- All the reaction after an astonishing finish at Lord’s
- Match report: England lift trophy for the first time
- Boult and New Zealand too good to be called dark horses again
- Lord’s the perfect venue for greatest one-day game ever played
- ‘This is England’: nation unites to celebrate
England have won the World Cup. It feels good to write those words and to soak in the outpouring of joy that comes with their thrilling victory over New Zealand. So let’s try to sum up:
Here’s another video to savour (or to endure if you’re watching in New Zealand) covering England’s slightly shaky route to the final.
And some more ...
Monday’s Daily MAIL: “Kiss That Says: We’re On Top Of The World” #bbcpapers#tomorrowspaperstodaypic.twitter.com/5gF3V7vIWb
Monday’s Daily TELEGRAPH: “Who said cricket was boring?” #bbcpapers#tomorrowspaperstodaypic.twitter.com/FaiAFRzFP4
Monday’s Daily EXPRESS: “Alarm At 500,000 Carers With No Training” #bbcpapers#tomorrowspaperstodaypic.twitter.com/20wcLXpv1R
Anyway, to borrow from Barry Davies, frankly who cares? It’s all about England today, so let’s just say, for the sake of argument, that this is the best game ever. (And of course, New Zealand played an amazing part and were bloody unlucky.)
The front pages look good.
Winner of the correct front-page headline after England's WC win is shared by: The Financial Times, Daily Mirror and Daily Star, all of whom went with 'Champagne Super Over'.
Guardian et al went earnestly informative. The Times have a Djokovic pic. WTF? pic.twitter.com/H00cuwslR6
I had a modest bet with myself that this would be the Sun back page headline. https://t.co/Lp2zD1QuYd
The claims for Sunday’s final to be the greatest game of one-day cricket ever played are stacking up. It’s hard to beat the super over format for drama but the game’s answer to the penalty shootout is always going to be quite rare.
The 1999 semi-final between Australia and South Africa was tied and has to be rank alongside this final. The two best teams in the competition were deadlocked, with the Australians going through because they had beaten the Proteas earlier in the tournament. The climax of the semi – like Sunday’s final – came with a run out, albeit one of the most comic in cricketing history.
Another way that Rees-Mogg might have looked at the England win was this run down of the multicultural mix of the team and concluded that it says a lot about what is great about Britain.
To win worldcup #England gathered players from all over the world
. pic.twitter.com/Dsx5TxXEcG
Who says sport and politics don’t mix? Just when you’re enjoying England’s historic win, Jacob Rees-Mogg pops up to spoil the fun by claiming it as a triumph for Brexit (or something like that). His tweet that England “don’t need Europe to win” misses the point on a number of levels, not least that England’s captain is Irish. And he’s not the backstop either.
Elliott Kime has written it up for your further reading.
Related: Not cricket: Jacob Rees-Mogg criticised for World Cup comments
You can relive the win by watching our video here ...
How about this stat? Not that surprising in some ways, but deeply satisfying all the same.
England become the first country to win the Cricket World Cup, the football World Cup, and the Rugby World Cup.
⚽️ 1966
2003
2019#CWC19Final#ENGvNZpic.twitter.com/u3rDHufrrf
Long live cricket! What a way to hand over the blog. Thanks Rob. This is Martin Farrer taking over in Sydney where the first full day of England’s reign as world champions is just beginning.
I had a traumatic night following the match, having fallen asleep towards the end of New Zealand’s innings, then going to bed and waking up again to read on the blog that Stokes was single-handedly trying to drag England over the line. I managed to get up and watch the last over and super overs. Suffice to say I couldn’t get back to sleep after that ...
Drama at the Lord's! After a thrilling finish and the first-ever Super Over, England win their first World Cup. #ENGvNZ#CWC19Finalhttps://t.co/lVLs2t3pm9
And with that I’ll hand you over to the capable hands of Martin Farrer. Goodbye and thanks for sharing your thoughts. I can’t summarise better than this email from Abhijato Sensarma …
This was the most poetic final fixture in the history of cricket; the match had the most skilful cricket ever seen; we witnessed the most thrilling tie, twice; everyone experienced the most cathartic emotions at the end of it. Needless to say, this was the greatest ODI match of all time. Cheers to everyone involved in playing, covering and following this tournament. Long live cricket!
Our man in Nelson reckons the Kiwis are taking the defeat quite well …
Related: 'That was a bit of a shame, eh': Kiwis endure understated agony of World Cup defeat
Was this the greatest day of simultaneous live sport in the history of Britain? A few frazzled brains in Guardian towers would attest to that. “Today should go down as an absolutely historic, mental, mind-boggling day,” writes Kanishk Srinivasan. “Not just in cricket, but all sporting history. I was watching the Wimbledon finals on my phone and this insane game on my laptop simultaneously. And England needed two runs from that last ball EXACTLY AS DJOKOVIC AND FEDERER WERE TAKING IT IN TO A TIEBREAK. I couldn’t breathe, and I was pulling my hair out, and frantically deciding which one deserves my primary attention. At the end of the day, I had to go take a 20-minute walk just to settle my nerves. That being said, well played England, and New Zealand absolutely deserved it as much as England (if not that teeny tiny bit more).”
Related: England win a World Cup … and for once the nation really was watching | Barney Ronay
Amid all the euphoria, Simon Thomas has taken a moment to remember the late, great Dan Lucas. “Tell you what, Rob,” he writes. “Our much loved OBO guy, Dan Lucas would have loved this. And would have described it brilliantly. Miss you, Dan.” We all miss you Dan, and we’ll never forget you mate.
Related: Dan Lucas, Guardian cricket and rugby union writer, dies aged 31
The Queen is on Twitter, and tweeting her congratulations to the glorious champions …
A message from Her Majesty The Queen:
“Prince Philip and I send our warmest congratulations to the England Men’s Cricket team after such a thrilling victory in today’s World Cup Final.” (1/2) #CricketWorldCuppic.twitter.com/FEKsFFe40s
Related: ‘It means everything’: Morgan hopes World Cup win can have lasting impact
Theresa May is dancing again. It must be a momentous day …
Well done @EnglandCricket! #CWC19Final#ENGvsNZpic.twitter.com/D3aGf1eTU2
Even the suits behind the Cricket World Cup are in jovial spirits tonight …
The greatest cricketer of all time - and Sachin Tendulkar #CWC19Finalpic.twitter.com/fQBmfrJoCJ
“Myself, my three daughters and cricket mad hubby … all of us die-hard Pakistan fans …. are currently in Paris where everyone is obsessed with some tournament called Wimbledon,” writes Natasha Shoaib. “Walking around Le Marais on Bastille day we wandered into an English pub for a pit stop during the final 10 overs, put on data and followed ball by ball commentary online. As neutrals we were supporting the Kiwis and were on the edge of our seats for the last hour of the match. What an incredible match and fitting end to one of the most exciting cricket world cups ever. The Kiwis have won our hearts … I will still wear my Pak green team shirt … but am getting the name “Williamson” put on the back!”
Kane Williamson was given a standing ovation as he left his press conference after the final, his dignity in defeat a lesson to us all.“Just one of those things,” was his take on a loss as unfortunate as you can imagine. His reaction to learning he had been named player of the tournament summed him up …
Kane Williamson getting told he’s the player of the tournament cracks me up! “ME?!”
His smile Kanewilliamson #Kanewilliamson
pic.twitter.com/xMWgy1KOEw
5️⃣ 7️⃣ 8️⃣ runs
Captain Fantastic#KaneWilliamson is the #CWC19 Player of the Tournament! pic.twitter.com/k6ragoJZ9Y
The sun was out when England won the World Cup. It had just emerged from behind the freckles of white cloud and was shining low through the bright blue over the Grand Stand. The shadows stretched over the grass all the way to the wicket, the flags licked in the evening breeze, the pavilion glowed soft terracotta. The old place looked pretty as a picture, exactly how we see it in winter, when we are thinking back on the games we saw and the games we played in the long, warm days of summer. For the 11 men in this England team, the thousands in the ground, the millions watching on TV, that is how they will always see it in their minds in years to come when they talk about this match: the greatest World Cup final; heck, maybe even the greatest game of one-day cricket ever played.
Where better for England’s transgenerational trauma to end than the home of cricket, writes Andy Bull. Read his full story here.
Jason Roy has a simple take on the day’s proceedings …
That’s a game of cricket!
That’s the best game I’ve ever seen and the last hour was the worst and most nervous I’ve ever felt. WHAT A WIN!!!!! @englandcricket officially World Cup champions, I feel like crying/singing/dancing/hugging/screaming all at once!!!! ❤️
“What the bloody hell just happened?” writes Guy Hornsby. “I started the match in London, ended it up in Manchester, and I still can’t get my head around what went down. I don’t think I was even that tense when my daughter was born. I shed a tear – of relief – at the end, because I couldn’t take another ball. Then I forgot we actually won. And that’s first the first cricket game my two-year old daughter has ever watched. So tough on the Black Caps, but my god we DID IT. Thanks to all the OBOers and Guardian writers. It’s been magic because of all of you. I may need a week off work. These guys have the Ashes in a few weeks.”
Some of the emails from our loyal OBO community have been almost as good as the cricket today. The tales from far flung corners, the camaraderie and the pure love of the game have been quite something. Stephen Wilcox encapsulates the drama in three short sentences. “We left our B&B in Ravenna with England guaranteed losers,” he writes. “At the end of the street we passed someone in a restaurant saying 3 from 2. And getting back after eating – this is worthy of an epic.”
Great pub quiz question alert? What have Mark Wood and the Charlton brothers got in common? Guardian man Richard Jolly has the answer …
Ashington (population 27,000) has now produced three World Cup winners: Jack Charlton, Bobby Charlton & Mark Wood.
This was a match full of incredible moments, but for anyone who missed the greatest of all in the history of England cricket, here it is …
#WeAreEngland win the #CWC19!
Ecstasy for England, agony for New Zealand!
Guptill is run out by yards in the final ball of the Super Over!
It simply cannot get any better! https://t.co/EHa6oOnuqI#Believepic.twitter.com/Tcw7MDr3oD
Brendon McCullum knows what it’s like to lose a World Cup final, and he reckons New Zealand will be just fine after this devastating defeat…
They’ve got a wonderful leader in Kane Williamson and a great squad around them but you know, our country is going to be so proud of these guys and what they’ve done.
Thanks Rob, and I join you just as Ian Botham is having his sayon a wonderful game…
What great finale. Both sides had a dip in the middle in the tournament but came back and picked themselves up for a final. You couldn’t have asked for a better final. Congratulations to England but spare a thought for those Kiwis 12,000 miles away. It’s a long journey home when you come that close buy ultimately it wasn’t their day.
We’ll keep the blog going for a while. Nobody leaves here until somebody explains what the hell just happened. Rob Bleaney is going to take over, because I am the personification of wibble. Thanks for your company and emails - not just today but throughout the tournament. Bye!
