England are World Champs after thrilling Super Over
London: It was a match worthy of a final. For the first time in World Cup history, a final went into a super over. England held their nerve to
deny New Zealand their tryst with destiny.
Batting first New Zealand once again put up a modest batting performance under overcast conditions to post 241 for eight against a quality England pace attack that kept on asking probing questions.
Henry Nicholls (55 off 77 balls) and skipper Kane Williamson (30, 53 balls) added 74 runs for the second wicket after a fabulous first spell from Chris Woakes (3/37 in 9 overs) and Jofra Archer (1/42 in 10 overs) on a helpful Lord's track.
While Woakes had the best figures statistically, it was the tall Liam
Plunkett (3/42 in 10 overs), who
used the cross-seam variations effectively to stop the Black Caps on their tracks.
Only Tom Latham (47 off 56 balls) contributed in the middle overs in another mediocre effort from the New Zealanders on another big day.
Martin Guptill (19 off 18 balls) had started on a positive note but after surviving a caught behind appeal off Archer, he wasn't lucky the second time when Woakes got one to slightly shape in and he was caught plumb in-front.
Williamson and Nicholls, just like the India game, were trying to preserve their wicket with occasional boundaries.
They were steady during their 16.2 over stand without being spectacular.
It was Plunkett, who got the all important wicket of Williamson when the New Zealand skipper tried to play away from his body and the nick was snapped by Buttler.