England Clinch Maiden World Cup
England Win First World Cup Courtesy Of Dramatic Super-Over.
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| England win World Cup at Lords |
Lords was the setting for the most eagerly anticipated
matches of the cricket season. England and New Zealand knew that they were just
one victory away from rewriting history to become the seventh different na
tion
to lift the ICC Cricket World Cup.
It was Eoin Morgan’s side who managed to sneak over the line
in the end.
Before the tournament started, England were big favourites
to win cricket’s greatest prize. This was based
on their superior form in One-Day International Cricket, post 2015.
The journey began after
Eion Morgan’s side were knocked out of the Group Stages by Bangladesh. Former
England Captain Andrew Strauss replaced Paul Downton as the director of England
Cricket. His aim was to change the way England approached white ball
Cricket.
Strauss’s first job was to build a squad of players who like
to play fearless cricket. So, he started to recruit some young, dynamic players
such as Jason Roy and Jofra archer who had been qualified to play for England
during April and made his debut in against Ireland in May.
Archer’s inclusion in the squad added some fire power to the
bowling attack as he had the ability to consistently bowl at 140kmph. In terms
of his skillset, he had the ability to surprise the batsman with his pace, be
it yorkers or bouncers.
In terms of batting. England approach was to go hard at the top and make use of the first
powerplay. This is where Johnny Bairstow and Roy came to the party. The two openers were outstanding in terms of
getting the team of to a solid start and Bairstow was the second highest run
scorer for England with 532 runs behind Test skipper Joe Root who made 556 and
was the glue in England’s batting line-up.
What was also crucial for England in this World Cup was the
form of all-rounder Ben Stokes. Apart from the controversial boundary in which
came via a deflection off his bat, you couldn’t say he did anything wrong
throughout the whole tournament.
Let us not forget the insane catch he took near the boundary
to dismiss Andile Phelukwayo in the opening game against South Africa in the
opening match of the World Cup. This was one of the greatest catches of all
time. Only Stokes and nobody else would be able to pull this off.
The thing about Stokes Is that he has the ability to make a
to change a game from any position, be it with the bat, ball or in the field. If England were going to stand a chance of winning this tournament, they needed their talented all-rounder firing on or
cylinders and he did not disappoint.
In terms of the spin bowling department, Morgan had a tough
decision to go with the attacking option of wrist spin from Adil Rashid, the
slow left-arm of Liam Dawson or the experienced off spinner in Moeen Ali.
Morgan decided to stick with Ali and Rashid as the had been
England most successful spinners in the past few years. Ali played in five of England’s eleven
matches in this tournament, Rashid played all eleven. Despite being the most
expensive bowler for England in the tournament, the Yorkshire wrist spinner
picked up three important wickets in the semi-final victory against Australia,
including the dangerous Glen Maxwell, to keep Aaron Finch’s side to a
chase-able target of 224.
What is even more special for England based on this victory
is that not only was it their first World Cup victory, but also the fact that
they were top of the ODI rankings before the tournament begun added more
pressure on Morgan’s side to be able to deal with the high expectations of
winning it and that too on home soil as like India and Australia. But the most important thing that Morgan’s
side have shown in these past four years is the pride and passion to deliver a series
of match winning performances and carry that kind of form into a World Cup when
it all matters is just phenomenal and reflects on the hard work that the ECB have
put in terms of reviving ODI cricket in England.
This also was their fourth World Cup Final inside 40 years,
which sums up England’s abysmal record in World Cups over the years.
Looking ahead to India 2023, it would be interesting to see what
England’s approach will be in the four years leading up to that tournament. Will
Eoin Morgan still be in charge? Can England
win back-to back World Cups?
Feature Image: World Cup Trophy found on flickr.com