“On a flight from Boston to Tokyo - the flight attendant made me shut down my phone when England needed 3 from 2 balls,” says Mike Fowler. “Took 10 minutes to acquire flaky inflight Internet, by which time I assumed it would all be over. Lived the super overs with your text and texts from friends back home. I think they were lining up a sky marshall to deal with me when I started cheering....”
Related: Trent Boult and New Zealand too good to be called dark horses again
Trophy deserved to be shared and one of the best games in the history of cricket.congratulations to @ECB_cricket and @BLACKCAPS for providing an absolute brilliant game of cricket
“Yeah, okay,” says Geoff Wignall, “but The Hundred will soon put all this in the shade.”
I think if I could have picked a result it would have been precisely this. Nothing between the sides and a wonderful match. I'm going to find that Otago pinot.
If today doesn’t inspire the next generation nothing will, we should be proud to be English.
#CWC19 England won, for the record, by 26 boundaries in the day to 17. So extra credit to Jonny Bairstow (7), Ben Stokes (7) and Jos Buttler (6), who found the boundary enough times in the big match to make the difference in the little one
The wait is over...
➡️ https://t.co/0nJ1DMw2T7#ExpressYourself#CWC19#WeAreEnglandpic.twitter.com/wfwlysSdwi
Have you read Vic Marks’ report from Lord’s? Good. Read it again. And again.
Related: England win Cricket World Cup after super-over drama against New Zealand
The England players are emotionally naked. Eoin Morgan has admitted to doubts that England would qualify, Joe Root has described the sheer misery he experienced in the dressing-room, Ben Stokes has just sworn on Sky. After four years, the masks have come off, and it’s quite touching to see.
“Even though I know what happens, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to watch the highlights of that,” says Samuel Honywill. “Ever. That was Edgbaston 2005 x 100. Feel awful for the Black Caps, who were just about the better team on the day. But England deserve that; for picking themselves up by the bootstraps after 2015, for being the most thrilling ODI side for the last four years, for salvaging their campaign in such confident fashion after those defeats to Australia and Sri Lanka left it on the rocks. Jofra, Jos, Ben, Eoin. Amazing.”
Here’s Jofra Archer “It’s an amazing feeling. They’re a great bunch of guys – I don’t think I’d like to share this with any other people right now. Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen. Even last night, I couldn’t really get to sleep. When I got hit for six in the super over I thought it wasn’t coming home. We got there in the end, that’s all that matters.”
It’s an old question, but somebody should ask it of Ben Stokes: who writes your scripts?
England's men's and women's ODI teams are now world champions simultaneously. Only Australia (over four time periods) had ever previously accomplished that feat.
“I’m at Nowlan Park in Kilkenny, Ireland,” says Lucy Openshaw. “Neil Young’s on stage, cricket’s on my phone. Sorry Neil.”
The crowd are singing ‘cricket’s coming home’. And it did – but bloody hell, it could have done with a better sat-nav.
Jason Roy speaks “Speechless, buddy. Speechless. We’re gonna party well tonight – but we’ll be in before 12, don’t worry.”
Here’s Eoin Morgan, the England captain
“Jeez. I’d like to offer commiserations to Kane and his team. I thought today was a hard-hard-fought game on a tough wicket. We find it hard to play on pitches like that, but it was all about getting over the line. Towards the end I was being cooled down by Liam Plunkett, which isn’t a good sign! We’re just delighted we’re lifting the trophy today.
Here’s Kane Williamson again, this time in his role as captain.
“We wanted to bat first if we won the toss. We felt runs on the board would be challenging. We may have liked another 10-20 but in a World Cup final, we thought 240-250 might be enough. It was a fantastic game of cricket. For it to go down to the last ball – and then the last ball of the next little match – is tough. But credit to England. There are a lot of positives for us.
The Player of the Tournament is Kane Williamson
“Congratulations to England. They’ve had a fantastic campaign and they deserved the victory. It’s been challenging; the pitches have been different to what we expected. There weren’t many 300+ scores. I’d like to thank our side for the fight and heart they showed to get us this far. It just wasn’t meant to be today. The guys are shattered; it’s devastating.”
Jofra Archer is yet to regain his cool.
I was pretty sure I was going to bowl [in the super over] but I had to check with Morgs…my heart is still racing. I would have been surprised if we didn’t win, especially with this man around [points to Stokes]
A clearly desolate Jimmy Neesham speaks but is sportsmanship embodied.
It stings, obviously. The ball didn’t bounce our way. Credit to the way Jos and Stokesey rode it out. Another day it might have fallen our way. In a few years we will look back and say it was a really good experience. We scrapped like hell for every 50-50 ball…I’d like to say I was happy for England but it would take a couple of hours to say that.
The Player of the Match is Ben Stokes
“On trail bikes in the Canadian Rockies,” says John Cameron, “stopping every over to check in. Our hearts were in our mouths. And we are a Kiwi/English husband and wife!” The true spirit of the OBO.
The player of the match is Ben Stokes, who was in bits about half an hour ago. As were millions of cricket lovers.
Ben Stokes, the hero of the hour, speaks.
I am pretty lost for words. All the hard work to get here and be world champions, it’s an amazing feeling. Playing against New Zealand is always a good event, they are good lads. I will be apologising to Kane for the rest of my life [re: the overthrow for the six]…It was written in the stars to happen for us.
“I love Ben Stokes,” says Tony Batt, “and Jofra is the name of the next-born in my family, male or female.” I like it, especially the female bit. “But you’ve gotta feel for the Kiwis. Taking it like men is probably not on the approved list but R.E.S.P.E.C.T. and big love for such a game. WOW!”
Joe Root speaks with that shy smile of his.
The pressure was on. It was almost written in the stars for Ben and his family, the pressure he’s been through.
What a day, what a finish. Hats off to the Kiwis boys. It’s not sunk in yet. I am over the moon. It felt like it was going to happen for us.
“I’m getting my T-Shirt ready,” says Neville Bourke. “Have you noticed how we only win the cricket World Cup under an IRISH captain?”
Jos Buttler speaks …
It’s unbelievable. I thought I’d seen everything in cricket but that game was just amazing. I don’t know what happened out there at the end. Just incredible.
What a spectacle, what an atmosphere. I’m just lost for words mate.
But the winners are– and I cannot believe I’m typing this – England. They have won their first World Cup in the wackiest of circumstances: always behind when they batted, at times paralysed by the slow pitch, yet dragged over the line by (primarily) three players. Jos Buttler, with his silky strokeplay and icy nerve. Ben Stokes, with his bloodymindedness and determination to atone for allowing a World Twenty20 final to end with four sixes. And Jofra Archer, with his preternatural calm in the Super Over: he’s gone from new boy to Atlas in three months.
But hang on – three is not enough. Let’s not forget Chris Woakes, superb with the new ball, or Liam Plunkett, who showed his usual mastery in the middle overs when Kane Williamson was threatening to take control. Or Mark Wood, who bowled at 95mph and had to run that last run with Stokes. Or Roy and Bairstow, who powered England to the final with all those hundred partnerships. Or Adil Rashid, who took crucial wickets in the semi against Australia. Or Joe Root, who was one of the batsmen of the tournament, if not on song today. Or Moeen Ali, who was in the first XI at the start of this World Cup and probably deserved to be at the end.
New Zealand would have been worthy winners. They certainly don’t deserve to be nearly men yet again, beaten finalists for the second time in a row, following all those semis down the decades. What they lack in charisma, they more than make up by being cool, calm and civilised. They kept their heads, they bounced back from three successive defeats, they were brave enough to bat first and canny enough to defend a modest total, yet again. They were even sporting enough to signal six, themselves, when Trent Boult fell over the sponge trying to catch Ben Stokes’s first big hit.
Thanks Rob (you played a blinder). What an ending. It hardly matters who won. That was an epic, a drama in God knows how many acts. It was the greatest cricket World Cup final there has been, by a mile.
That’s it. Ben Stokes, the biggest superhero of them all, is in tears. New Zealand have taken the defeat - if we can even call it that - with astonishing dignity.
I am an absolute mess, so I’m going to hand over to Tim de Lisle for the reaction. That last hour was the most excruciating privilege of my career. Thanks for your company and emails. England have won the World Cup. I think.
Archer is on his knees, almost in tears. I cannot begin to imagine what New Zealand are going through. They deserve to win, unquestionably, but were beaten in circumstances that would have been beyond Hunter S Thompson on acid, never mind your average scriptwriter.
And that, ladies, is goodnight. Cricket has nothing left to offer and will now cease to exist as a sport. That is the most amazing game I have ever seen in my life. Jos Buttler ran Martin Guptill out by inches and set off on a lap of honour.
ENGLAND HAVE WON THE WORLD CUP!
If New Zealand score one off the last ball, England win because they hit more boundaries in the match.
Super Over, ball 5: New Zealand 14-0 (need 16 to win the World Cup) A single! New Zealand need two off the last ball. Martin Guptill needs two off the last ball. What sick, exhilarating hell is this?
Super Over, ball 4: New Zealand 13-0 (need 16 to win the World Cup) Two more! New Zealand need three to win the World Cup!
Super Over, ball 3: New Zealand 11-0 (need 16 to win the World Cup) Two more runs after a misfield! New Zealand are almost there.
Super Over, ball 2: New Zealand 9-0 (need 16 to win the World Cup) Neesham has smacked Archer over midwicket for a huge six!!!
Super Over, ball 1: New Zealand 3-0 (need 16 to win the World Cup) A brilliant yorker is crunched for two.
Super Over, ball 0: New Zealand 1-0 (need 16 to win the World Cup) Archer goes around the wicket to Neesham – and it’s an off-side wide!
“This,” says Carl Rosman, “had better not go to an underarm, eh?”
“Archer has never conceded 16 off an ODI over,” says my colleague Tim de Lisle, “but then he’s never had to do it under this pressure.”
The New Zealand batsmen are Martin Guptill and Jimmy Neesham. Guptill, who has had a dog of a tournament with the bat, could become the biggest hero in the history of the World Cup.
And that’s why he gets paid the big bucks
A moment ago, England needed 15 to win off the last over. Now New Zealand need 16 to win off the last over. Madness!
There are unconfirmed reports that Jofra Archer no longer has a resting heart rate.
If New Zealand score 15, England will win the World Cup. Imagine if they won the World Cup after a tie in a Super Over.
New Zealand deserve to win this game. For all the supersupersuperheroism of Ben Stokes, England have had all kinds of luck today. This, truly, has been a unique game of sport.
Super Over, ball 6: England 15-0 Buttler hammers Boult over midwicket for four! England have got 15 off the Super Over. New Zealand need 16 to win the World Cup. Please don’t ask me what happens if they score 15.
Super Over, ball 5: England 10-0 A superb yorker is pushed for two by Buttler.
“Can John Withington pls send me 6 numbers between 1 and 60?” says Matthew Parker.
#CWC19 After winning a one-day international spread over two days, New Zealand now have to play a one-day international over two innings
Super Over, ball 4: England 9-0 Jofra Archer is warming up. He’ll bowl the Super Over. Stokes gets a single into the covers.
