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat. Henry Nicholls’ 55 and Tom Latham’s 47 carried their team to 241/8 – a modest total from a distance but a competitive one on a sluggish pitch that apparently slowed down with every over. Kane Williamson (30), Ross Taylor (15) and Martin Guptill (19) all got starts but none of them could convert into a match-defining score. Liam Plunkett and Chris Woakes got three wickets each.

England were cruising at one stage even after finding themselves 86/4 earlier as Jos Buttler (59) and the Player of the Match Ben Stokes (84*) added 110 runs for the fifth wicket and kept the asking rate in check. But Buttler’s dismissal off Lockie Ferguson brought about a slide that left England will 15 to get off the last over to win with two wickets in hand.

Stokes hit a six off Trent Boult, who bowled the 50^th over, and was helped by a deflection off his bat that helped the ball go for four overthrows when the batsmen had already run two runs. With 3 needed off 3, England lost Adil Rashid and Mark Wood off the final two balls of the match to finish on 241 all out. Ferguson and Jimmy Neesham got three wickets apiece.

Then, in the Super Over, Stokes and Buttler hit a boundary each to help England accumulate 15 runs. In reply, Neesham hit a six and collected three twos and a single along with Guptill. With 2 needed off the final ball, Guptill was run out at the striker’s end before he could complete the second. The Super Over was tied and England won on the boundary count.

“It just wasn’t going to be today” – Kane Williamson

The New Zealand captain was left ruing missed opportunities and simple matters of luck that didn’t go their way as they lost their second consecutive World Cup final, at Lord’s. With England needed 15 off the final over, a throw from the deep deflected off Stokes’ bat and ran down to the boundary giving England six runs when there could have been only two. Those four extra runs in the last over of a World Cup final made a huge impact on the outcome of the game.

And when the Kiwis fought back to tie the Super Over, a controversial rule of boundary count was applied to choose the winner of the most important tournament in cricket. “It was a little bit of a shame, wasn’t it? It’s unfortunately the sort of game we play, this sort of thing happens from time to time, you just hope it doesn’t happen in moments like that. It’s pretty tough, but it probably wasn’t going to be for us,” Williamson said after the match, ruing the moments of luck that went England’s way.

“It certainly wasn’t just one extra run. There were so many small parts in that match that could have gone either way as we saw throughout the whole game, but congratulations to England, they have a fantastic game plan and they deserve the victory.”

Kallis, Katich part ways with KKR

Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Jacques Kallis and assistant coach Simon Katich have parted ways with the team after the management decided to reshuffle the coaching set-up. Kallis was appointed coach in 2015 and since then, KKR have made playoffs in three consecutive seasons but missed out in 2019. KKR won 32 out of their 61 games they played under Kallis and Katich.

“Jacques Kallis has been an integral part of the KKR family and will always remain so,” said KKR CEO Venky Mysore. “We will be exploring ways of working with Jacques as we pursue our vision of establishing the Knight Riders brand as a global brand.”

“After nine fantastic years with KKR since 2011, as a player, mentor and Head Coach, it’s time to explore new opportunities,” Kallis said on his departure. “I would to like to thank the owners, management and fellow players for many happy memories.”

Zimbabwe end Ireland tour with a win

After failing to win anything across the five games they played in Ireland, Zimbabwe finished their tour on a high by winning the third T20I by 8 wickets at Bready to tie the three-match series 1-1; one game was abandoned due to rain.

Zimbabwe won the toss and sent Ireland in. Gary Wilson (47), Mark Adair (38) and Greg Thompson (32) helped the team get to a competitive total of 171/9. Kyle Jarvis got three wickets and Tendai Chaatara finished with two.

In reply, half-centuries from Craig Ervine (68 off 47) and Sean Williams (58 off 30) helped Zimbabwe stroll towards the target with 3.2 overs to spare. Brendan Taylor chipped in with 39 off 20.