Super Over, ball 3: England 8-0 Stokes drags Boult through midwicket for four!
Super Over, ball 2: England 4-0 Buttler crashes Boult into the leg side – but it’s only a single.
Super Over, ball 1: England 3-0 Stokes slices it to third man for three!
Trent Boult will bowl the Super Over
Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler are walking out for the Super Over. I’d imagine Jason Roy is the third batsman, but it’s probably unwise to assume too much after this bonkers final.
“It’s 5.21am in New Zealand,” says Rebecca Caroe, “and much of the country is awake and going to be late for work this Monday...”
It’s a national holiday, in nature if not name.
Anyone know if Costa Coffee are hiring? I can’t do this any more.
I have no idea why England are batting first, but they are. Those are the regulations. Each team has three batsmen, and if they lose two wickets that’s the end of the Super Over.
England will bat first in the Super Over.
Stokes is beyond exhausted. He played an amazing innings, 84 not out from 98 balls, and has been through dozens of emotions in the last 10 seconds alone. New Zealand’s fielding, under unimaginable pressure, was sensational. And Stokes’s accidental six was, in context, one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever seen.
Wood came back for a second, to win the World Cup, but Boult held his nerve to collect the throw and break the stumps. England got one, which means the scores are level. England 241 all out.
WICKET! England 241 all out (Wood run out 0) I do not believe this!
England need one for a Super Over, two to win, Stokes is on strike. What torture is this?
Stokes rests on his haunches, trying to summon the energy for one last boundary. He is spent, completely spent. New Zealand are taking an age to set the field. Here comes Boult, and Stokes drives it for one - but Rashid is run out!
The laws are non-negotiable, but that is astonishingly harsh on New Zealand.
49.4 overs: England 239-8 (need 3 from 2 balls to win) No way! No way! Stokes has got another six runs in amazing circumstances. He slid to make a second, and the throw hit his bat and went for four more! Astonishing! I have never seen anything like that in all my life. Stokes put his hands up to apologise straight away, but it’s six. That is unbelievably harsh on New Zealand.
49.3 overs: England 233-8 (need 9 from 3 balls to win) Stokes clouts it over midwicket for six!
49.2 overs: England 227-7 (need 15 from 4 balls to win) Stokes can only drive a wide yorker straight to the fielder. This is sensational bowling!
49.1 overs: England 227-7 (need 15 from 5 balls to win) Stokes turns down a single from the first ball. He’s entering Brathwaite territory.
49 overs: England 227-8 (need 15 from 6 balls to win)
Jimmy Neesham bowls Archer with a magnificent slower ball. England, or rather Ben Stokes, needs 15 from Trent Boult’s final over to win the World Cup. Is it too real for ya?
Cleaned him up!
48.5 overs: England 227-7 (need 15 from 7 balls to win) Stokes takes a single. Archer wanted two but Stokes sent him back.
48.4 overs: England 226-7 (need 16 from 8 balls to win) Oh my days! Stokes clouts a slower ball to cow corner, where Boult takes a great catch – and then steps on the rope! It’s six runs!
Plunkett boffs Neesham to long off, where Boult takes a calm catch. England need 22 from 9 balls. New Zealand are this close.
48.1 overs: England 219-6 (need 23 from 11 balls to win) Jimmy Neesham takes the penultimate over. Plunkett heaves him into the leg side for a single.
48 overs: England 218-6 (need 24 from 12 balls to win) A single. Plunkett keeps the strike, England need two a ball and Stokes looks utterly shattered.
47.5 overs: England 216-6 (need 25 from 13 balls to win) Plunkett hits an attempted yorker down the ground for two, with a shattered Stokes almost run out as he grimaces back for the second.
47.4 overs: England 215-6 (need 27 from 14 balls to win) Plunkett muscles Boult towards wide long on for a couple and then misses an attempted pull. I SAID DON’T PANIC.
47.2 overs: England 213-6 (Stokes 62, Plunkett 4) A single. England need 29 off 16. The rest of the country needs gin. I’ll be honest, right now I’d even consider having it without Fever Tree tonic.
47.1 overs: England 212-6 (Stokes 61, Plunkett 4) Trent Boult will bowl two of the last three overs, with Jimmy Neesham presumably taking the 49th. Stokes hammers Boult’s first ball through midwicket for four!
47 overs: England 208-6 (Stokes 57, Plunkett 4)Plunkett bashes Ferguson for four before being duped by a superb slower ball that bounces over the stumps. The outstanding Ferguson ends with figures of 10-0-50-3. England need 34 from 18 balls.
46.4 overs: England 204-6 (Stokes 57, Plunkett 0)Two dot balls from Ferguson to Plunkett! The net is closing around England. The New Zealand bowlers’s lack of clammyhandedness is staggering.
46.2 overs: England 204-6 (Stokes 57, Plunkett 0) The batsmen crossed while that ball was in outer space, and Stokes waves the next ball for a single. England need 38 from 22. Liam Plunkett has the highest strike rate in the whole tournament; boy do England need a 10-ball 17 now.
“The final act of the Great Stokes Redemption Arc?” begs Matt Dony. I mean, I know technically he put a question mark, but I can read between lines.
46.1 overs: Woakes tried to clout Ferguson over the leg side and top-edged it miles in the air. Tom Latham’s entire career flashed before him as he backpedalled, but eventually he took the catch. Lockie Ferguson might be the player of the match - he’s taken three wickets and a magnificent catch to get rid of Eoin Morgan.
Woakes is out!
46 overs: England 203-5 (Stokes 56, Woakes 2) Stokes plays a brilliant stroke, smacking Neesham wristily through midwicket for four!
45.4 overs: England 198-5 (Stokes 52, Woakes 1) A single to deep cover. England need 44 from 26 balls.
45.3 overs: England 197-5 (Stokes 51, Woakes 1) A dot ball from Neesham to Stokes. He is getting so frustrated with his inability to middle the ball, or in that case lay a bat on it.
45.2 overs: England 197-5 (Stokes 51, Woakes 1) Woakes drives Neesham for a single. England are in trouble here; they need 45 from 28.
45th over: England 196-5 (Stokes 51, Woakes 0) We always talk about the effect of scoreboard pressure on batsmen, as if bowling in a situation like this is the easiest thing in the world. As somebody who can barely feel his fingers - and I only have to describe the action - I’m in awe of how well New Zealand have bowled.
“Fancy a drink, Rob?” says Simon McMahon. “I’ve got three dozen cans of Relentless in the fridge, I’ve heard it’s good for the nerves.”
Jos Buttler has gone! He sliced Ferguson miles in the air towards the point boundary, where the substitute Tim Southee ran in to take a superb low catch. Buttler played gloriously for his 59, but I suspect he takes England’s chances through the Long Room with him.
Jos Buttler is out!
44th over: England 189-4 (Stokes 50, Buttler 53) Buttler drives Boult over extra-cover for four to bring up an immense half-century from 53 balls, and then Stokes drives a yorker for a single to reach an unyielding fifty of his own from 81 balls. Boult has got his yorker going now, and the last ball of the over is a gem that Buttler just manages to dig out. England need 53 from 36 balls.
“It’s not the despair, Bob,” says Alex Netherton. “It’s the crushing sense of inevitable defeat and self-hatred.”
43rd over: England 183-4 (Stokes 49, Buttler 48) Buttler premeditates a lap for two off Ferguson. That was an extraordinary shot, because it was a slower ball and he had to wait before guiding it past leg stump. Seven from the over - five singles and a two. England need 59 from 42 balls. That is a big ask on this pitch. It’s Buttler or bust, I think.
42nd over: England 177-4 (Stokes 47, Buttler 44) The Win Predictor has England at 69 per cent. But the Win Predictor hasn’t lived through the last 44 years. Nor have I, but let’s not split hairs. Neesham knocks Stokes off his feet with a superb yorker. Stokes just managed to get his bat down in time. But he’s struggling to find the middle of that bat, and there are only four runs from the over. Stokes has 47 from 77 balls, Buttler 44 from 48.
“I can’t deal with this any more,” says Shaun Bowler. “It’s 4 a.m. in the Solomon Islands. I’m going to go to sleep for the last 10 overs and wake up to a New Zealand victory.”
41st over: England 171-4 (Stokes 44, Buttler 43) Stokes has been nowhere near as fluent as Buttler, although he does look comfortable at the crease. For now he needs to give Buttler the strike at every opportunity. New Zealand need a wicket, by hook or by crook. Ferguson beats Buttler with a blistering bouncer; Buttler shaped to hook and then pulled out at the last minute. The run rate is becoming an issue for England: they need 69 from 54 balls.
England need 72 runs from 60 balls
40th over: England 170-4 (Stokes 43, Buttler 42) Matt Henry returns to bowl his final over. Both teams know one wicket will give the Win Predictor an existential crisis – and Henry almost gets it with a slower ball that lifts viciously to beat Stokes’ provisional cut stroke. After four singles, Buttler premeditates a brilliant ramp for four off Henry’s last delivery. Henry finishes with 10-2-40-1; there are lies, damned lies and bowling figures.
39th over: England 162-4 (Stokes 41, Buttler 36)Stokes drags a short ball from Ferguson through midwicket for four. He didn’t time it but it ran away to the boundary. These two have played ever so well, with a lot of intelligence, and they need 80 from the last 11 overs.
“My son has gone to work now,” says Adam Roberts. “Apparently, on Thursday a huge row broke out about what to have on in the staff canteen, cricket or tennis. Both are pretty tense right now.”
38th over: England 156-4 (Stokes 36, Buttler 35)Stokes, on the charge, inside edges Neesham just past his leg stump for a couple of runs. Win or lose, England have had the luck today. Buttler chips Neesham’s slower ball whence it came for four; it wasn’t far away from Neesham, who stretched to his right in his follow through, but it was ultimately safe. It’s a reflection of this tricky pitch that Stokes and Buttler have hit only five boundaries between them.
“Has anyone yet suggested the tie and Super Over?” asks John Withington. “The cricket equivalent of the penalty shootout. I wonder if teams have a ready-made plan. I’d presume Archer would bowl and Roy would bat with Buttler?”
37th over: England 149-4 (Stokes 33, Buttler 31) Ferguson returns to the attack. Buttler slaps a cut for four off the first ball, prompting huge cheers from a crowd who are really getting into
their alcohol this match now. Buttler is duped by a slower one next up, but it lands safely on the off side. Beautiful bowling from Ferguson, whose raw pace sometimes obscures a very smart cricket brain. Six from the over; England need 93 from 78 balls.
“Rob,” says Brian Withington. “TV pictures earlier made it look like Joe Root is watching forlornly on his own from the (very) naughty step ...”
Jos Buttler has played 16% false shots. No batsman in the match has played fewer. #CWC19
36th over: England 143-4 (Stokes 32, Buttler 26) “Hi Rob,” says Anthony, Paul and Rasputin. “We’re sitting out a sweltering Venetian evening in the attic. Panicked by a shout when I popped to the kitchen, but it was merely a gondolier signalling a left turn. We may have to seek solace in a Bastille Day bash. Vive la France.”
Henry angled a full delivery into Buttler, who fell over towards the off side as he flicked around his front pad. Kumar Dharmasena gave it not out so New Zealand went upstairs, but the angle from wide on the crease was taking it past leg stump.
It was missing leg stump.
This is closer than I thought.
This is huge. I reckon it’ll be umpire’s call, but it’s close.
35th over: England 141-4 (Stokes 31, Buttler 25) Stokes survives a run-out chance off the first ball after drinks. It was a poor throw from Neesham at backward point, with Stokes well short of his ground. That is one of four singles from Santner’s over. England are handling him with care, for now.
“It brings a tear to the eye,” says Phil Sawyer, “to think that across the country young children, perhaps seeing cricket for the first time, are currently listening to their elders explain, ‘This? This stomach clenching fear? This nauseating tension? This heartbreaking contemplation that once again we might be so near yet so far? This. This is what we’ve been talking about. This.... is watching the England cricket team. You’re welcome.’”
#CWC19 England's middle order have faced 123 balls so far today and hit three of them for four
34th over: England 137-4 (Stokes 29, Buttler 23) Matt Henry, who bowled a sensational seven-over spell at the start of the innings, replaces Trent Boult. Stokes hits his first three balls for two and then checks a slower ball in the air but wide of cover. That brings up a determined and composed fifty partnership from 65 balls. The over ends with Stokes getting a leading edge that falls just short of Henry, diving forward in his follow through. Sheesh it’s tense. England need 105 from 96 balls, and it’s time for the last Powerade Hydration Break. I wish it was a Highland Park Hydration break, at least in this office.
“Give the thinly veiled snide comments about NZ, the pitch (at age 6 we’re taught that it’s the same for both sides) etc. a rest pal,” writes Buck Satan II. “You can support England inside but report on a sporting event at least vaguely impartially, like a journalist rather than a fan blogger.”
33rd over: England 129-4 (Stokes 22, Buttler 22) “I feel you are letting Morgan off a little lightly,” says Jonathan McKinley. “‘Just picking the wrong option’ is not what you would hope for in a captain with his experience at this stage of a World Cup final.”
I can barely feel my fingers and I’m only typing about a World Cup final, so I’ve some sympathy for those who make mistakes while playing in one.
32nd over: England 126-4 (Stokes 21, Buttler 21) Buttler cuts Boult this far wide of the flying Guptill at backward point. That would have been the catch of the millennium. Instead the ball raced away for Buttler’s first boundary. Both batsmen have 21 – Buttler from 22 balls, Stokes from 43.
“Touch of the Brian McMillan in de Grandhomme’s bowling,” says Lee Calvert, “but he looks less likely to chin you over a late-night scotch than big Brian did.”
31st over: England 119-4 (Stokes 20, Buttler 15) The left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner comes into the attack for the first time, and goes straight round the wicket to Buttler. That’s how he dismissed him at Durham, from memory. Santner is a crafty, subtle spinner, against whom liberties are not always wise, so England settle for four low-risk singles.
“Hey Rob,” says Honor Harger. “Honor (usually from Singapore, currently at Lord’s). This is a really grand, but tense affair here. Lots of the Indian supporters have switched to Kiwi supporters (thankfully - we needed the help) and the English supporters are jovial but nervous. Cracking atmosphere. So, we are side on so a bit hard to tell. But what’s your verdict on the pitch?”
30th over: England 115-4 (Stokes 18, Buttler 13) Boult replaces Neesham. It’s quite simple: if he strikes in this spell, New Zealand will almost certainly win the World Cup. Stokes and especially Buttler are batting pretty well - but they are really struggling to hit boundaries. New Zealand’s mundane rotation of the strike looks like it could be decisive.
“Morning Rob,” says Phil Withall. “It’s two in the morning. I have red wine, I’m eating bananas and I have a young child taking my place in my bed. Worst of all this game is panning out just as I suspected it would. I had a feeling New Zealand had the capability to make things challenging for England and that seems to be the case. In a way I’m rather comfortable with the situation, not happy but comfortable.”
29th over: England 111-4 (Stokes 16, Buttler 11) Buttler almost falls to consecutive deliveries from de Grandhomme! The first went through the gate and bounced over the stumps; the second was sliced high in the air and landed just short of third man. de Grandhomme ends a remarkable, surreal spell with figures of 10-2-25-1.
28th over: England 106-4 (Stokes 16, Buttler 9) Buttler has started his innings with authority and intent. The problem is that, because he is rotating the strike so much better than Stokes, he is only facing one or two balls an over.Stokes has had enough of failing to pierce the field; he charges Neesham and smears the ball straight back down the ground for four. England need 136 from 132 balls.
“What was Morgan thinking?” says Spencer Francis. “And how was Root so flustered? Never expected that from Root.”
27th over: England 98-4 (Stokes 10, Buttler 7) The demon de Grandhomme almost grabs another wicket, with Stokes check-driving just short of mid-on. He bowls a maiden to Stokes, which gives him figures of 9-2-22-1. It’s like Dibbly, Dobbly and Wobbly, the three tortoises of the apocalypse from 1992, never went away. The pitch is not good enough but New Zealand - for the second time in the knockout stages - have used it admirably.
26th over: England 98-4 (Stokes 10, Buttler 7) Buttler has started busily, the first England player to rotate strike from the off, and has seven from five balls.. Stokes is playing more carefully, trying to take the game deep, and has 10 from 24. Five from Neesham’s over, during which the required rate sneaked above a run a ball for the first time.
Thanks Tim, hello everyone. So, who fancies a knighthood? If England are to win the World Cup, Ben Stokes or Jos Buttler will have to play a career-defining innings. At the moment, New Zealand – who have bowled exceptionally on a helpful pitch – are putting England to sleep.
Eoin Morgan’s team are peerless front-runners; they aren’t so good at coming from behind on awkward pitches, especially when there is no tomorrow. We’ve said it a few times in this tournament, but this, truly, is the real quiz. And the answer is not Fray Bentos.
25th over: England 93-4 (Stokes 7, Buttler 5) Buttler, who is so adaptable, has decided to play with his wrists rather than his long handle, working the ball into the gaps. And at last, the win predictor has noticed that NZ are doing quite well here – it gives them 50pc, to England’s 48. I’d say 80-20. That’s the halfway stage, England still need 149 off 150 balls, they’ve got a longer tail than usual... Cometh the hour, cometh Rob Smyth. Thanks for your company.
24th over: England 89-4 (Stokes 5, Buttler 3) England’s hopes rest on the shoulders of Jos Buttler, who hasn’t batted much lately. He starts calmly, pushing to leg for two, and into the covers for one. As Morgan played that upper cut, he yelled “No!”, and not because he didn’t want to run.
“The England batting,” says Richard Graveling, “is defeating the object of transmitting the final on free-to-air. How can a nation be inspired if they’re watching it from behind the sofa?”
Morgan upper-cuts, the cover sweeper races in to take a diving catch, they’re checking it upstairs but that is out. Great play from NZ, and England are right on the ropes.
23rd over: England 86-3 (Morgan 9, Stokes 5) England keep on charging de Grandhomme, as if it will suddenly start to work. And, to be fair, it does, as Stokes plays a controlled pull for four. The keeper, Latham, responds by calling for a helmet and coming up to the stumps. Pinned to the crease, Stokes can only block. It’s cat-and-mouse and, as in all the best cartoons, the mouse is winning.
22nd over: England 82-3 (Morgan 9, Stokes 1) Kane Williamson comes across as a nice guy, but that won’t stop him going for the kill. He gives Ferguson a wide slip and a deep gully for Morgan, encouraging him to bang it in. Morgan ducks a bouncer and gets a graze on the helmet. Most of the scoring is now being done by extras: two leg byes, four wides as a bouncer sails over the keeper.
And here’s an email from Rob Smyth, of all people. “Death by de Grandhomme in a World Cup final. How miserable.”
21st over: England 75-3 (Morgan 9, Stokes 1) Stokes comes down the pitch to de Grandhomme and swishes at thin air. Then he stays in his crease and cuts at thin air. The second batch of ten overs brought only 34 runs for the loss of two big wickets.
20th over: England 73-3 (Morgan 8, Stokes 1) Bairstow had just emerged from a quiet spell with a handsome cover drive, played on the up. But this isn’t his sort of pitch and it got him in the end. So England have their two left-handers together, and they’ve got a rebuilding job to do.
Gone!!! That inside edge again – it’s third time unlucky as Bairstow’s Harrow squirt goes onto the stumps. Are England choking?
19th over: England 66-2 (Bairstow 32, Morgan 7) Morgan, typically, has a plan: get busy. He has seven off 11 balls, which is a silent reproach to poor old Root. The win predictor is still giving England 76 per cent, and I’m still saying you should cut that in half.
18th over: England 63-2 (Bairstow 32, Morgan 4) Morgan stays legside, in the manner Kevin Pietersen doesn’t approve of, and it gets him two as he pokes to third man and runs hard. When the going gets tough, the tough get running.
17th over: England 60-2 (Bairstow 32, Morgan 1) Well bowled de Grandhomme, who has 1-9 off four overs. Just when you thought the dibbly-dobbler had gone out of fashion... Root ended up with a double whammy, a low score off a load of balls (29). But Morgan deflects his first delivery for a neat single. That’s as good as it gets for England at the moment.
Mid-17th over: England 59-2 (Bairstow 32, Morgan 0) And that’s drinks, with Morgan yet to face a ball, and England exactly where the New Zealanders want them to be. This is tense as hell.
Another big one! Root was so frustrated that he charged de Grandhomme and missed, then slashed from the crease and got a nick. And Kane Williamson slips back into the driving seat.
16th over: England 59-1 (Bairstow 32, Root 7) Henry takes his sweater, and a bow, with the formidable figures of 7-2-22-1. Lockie Ferguson comes on and tests both batsmen with his signature mix of the full and the short. When Joe Root plays a pull, it’s well stopped by Martin Guptill, prowling at short fine leg.
And here’s Simon Mcmahon. “This is going to be incredibly tense, isn’t it? I suspect, deep down, England fans would not want it any other way. A finish similar to the dramatic France v Germany European Cricket Federation Nations Cup final in 1997 would not surprise me. Or else England will romp home by 7 wickets. Either way, it’s Bastille Day, so a glass of champagne later could be in order...”
15th over: England 56-1 (Bairstow 31, Root 6) More fluency, at least from the scoreboard operator, as the batsmen find ways of getting some singles and a two off de Bigman. But Root still has a strike rate of 24 today – six off 25 balls. England are not out of the woods yet.
14th over: England 51-1 (Bairstow 29, Root 3) Just when you are wondering if England plan on winning this match by Wednesday, Bairstow breaks the spell – and Henry’s sequence of 17 dots – with a whip through midwicket. And then he gets away with another Harrow drive, which brings another four, and that’s England’s fifty off 83 balls. Old school.
“Your past comes back to haunt you,” says the latest email subject line, darkly. It’s from Richard Rees Jones. “This World Cup final is all very well, but I still haven’t forgiven you for the scathing review you gave Gary Numan’s ‘Warriors’ album in Smash Hits in 1983.” I plead guilty.
13th over: England 42-1 (Bairstow 20, Root 3) The scoreboard operator awakes with a jerk as Bairstow tucks for a single and Root follows suit, making room by doing a little dance towards mid-off. The keeper, Latham, could put a stop to that by standing up to de Grandhomme.
12th over: England 39-1 (Bairstow 18, Root 2) England usually go dot-dash. Right now they’re going dot-dot-dot ad infinitum. That’s the third maiden in a row, and the second from Henry, who has the Test-match figures of 6-1-13-1. Root has faced 19 balls and managed two singles. But he’s still there.
11th over: England 39-1 (Bairstow 18, Root 2) Williamson makes his first bowling change, replacing Boult with the medium pace of Colin de Grandhomme – who bowls a maiden but drops Bairstow. That went straight into his midriff and seemed perfectly catchable. Can Bairstow make NZ pay for it?
10th over: England 39-1 (Bairstow 18, Root 2) Now even Root plays an air shot outside off, as Henry curls another one down the hill. That’s a maiden, so Henry has 5-1-13-1: no big-match nerves for him. The win predictor is giving England 84 per cent; I give them about 44.
An email arrives headed “6th over voodoo chickens”, which can only happen to an OBOer. “In old-school voodoo (voudoun),” says John Starbuck, “the chickens don’t come home to roost, they get their heads chopped off instead. If you’re making supernatural bargains, you have to get the details right, or it all goes demon-shaped.”
9th over: England 39-1 (Bairstow 18, Root 2) Bairstow isn’t fully himself yet, but he does manage a shovel-pull for four off Boult.
“Dear Mr d,” says Adam Roberts. “Can we have the Henry who bowled against the Windies back, please?”
8th over: England 34-1 (Bairstow 14, Root 1) Root is already being thoroughly Rootish: a good leave, a nice back-foot push under the eyes, and then, when the scoreboard needs a nudge, a quick-footed dab into the covers to get off the mark. If he can get twice as many as Williamson did, that should do the trick. But when Bairstow takes over, Henry beats him with a textbook outseamer.
Here’s Geoff Wignall, emailing before the wicket. “I’d like to dissent,” he says, “from the notion that the first ten overs will be necessarily crucial. Obviously, Roy and Bairstow could decide the outcome quite quickly, but might this be a day and a pitch for knocking the ball around and accumulating a nice steady five or six an over? In which case England do have the players for job in Root and the middle order - Stokes, Buttler and Woakes. No worries.” Geoff, I wish I was as cool as you.
7th over: England 33-1 (Bairstow 14, Root 0) Boult continues and Bairstow beats that bespoke legside field for the first time, by playing an on-drive that’s closer to the umpire than he would normally go. Boult now has 0-21 from four overs, when he could easily have 2-10.
6th over: England 28-1 (Bairstow 10, Root 0) So Henry strikes, keeping his nerve after Roy had driven him for four. England badly need Joe Root to get his usual solid start. Rob would like to see Stokes coming in next, and so would I, but I doubt Morgan will demote himself in case it looks too angsty.
In other news, I’d been wondering where Brian Withington had got to, and here he is. “Not sure my nerves can withstand much more of this,” he says. “I made a Faustian bargain earlier in the tournament for England to lose a classic nailbiter to NZ in the final as long as we beat India and NZ and then Australia in the semi-finals. Was later praying that Australia would win the group and render said bargain null and void, but I fear voodoo chickens may inevitably be coming home to roost now.”
The breakthrough! And it’s the wicket NZ most wanted. Henry runs one down the hill and Roy gets a regulation nick, well held low down by Latham.
5th over: England 240-0 (Roy 13, Bairstow 10) Kane Williamson has a bespoke field for Bairstow, with three men at midwicket, the middle one deeper than the other two. This has stopped two boundaries so far, but now, at last, Bairstow finds his mojo, creaming Boult through the covers. He enjoys it so much, he does it again.
“Good morning everyone,” says Adam Roberts, “(still morning here in Cayman). ‘Who needs Federer and Djokovic?’ [3rd over] I’m trying to juggle the two.”
4th over: England 16-0 (Roy 13, Bairstow 2) More astringency from Henry, and Bairstow’s second run, like his first, comes off the edge – a more orthodox one, a low squirt to third man. Roy, who is in no mood to be dominated, gives Henry the charge, looking for a six, but only gets a chip for two. No wickets yet, but NZ are on top.
3rd over: England 12-0 (Roy 10, Bairstow 1) Boult puts a small blot on his copybook with a wide, but then tests Bairstow to the limits with his inswing. Going for a cover drive, Bairstow manages only an inside edge to get off the mark in the strealiest way known to man. Roy is then cut in half by an inswinger, before going for a dance and playing a superb cover push for four. This is riveting. Who needs Federer and Djokovic?
“Good afternoon Tim.” Good afternoon, Damian Clarke. “As an inveterate nailbiter at the best of times, I’m watching telly, and typing this wearing my welding gauntlets. They don’t taste very nice.”
2nd over: England 5-0 (Roy 5, Bairstow 0) Matt Henry is on the money too. Roy plays outside his nip-backer, then inside his leg-cutter. After nine balls that have been pretty much unplayable, Roy looks to assert himself by taking a step forward. He middles this one, and the next on the back foot, but both are dots. Finally he gets a half-volley and straight-drives for four. That’s great temperament from Roy, and mostly great bowling from Henry.
1st over: England 1-0 (Roy 1, Bairstow 0) Boult, watching the big screen, does the biggest eye-roll ever seen from someone who’s not a teenager. But he doesn’t lose his cool, or his line, or his length. That’s a fine first over, with the only run coming off a thick outside edge. The duel is on.
Umpire’s call! And a nation goes phew.
For LBW. Full, swinging yorker – a great ball, but Erasmus said no. Looks out.
Bairstow and Roy have reeled off four century partnerships in a row. They surely can’t do it again.
Thanks Rob and afternoon everyone. This game seems beautifully poised. Last time NZ were in a World Cup final, four years ago, they batted first and made only 183 all out, so 241 is a big step forward. Last time England were in one, 27 years ago, they batted second and made 227 all out. So those omens point to an NZ win. But England bowled well and will feel they can do this. So much rests on the first ten overs, the battle between the excellent Roy and Bairstow and the equally excellent Boult and Henry. Stand by for a dual duel.
“The good news, from a Kiwi perspective, is that there are fewer than 11 people in England that truly believe that England can chase 242 on a slowish pitch to win a World Cup final,” says Grant Marjoribanks. “The bad news is that six of them are in the English top order.”
That was a very solid performance in the field from England, with Liam Plunkett extremely good, but New Zealand scrapped admirably to post their usual competitive total. The first ten overs, when Trent Boult and Matt Henry take on Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow, are likely to decide whether New Zealand or England will the World Cup. Since you asked, I think England are favourites - but not by much.
Please join Tim de Lisle in 25 minutes for the start of the run chase. Bye!
50th over: New Zealand 241-8 (Santner 5, Boult 1) Archer’s last over is a gem, full of deception, and New Zealand can only grab three runs from it. England need 242 to win the World Cup.
Henry is cleaned up by a full toss from Archer, and there are three balls remaining.
England's first no-ball in this World Cup! Comes in their second last over of the tournament.
Only one team has played a World Cup without bowling a no-ball. It was Netherlands in 1996. #CWC19Final
49th over: New Zealand 238-7 (Santner 4, Henry 4) Woakes apologises after bowling an accidental beamer at Santner, which means a free hit for New Zealand. Santner can’t take advantage of that, missing a heave at a loopy slower ball, but Henry ends an excellent over for New Zealand - 13 from it - by launching his first ball to cow corner for a one-bouncer four. That’s a brilliant shot.
Latham clunks a low full toss straight to the substitute Vince at mid-off. No celebration from Woakes, who is still annoyed that the previous delivery turned past Buttler for four wides. That was an important innings from Latham, who scored 47 from 56 balls.
48th over: New Zealand 225-6 (Latham 47, Santner 2) This feels like a competitive score for New Zealand on a slightly sluggish pitch, though it’s contingent on Trent Boult and Matt Henry taking wickets with the new ball. Those first 10 overs of the England innings could redefine squeaky-bum time.
New Zealand are struggling to hit boundaries – just one since the 39th over – but they have been good at picking up singles off most deliveries. They take five more from Archer’s ninth over. New Zealand are on course for a New Zealand total.
47th over: New Zealand 220-6 (Latham 44, Santner 0) Vince is on the field because Mark Wood went off with what looks like a side strain.
Colin de Grandhomme is put of his misery by Chris Woakes. It was a slower ball that took a leading edge and spooned to the substitute James Vince at mid-off. de Grandhomme, such a dangerous hitter, goes for a miserable 28-ball 16.
46th over: New Zealand 214-5 (Latham 41, de Grandhomme 13) Latham found a bit of form against England at Chester-le-Street, even though the game had long gone, and he has taken that into today. de Grandhomme, meanwhile, is pinned for the umpteenth time by Archer. He is struggling to get bat on ball, never mind middle it, and Archer finishes the over with three consecutive dot balls. de Grandhomme has 13 from 25 balls. He might well be the difference between a target of 225 and 255 - but not in the way we expected.
“I haven’t picked up a bat in four years and foolishly agreed to play in a one-off, get-the-band-back-together match in deepest, darkest Kent (at an admittedly very picturesque ground),” says OIiver Smiddy. “So instead of watching the cricket I’m padded up, waiting to go in and scratch around horribly for a few overs before holing out to cover. Sad.”
45th over: New Zealand 211-5 (Latham 39, de Grandhomme 12) Latham misses a lusty swipe across the line at Wood - but he nails the next ball into the crowd at cow corner. That was a beautiful stroke, an almost nonchalant pick up for six. de Grandhomme then survives a run-out referral after a smart bit of work from Buttler. Wood finishes with 10-1-49-1. This is getting exquisitely tense, although don’t quote on me on the exquisite part.
“Very much enjoyed Mr. de Lisle’s terrific, heart-touching piece on attending the 1975 final,” says Mac Millings. “My first time attending an international cricket match was the ‘83 final. I was 11, and probably still have my scorecard tucked away somewhere. Chief memories: a West Indian fan behind me and my family, yelling, ‘Vivian Richards! Show ‘em you are the Master Blaster!’ every couple of minutes, until circumstances - and Madan Lal - dictated that he had to stop; and my mother (no aficionada) asking why both teams were wearing the same colour, and where the commentary was.”
44th over: New Zealand 204-5 (Latham 32, de Grandhomme 12) de Grandhomme has become a bit of a punchbag for the England bowlers. He is hit on the back twice by slower bouncers from Archer, and inbetween he mistimes a cut stroke just short of Stokes in the covers. But there are also three wides in Archer’s over, which takes New Zealand past 200. Although it feels like England have controlled the game since the 20th over, New Zealand are inching towards a really handy score. We’ve said it a few times at this tournament - almost every game - but the first 10 overs of the England innings will probably decide this match.
“Permission to profess my manly adoration for Liam Plunkett, Rob?” says Guy Hornsby. “This is the zenith of a late-blossoming career phase, doing the hard yards so we don’t have to. It seems like he’s been around for ever. He’s easing my nerves by at least 2.9%, down to the mid-nineties.”
43rd over: New Zealand 196-5 (Latham 29, de Grandhomme 12) A bouncer from Wood hits de Grandhomme on the back and flies away for four leg byes. Although de Grandhomme has started scratchily, he’s such a dangerous hitter that England will take nothing for granted. He could be the difference between a target of 225 and 255.
“I am spending the afternoon on duty at Cape Cornwall Coastwatch hut, on the edge of the cliff overlooking the Atlantic,” writes Constance Moore. “Can’t listen to TMS because I need to hear calls on the radio from shipping or coastguard, so will be depending on your updates when I have a moment to spare! Most glorious view in the world does make up for it...”
42nd over: New Zealand 186-5 (Latham 27, de Grandhomme 8) de Grandhomme is fine to continue. Five from Archer’s over - four singles and a wide.
41.3 overs: New Zealand 183-5 (Latham 26, de Grandhomme 7) Jofra Archer returns to the attack and hits de Grandhomme on the helmet with a fine bouncer. In fact, de Grandhomme top-edged an attempted hook onto his helmet, from where it looped just past backward point. There will be a break in play while de Grandhomme receives treatment.
“I am on a quest to become the first(?) family to appear on OBO during a tournament,” says Anand. “Is it a thing? Perhaps an OBO honours board? My son, Advaith, who has just turned 7 has been introduced to cricket during this tournament. A proud moment as a father happened when he decided that he would rather play yard cricket with me that go out to eat at his favourite restaurant. When he isn’t supporting his favourite team, India, he wants to save his favourite planet.”
41st over: New Zealand 181-5 (Latham 25, de Grandhomme 6) We’re into the last ten overs. A run a ball would take New Zealand to 239, and they know how to defend that. Plunkett, bowling his final over, slips a fine delivery past de Grandhomme’s outside edge. He ends a superb spell with figures of 10-0-42-3.
“Hey Rob,” says Ronan. “There’s a fair few of us in Cologne watching the game in Barney Vallely’s Irish pub in the Old Town. Should be a good atmosphere when we come into bat. You can let David Horn know.”
40th over: New Zealand 179-5 (Latham 24, de Grandhomme 5) “Bit closer to home, I’m sat in a pub In Uphall, nr Edinburgh,” says Marc Greenhalgh. “Three screens showing three different sports: golf to the left of me, horse racing and F1 to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle with you. It’s like the World Cup final isn’t even happening.”
In philosophical terms, I don’t think it is.
39th over: New Zealand 173-5 (Latham 23, de Grandhomme 0) If you have a problem in the middle overs, if no one else can help, and if you can find him, maybe you can hire Liam Plunkett.
That was an Andrex-soft dismissal from Neesham, who had been playing so well. He tried to drive Plunkett over mid-on but clodhopped it straight to Root. It might have been a slower ball, I’m not quite sure. Either way, Plunkett has three wickets.
Plunkett has done it again!
38th over: New Zealand 165-4 (Latham 22, Neesham 12) Neesham’s timing must be infectious. Latham has started to find the sweet spot, too, and he push-drives Wood beautifully through extra cover for four. New Zealand are moving doggedly towards a workable score.
“My daughter Daisy has decided enough is enough,” says Dave Childs, “and we are now watching Sooty instead of the most important cricket game in 14 years.”
37th over: New Zealand 159-4 (Latham 17, Neesham 11) Liam Plunkett replaces Ben Stokes. It was going to be Archer, but then he or Morgan changed their mind. Plunkett drops short to Latham, who picks him up sweetly towards long leg for a one-bounce for.
“Hi Rob, this is stupid,” says David Horn, cutting urgently to the chase. “I’ve decided to ditch the family for a day of our vacation and am now wandering around a foreign city that is mostly closed, looking for The Cricket. Any of your readers know Cologne better than me and can help me out?”
36th over: New Zealand 153-4 (Latham 12, Neesham 10) Neesham has timed the ball gloriously since coming to the crease, much better than anyone else today. He pings a drive off Wood that is stopped by Morgan at extra cover and then nails a pull that is superbly stopped by the diving Woakes on the midwicket boundary. That saved three runs, and the run that Neesham did get is the only one from the over. Wood, like Plunkett, has bowled a much better second spell after switching ends.
“Gary Naylor is right to acknowledge Sky’s investment but why is this topic still being discussed in binary all-or-nothing terms?” writes our own Ali Martin. “Most people surely accept the sport won’t return to terrestrial TV full time ... but that doesn’t mean a better balance can’t still be struck between revenue and reach. Even the ECB now acknowledge the need for this, if the next rights deal is anything to go by (collective revulsion/trepidation about The Hundred notwithstanding).”
35th over: New Zealand 152-4 (Latham 12, Neesham 9) Neesham gets off the mark with a superb shot, flicking Stokes wristily through midwicket for four. Even the deranged boundary-riding beast Bairstow couldn’t stop it. That’s the first boundary since the 20th over - and he pulls another through mid-on two balls later. That’s excellent, testicular batting from one of the more impressive characters at this World Cup.
Thanks for all your emails, which I’m trying to read between balls/overs/pangs of the purest fear. “Hello Rob!” says Georgina Stickels. “This Aussie is joining you from southern Senegal. They’re all football mad here (and Senegal is playing in the Afcon final later, so no wonder!) so no telly for me. SO pleased you chaps are online. Am gunning for NZ obviously: hoping they can regroup. Kia kaha, Aotearoa!”
34th over: New Zealand 141-4 (Latham 11, Neesham 0) Taylor and New Zealand were hard done by: replays show the ball from Wood was just bouncing over the stumps. THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULDN’T PLAY SILLY BUGGERS WITH YOUR TEAM’S REVIEW, PART 4369123423523425310.
Wood, meanwhile, completes a wicket maiden by zipping one past Jimmy Neesham’s outside edge.
That looked slightly high, but Marais Erasmus gave it out. Taylor pushed around a sharp delivery from Wood that came back to hit him on the pad. The line was fine; we haven’t seen a replay that shows whether it was bouncing over the stumps. I suspect it was, just.
Mark Wood strikes with the first ball of a new spell - and New Zealand can’t review it!
33rd over: New Zealand 141-3 (Taylor 15, Latham 11) An outside edge from Latham flies safely to third man for a single. Both sides are jockeying for position ahead of the death overs, and despite losing Williamson I think New Zealand will be happy enough with their position.
32nd over: New Zealand 134-3 (Taylor 13, Latham 9) More low-risk milking of Rashid; four from the over. New Zealand have played Rashid pretty well, because although he has only conceded one boundary, he is still going at five an over.
“Crossing the Strait of Gibraltar,” says Emiel de Bont. “A friend whom I have been trying to take an interest in cricket, texts me to ask if Test matches are like qualifiers for the World Cup. Where to begin...”
31st over: New Zealand 130-3 (Taylor 11, Latham 7) Stokes replaces Plunkett, who has three overs up his sleeve. Latham is beaten, trying to cut a ball that trampolines from a length. New Zealand haven’t hit a boundary since the 20th over, although they do manage four singles off Stokes. Time for drinks.
“Rob,” says Mac Millings. “I have The Fear, Rob, expressed here in my all-time Fear XI:
30th over: New Zealand 126-3 (Taylor 9, Latham 5) A lucky escape for Taylor. He charged Rashid, got nowhere near the pitch but managed to get a bottom-edge that bounced over the keeper Buttler. Had it not done so, Buttler would have had a simple stumping chance.
“Afternoon Rob!” says Rob Wolf Petersen. “I hope you’re in fine fettle. This is only going to go one way, isn’t it? New Zealand 261-7, England 113 all out. During the presentation, Williamson will explain that the team’s analyses deduced that a score in the region of 260 wins 70 percent of matches. Then he’ll pull off his rubber face mask to reveal the cackling, maniacal visage of Peter Moores.”
29th over: New Zealand 123-3 (Taylor 8, Latham 3) Latham almost joins Nicholls in dragging Latham back onto the stumps. Thankfully for him it hit the pad and landed safely. But it’s another good over from Plunkett, with just a single from the last ball. Since he switched to the Nursery End, Plunkett has figures of 4-0-7-2. Pick those out!
“The emailers you have lauding the return of live cricket to free-to-air channels understand that those same channels do not want live cricket, will not invest the time and money to present the game properly in all formats around the world and are shamelessly cherry picking one of the few matches they do want today?” says Gary Naylor. “Anyone who grew up in the 70s and 80s should thank Sky for what they do for the cricket fan. And as for kids being inspired by blanket free-to-air coverage, how’s that working out with the tennis these last few decades?”
28th over: New Zealand 122-3 (Taylor 8, Latham 2) Four singles from Rashid’s sixth over. It’s so hard to know what a good score is, because the pressure of a World Cup final runchase could scramble the Win Predictor, never mind the brains of the batsmen. I suspect New Zealand would be very happy with anything above 250.
“Afternoon Rob, afternoon everybody,” says John Withington. “I’m wondering if anybody out there has the data to confirm my suspicion that reviewing every decisions by umpire Dharmasena is statistically as sound a strategy as any other.”
27th over: New Zealand 118-3 (Taylor 6, Latham 0) Nicholls played an excellent innings and will feel a bit unfortunate, as that ball could easily have gone away for four.
“You think no-one cares in Berlin?” sniffs Kevin Rodgers. “I’m in the mountains of northern Vietnam getting OBO with a dodgiest Wi-fi imaginable. Surrounding indifference is total; regardless, nails are being destroyed.”
Liam Plunkett has done it again! Nicholls tried to drive a fullish delivery that straightened just enough to take the inside edge and fly back onto the stumps. Plunkett’s second spell - two for six from 2.5 overs - has dragged England right back into the game.
Arise Sir Liam.
26th over: New Zealand 114-2 (Nicholls 52, Taylor 5) Nicholls drives Rashid down the ground for a single to reach a fine, purposeful half-century from 71 balls. Both batsmen are using their feet against Rashid, although at this stage they are only looking to drive him down the ground for a single.
The brilliant @derekpringle wearing his ORIGINAL kit from the 1992 @cricketworldcup Final. Catch him on our @1116sen call of the game, live from Lord’s at 10:15am. #CWC19pic.twitter.com/GUBfyM0OFA
25th over: New Zealand 109-2 (Nicholls 49, Taylor 3) Taylor will take a few overs to get his eye in, knowing he can make up for lost time later in the innings. His one attacking stroke in that Plunkett over is a play-and-miss at a wide slower ball. Taylor is New Zealand’s second best batsman, with daylight either side, so England would love to pick him up early on.Plunkett is into his work now; his figures in this spell at 2-0-2-1.
“Morning Rob,” says James Lane, “or evening here in Australia. I wasn’t planning on watching this, but is it sneakily turning into the kind of game that, at 1am, you groan as you realise you just have to watch to the bitter end? Plus, if England go down, your patented brand of sadomasochism is exactly what’s required.”
24th over: New Zealand 108-2 (Nicholls 48, Taylor 3) Nicholls edges Rashid’s googly for a single. It was a safe shot, with no slip in place. Rashid (4-0-23-0) doesn’t look at his best, although I said that at the same stage of the semi-final, and then he took three lovely wickets.
“It’s been a wild ride, sir,” says Abhijato Sensarma. “We seek catharsis; we shall find it today. We seek a new name on the trophy; we shall find it today. We seek redemption; we shall find it today. Hearts have been broken and fairytales have come true along the way. A million emotions have been felt throughout this journey, but now that we’re at the end there’s nothing much left to say. Whoever wins the final will deserve to. And that, Mr Smyth, should be our greatest joy.”
23rd over: New Zealand 103-2 (Nicholls 46, Taylor 0) In this tournament, Liam Plunkett has dismissed, among others, Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Chris Gayle, Quinton de Kock and Old Father Time.
“Good morning Rob,” says Shannon Campbell. “I’m here in Berlin following the final and this German metropolis oozes indifference at my nervous excitement. Friends want to go for walks, in forests! Have they no idea?! No they don’t. Do they understand? No they don’t! Would they willingly smash up their BMW for a ticket to a German World Cup football qualifier against Niue, yes they would! The OBO is a refuge in this hedonistic land, an oasis of sanity where hopefully the Black Caps can prevail and we can, in future, get more than a two-Test series every 12 years against one of the big three.”
With England in increasingly urgent need of a wicket, Morgan turned to his trusty middle-overs winkler. And he picked up the big wicket with his fourth ball. Williamson drove outside off stump at a cross-seam delivery and got the thinnest edge through to Buttler. Kumar Dharmasena gave it not out but England reviewed instantly, and Ultra-Edge backed them up. Kane Williamson is out!
Liam Plunkett. Liam bloody Plunkett has done it again!
England are certain this is out.
22nd over: New Zealand 101-1 (Nicholls 45, Williamson 30) Nicholls is looking to join the list of unlikely World Cup final matchwinners, which includes Collis King, Gautam Gambhir, Mike Veletta, Madan Lal and Steve Bucknor. He steals a single off Rashid to bring up the hundred, one of four from the over. This has been such a calm, mature partnership. England need to make something happen, which is usually a job for Ben Stokes.
@TimdeLisle
Contact all your non-cricket-loving friends, work colleagues, neighbours, people walking by your window, tell them to run home and turn on Channel 4, leave it on all day, boost the figures to tens of millions. Guaranteed cricket would be free-to-air by Christmas!
21st over: New Zealand 97-1 (Nicholls 43, Williamson 28) Williamson drives Wood sweetly through extra cover, and Bairstow charges round the boundary as if world peace depends on him saving a solitary run. That’s precisely what he does with a typically zealous sprawl. New Zealand are controlling the game at the moment; the last eight overs have yielded 51 runs.
Thanks Tim, hello everyone. You thought it was going to be easy, didn’t you? Where have you been these last four decades? If England are going to win the World Cup, they will have to come from behind in the match for the first time at this tournament. New Zealand have moved stealthily into a good position, while England’s bowlers, Chris Woakes excepted, have been slightly flat. They need a wicket pretty soon, ideally Williamson.
20th over: New Zealand 91-1 (Nicholls 40, Williamson 24) This is getting ominous for England supporters. Williamson lofts the first ball of Rashid’s second over for four, picking his spot beautifully, and then sweeps for the first time to pick up two more. That’s it from me for the moment: over to the ever-excellent Rob Smyth.
19th over: New Zealand 84-1 (Nicholls 40, Williamson 17) After going for a cheap four as Nicholls glides to wide third man, Wood finds a good riposte with a bouncer that is fended uncertainly and a length ball that beats the outside edge. Wood is a much improved bowler. But NZ are still on top.
18th over: New Zealand 77-1 (Nicholls 35, Williamson 15) Here is Adil Rashid, who bowled so well against Australia. Nicholls is looking to sweep him, Williamson to drive – first on the ground to long-off, where Joe Root saves a second, then in the air over midwicket. Impressive intent from both batsmen.
A worrying tweet from Lord’s. “The atmosphere is a disaster,” says Richard Vale, “entirely because of the way tickets were allocated. Is anyone in the press going to comment on that?” Good observation, but it seems a little early to sniff a conspiracy of silence.
17th over: New Zealand 70-1 (Nicholls 33, Williamson 10) A better over from Wood, but Williamson dabs a single into the leg side to reach double figures off 32 balls.
“Hello from wet West London,” says Anna Durrance-Bagale. “I was trying to explain the rules of cricket to my husband - he just kept asking ‘ yes but who’s winning?’ (on a par with ‘why are they wearing pyjamas?’). Big sigh - I give up.” Love it.
16th over: New Zealand 68-1 (Nicholls 32, Williamson 9) Plunkett goes for another four, first ball, as Nicholls pulls one of those bang-it-in balls of his. More significantly, Stokes hurts himself trying to make a diving save on the square-leg boundary. Is that a strained calf or a touch of cramp? Plunkett shapes up for the rest of the over, but he has 3-0-19-0 and it’s surely time for Rashid or Stokes, assuming the calf’s OK.
15th over: New Zealand 63-1 (Nicholls 27, Williamson 9) Woakes finally takes his sweater, with the very Woakesian figures of 7-0-19-1. Mark Wood comes on and promptly beats Williamson outside off with his extra pace, but the over is patchy – there’s a wide, a juicy full toss which Williamson can only push back to the bowler, and a bouncer that’s too easy to glove away for four. That’s drinks, and although England started strongly, NZ are now in the driving seat.
14th over: New Zealand 55-1 (Nicholls 27, Williamson 4) A few singles off Plunkett, and then a four as Nicholls easily finds the gap with his tuck behind square. It’s great to have Plunkett here, this man whose first World Cup was in 2007 and who hasn’t been on the losing side yet in the World Cup of 2019, but I’m baffled as to why Morgan has him on now, when the ball is still moving for the pitch-it-up merchants.
13th over: New Zealand 47-1 (Nicholls 21, Williamson 2) Morgan decides to give a seventh over to Woakes, who has a shout for LBW against Williamson – too high, but a fine delivery, jagging back up the hill. Williamson has two runs from 21 balls, but that won’t worry him, nor should it. The man who batted No.3 in the first innings of the first World Cup final at Lord’s, Rohan Kanhai of West Indies, was scoreless for 11 overs, and still finished on the winning side.
An email from Mike Sansom. “Bombing along the road from General Santos to Cotabato in Mindanao Philippines,” says Mike Sansom, “although that is probably the wrong verb given recent conflicts and this is New People’s Army Country. Talking of New People’s Army, go Black Caps and Aotearoa.”
12th over: New Zealand 46-1 (Nicholls 21, Williamson 2) A bowling change at last, and just when you’re expecting Mark Wood or Ben Stokes – or even Adil Rashid, as Williamson is mortal against leg spin – on comes Liam Plunkett. Is Morgan a little too keen to get funky? Or feeling suddenly wary? No slips, and Nicholls visibly relaxes, taking three twos.
11th over: New Zealand 40-1 (Nicholls 15, Williamson 2) Three unusual things in this over: Woakes bowls a wide to Williamson, and a long hop to Nicholls, who cuts for four. And Williamson shows signs of impatience, cutting one that’s too close, and getting away with a single through the vacant third slip. Even after a poor over by his standards, Woakes has figures of 6-0-18-1. In the first Powerplay, there were 44 dots.
“Watching the game live on TV,” says Matt Sowrey, “but it would be wrong to desert the always free-to-air OBO that has given me so much pleasure (and heartache) over the years.” Pleasure and heartache, that’s our secret sauce.
10th over: New Zealand 33-1 (Nicholls 10, Williamson 1) Williamson is off the mark! With a dab to silly mid-on off Archer. And the Powerplay ends, with the power nicely balanced: England have bowled well and removed a man who can score 200 on his day, but NZ will be happy to have laid a foundation.
“I suspect if Williamson gets out to Archer now,” says Emma John on Twitter, “this is going to be a terrible game. I can’t believe I’m actually rooting for him to stay in right now. What is happening to me?”
9th over: New Zealand 31-1 (Nicholls 10, Williamson 0) Now that Guptill has gone, Nicholls is getting twitchy. He plays and misses with a carve at a wideish one from Woakes, then takes a run that’s too tight and would be out if Roy had hit from mid-off. Only ten runs off the past five overs: this is every bit as absorbing as a World Cup final should be.
8th over: New Zealand 30-1 (Nicholls 9, Williamson 0) Williamson plays and misses! At Archer, who isn’t going to let a mere slope stop him seaming it away towards those slips.
“Morning Tim!” Morning Ryan Dunne. “Man, Sunday mornings on Channel 4 haven’t been this exciting since the days when Dawson’s Creek was on.”
7th over: New Zealand 29-1 (Nicholls 7, Williamson 0) So Morgan attacks his opposite number, and leaves a great big gap on the leg side, but Williamson isn’t tempted. He leaves his first ball, calm as ever; leaves the second too; defends the third, with those soft hands of his; and decides at the last second to leave the last. We have a contest.
Three slips for Kane Williamson. This is a big moment.
“Is it cowardly to pray for rain?” asks Tony Batt, in an email from before the wicket fell. “Hi Tim, c’mon England. I’m combining a work-life balance that lets me stay in the studio all-day today mostly to avoid chores and gain brownie points. i may even open the presentation i’m supposed to be working on if this partnership goes on any longer.”
Got him! Just deserts for Woakes, a shame for Guptill who was blasting his way back to form, and a double blow for NZ, who lose their review.
Woakes again. This one looks out...
6th over: New Zealand 28-0 (Guptill 19, Nicholls 7) Nasser Hussain has spotted that there are two different kinds of opening going on here. Guptill is having a go; Nicholls (7 off 19) is looking to see off the new ball and cash in later. Modernism meets tradition.
5th over: New Zealand 24-0 (Guptill 18, Nicholls 4) After that big over for the batsmen, Woakes restores order by conceding only two singles. A force by Nicholls is smartly stopped by Stokes, who has replaced Jason Roy at backward point.
The cameras are spotting famous faces in the crowd. Theresa May, with her husband Philip. Mike Gatting, with Mike Brearley behind him. Both Mikes captained England in a World Cup final. Gatt got out to a reverse sweep in 1987; Brears made a fifty but used up an awful lot of overs in 1979. Can another Middlesex batsman, Eoin Morgan, do any better?
4th over: New Zealand 22-0 (Guptill 17, Nicholls 3) Guptill has decided that if you’re in a bad trot, you might as well whack it. He upper-cuts Archer, flirting with disaster as Rashid lurks at third man, but getting a six. And then he comes down the track again and hits a drop-kick for four. Nothing wrong with his temperament.
Related: ‘We ran out of gas’: England’s Cricket World Cup final losers remember
3rd over: New Zealand 10-0 (Guptill 6, Nicholls 2) Nicholls does two things right, calling for that review and then getting off the mark with a regulation nudge. But the ball is moving around for both the bowlers. Good toss to lose.
“Watching, listening, reading,” says Peter Gibbs in Selsey, “but not necessarily in that order. Mum’s one pleasure is cricket, so we have to pay for it anyway but this is how I do things normally. I for one will not desert you Tim./fellow OBOers.” That’s the spirit. All the best to your mum.
It was a great ball, except that it was going over middle and off. What a good review.
To Woakes. Straight enough, back pad, maybe a touch high?
2nd over: New Zealand 8-0 (Guptill 6, Nicholls 0) Jofra Archer thinks he’s got Guptill! Caught behind. It looks out for all the world, but Marais Erasmus says no, and he’s spot on – the ball, a gorgeous lifter going up the slope, took the outside edge of the trousers.
“My first OBO email,” says Matthew Kentridge, “moved by your great (and poignant) piece in the Observer about going to the 1975 WC final. I went to the final in 1983. I was 19, a student in Johannesburg. Landed at Heathrow early on Saturday 25 June and went straight to Lord’s with my dad. It was only my second time at Lord’s - the first was on a freezing wet day in April a few years before, where I was one of about six people in the ground watching Middlesex eke out what felt like 100 runs in a full day’s play. This couldn’t have been more different: a hot day, ground absolutely packed, and the best team in the world about to win a third successive world cup. For a South African who had never before seen international cricket, it was absolutely sensational to be there, to see these impossible heroes, whom I’d only ever read about, in the flesh. I was as stunned as everyone else when Kapil Dev pulled off a miracle and propelled India to the title - I had thought West Indies absolutely invincible - a lesson in the fact that the best can lose. Since SA’s ignominious departure from this tournament, I’m backing England to win the damn cup already. Let’s hope Kane Williamson doesn’t do a Kapil Dev today.” Little-known fact about Matthew Kentridge: he’s my next-door neighbour.
1st over: New Zealand 5-0 (Guptill 4, Nicholls 0) Woakes finds his line after that one aberration. Guptill, an explosive player who has been a damp squib lately, tries going down the track, but mistimes his shot and gets no run. Next ball, staying in his crease, he fends uppishly and gets four to Ben Stokes’s left. “Is this the little bit of luck you need?” asks Brendon McCullum. There’s some swing for Woakes. He has a wonderful record at Lord’s, but bowled too short here against Australia the other day.
With a wide, from Chris Woakes, of all people – Mr Immaculate. Martin Guptill throws the kitchen sink at it and misses.
“England fan joining from Norway,” says Brendan Large. “Absolutely bricking it...we finally have the best team and that makes me more nervous about the outcome! Have to say that if we do have to lose the NZ team seem a nice bunch of chaps who deserve a bit more credit than they seem to get.
“Watching from local fire station in Tasmania,” says George Shufflebottom. “Weather as English as it gets, pouring with rain. Ironically, struggling to light a fire.”
The anthems are under way, NZ going first. The cameras find plenty of black shirts in the crowd, which is good to see.
“There’s a saying in cricket,” says Rob Eastaway, author of What Is a Googly?, on Twitter. “‘That was a good toss to lose.’ A nice bit of game theory. I reckon Eoin Morgan will be happy not to have had to make a decision in these cloudy conditions.” Agreed.
If there’s one thing we know about OBO readers, it’s that you’re a cosmpolitan bunch. “Kiwis (actually Scottish) tuning in,” says Jane MacDonald, “but from Croatia not Wellington.” I’m baffled already, but I like it. “Will be OBOing it all day as we would if we were at home. A bit torn between supporting a very entertaining exciting England or the Kiwi boys – just hoping for an exciting match. Keep up the good OBO work (Marina Hyde declined obviously) and loving The Spin pod.” Quite agree – I was a guest on Thursday evening and saw for myself how good Emma John and her producer Geoff Jein are at it. They’ve done something in weeks which often takes years, and established a distinctive tone of voice, all sharp-witted levity. Also, I got to witness the most Guardian thing ever. Emma and her guests sit round a table with some tiny plastic cricketers playing on a green baize pitch. The set, dug out of Geoff Jein’s attic, was missing a ball, so Emma made one, using a dried chickpea and some red nail varnish.
NZ readers in the house!“Tuning in from Wellington,” says Tom Middlemiss. “It may be a Sunday night but work tomorrow be damned! Now I’ll have to stay up way past midnight to see the first 6 Kiwi wickets - then set alarm for 0300 to hear Roy/Bairstow smash the total in the first 25 overs. We’ll see but excited all the same!!!!” So it’s not just England fans who are prone to reflex pessimism.
“Grant here,” says Grant Marjoribanks, “currently flying from Doha to Sydney, the only time I’ve ever been grateful for inflight wifi. Loved your piece on the first World Cup final, so poignant.” Ah, thanks. “I know today means a lot to you and I respect that, but to be honest I want NZ to win so badly it hurts.” Sports fans, eh. We’re all mad.
Both teams are unchanged, as Jonny Bairstow, who tweaked a groin muscle in the semi-final, has been passed fit. Spare a thought for Moeen Ali, an integral part of this England team for the past four years, now squeezed out by the rapid rise of Archer and the enduring efficiency of Plunkett.
England 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jos Buttler (wkt), 7 Chris Woakes, 8 Liam Plunkett, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Jofra Archer, 11 Mark Wood.
And they will bat, Kane Wiliamson says. Recent history is on their side, but the weather may well help the bowlers early on.
“Joining you from Australia,” says Dr Tim. “Supporting England. Don’t fret about the drop in traffic for the OBO. I’ve had Channel 9 on the telly, TMS special on the phone, via the ABC Listen app and the OBO. Aren’t we lucky in Oz, having all this UK content freely available!” It must be early evening there – are you staying up for the whole game? And I wonder if we have anyone tuning in from New Zealand, where it’s already 9.10pm.
“I’ll not desert Guardian OBO,” says Andrew Harrison, “just because there’s (miraculously) a live stream available here in Japan. Hoping neither Boult nor Henry will do a Gary Gilmour on us. Pitch looks a bit green.” Yes, let’s hope neither side starts with a collapse.
While we wait for this delayed toss– the drama! – let’s have some emails and tweets.
“I’ve been considering,” says Tom van der Gucht, “whether I ought to watch the cricket on Channel 4 rather than on Sky. Partially to relive the glory years of the 2005 Ashes in the hope that, somehow, where I watch it empowers the team due to the quantum interconnectivity of everything, or something... But also, if it gets mega viewing figures it might hasten a return for more cricket on terrestrial TV, apart from the bloody Hundred.”
And here’s Gary Naylor.“I expect England to win.” What? Are you mad, Gary? Not for thinking it, but for saying it. “For once, they have copied what other successful nations do in all sports and turned up for the final with the better players. No guarantees of course, but it does make a change.” Yes, England do have more firepower with the bat. But this NZ attack can win matches, especially under thick cloud.
More breaking news: the toss has been delayed by a quarter of an hour (to 10.15am), and so has the start (to 10.45). There was a sharp downpour this morning, and the groundstaff need a bit more time to dry the coin. Only in England.
If you’re on Instagram, there’s a memorable post by Brendon McCullum. He’s put the photo of the two captains up – the one currently sitting at the top of this page, with Kane Williamson looking suddenly camp. And he’s captioned it: “Two very fine gentlemen. Much love for them both.”
This is, in a small way, a lovely piece of writing. The first sentence expresses cricket’s traditional values, and could have been written at any time in the past century. The second could only have been written in the past decade or so, as men have belatedly got a bit better at showing their feelings. The two sentences together are strikingly even-handed, which reflects the fact that McCullum’s influence lies behind both captains. He was Williamson’s predecessor and mentor – though Williamson is his own man, with his own style, less gung-ho and more pragmatic. And he has also been Eoin Morgan’s inspiration. Morgan’s England, with their buccaneering irreverence, are more like McCullum’s New Zealand than Williamson’s New Zealand are. McCullum is the daddy – of both sides.
And the prize for the first email of the day– or the first not sent by Rob – goes to Simon McMahon. “Morning Tim.” Morning Simon. “A strange feeling of calm has descended over me this morning, at least compared to last Thursday before the semi-final. I don’t know whether this is a good or a bad thing. Probably bad. Anyway, whatever happens today I think both teams can be proud of their World Cup campaigns, and let’s hope cricket is the winner. Yeah, right. COME ON ENGLAND!!! BRING IT HOME, BOYS!!!” It’s the eternal struggle, isn’t it: between the kid in us and the grown-up, the desperate fan and the rueful spectator. At the risk of being too me-me-me, I’ve touched on this today in a piece for The Observer about going to the first World Cup final as a boy.
In the UK, the final will be shown not just on Sky Sports, as ever, but on Channel 4, as cricket returns to terrestrial television (albeit for one day only) for the first time since the famous summer of 2005. This is great news for the English game, which is in grave danger of becoming a middle-class ghetto. But it’s bloody awful news for the amalgamated union of live bloggers. There’s every chance that our UK traffic will plummet. So if you’re reading now, or planning to have two screens on in the modern manner, do send us an email saying where you are and what you think.
Rob Smyth will be along later, but is he putting his feet up in the meantime? He is not. “The last five ODIs at Lord’s, including four games in this tournament, have been won by the team batting first,” he writes. Do you sense a but coming? “But in the game before that run started, England were 20 for six v South Africa.”
Morning everyone. So, today’s the big day. It’s the men’s singles final at Wimbledon. It’s the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. It’s even, as I discovered driving home last night, the Dog Show in Rockingham. But then all those things happen every year. In St John’s Wood, London, just round the corner from the Beatles’ zebra crossing, something is happening that hasn’t happened for 27 years. ENGLAND ARE IN THE CRICKET WORLD CUP FINAL.
It was in 1992, in Melbourne, that England last appeared in this fixture. They bowled well enough against Imran Khan’s Pakistan, and had the game under control, until Wasim Akram destroyed them with two balls of the greatest reverse swing you will ever goggle at in disbelief. To find England in a World Cup final in England, you have to wind the videotape of life back even further, to 1979. Yes, it’s 40 years since these hosts last made it to their own party. To remember that day, you have to be middle-aged now; to have reported it, you have to be a pensioner.
Pre-preamble
Tim will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s Barney Ronay’s match preview.
Related: New Zealand fitting final foes after England’s thrilling transformation | Barney Ronay
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