Quite often in the last 20 years, Cricket World Cup finals have been some of the most lopsided games of their respective tournaments.
No doubt many England fans were hoping for a similar result but what we ended up getting will go down as one of the best ever games of ODI cricket and one of the worst ways to lose a tournament.
While English supporters are most likely still celebrating their sole cup win, it’s time to reflect on what will make this tournament so utterly frustrating for New Zealand fans for years and decades to come.
Boundaries? Whatever for?
It seems particularly odd, and not really reflective of the battle, that a tiebreaker should go to who scored the most boundaries.
Wickets have long been the most important statistic when batting and the number of boundaries has always been a means to an end, not a stat to decide World Cups with.
Don’t be surprised if this rule is indeed changed now it has been exposed for how ridiculous it is.
(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Beaten by a disavowed Kiwi
While England have always had a penchant for claiming overseas players as their own, this betrayal must sting the most for New Zealand.
Ben Stokes, born and raised in New Zealand, could have very easily been hitting the winning runs under Kane Williamson but instead he has delivered a World Cup win to the old enemy.
Bizarre mistakes
Trent Boult comically stepping on the boundary after taking a good catch and the throw that ricocheted off Stokes’ bat for six will be talked about in hushed tones in New Zealand pubs forever.
We haven’t seen anything quite like that for years and yet New Zealand suffers both in the final two overs of a World Cup final. The odds of this occurring, in a game decided by millimetres, must be astronomical.
Two in two
New Zealand’s second World Cup final loss in a row will be harder to swallow because they will have felt they learnt from their past failure, and for much of the game it looked like they had.
Will they get another chance at the trophy with India, Pakistan and Bangladesh rising so quickly to become dominant ODI players? Who knows.
Lady Luck
Every possible bit of luck that could go England’s way did.
Jason Roy surviving an LBW shout first ball when the review showed 49% of the ball hitting the stumps. Roy went on to make 17 more runs.
Ross Taylor been giving out by an absolute shocker of a decision, stifling the charge home for the Kiwis.
Just one of the 17 extras New Zealand gave away being stopped.
In a game of millimetres, it felt like England might just have had a head start.
Nick Parmenter
Roar Rookie
This really boils down to one thing and one thing only - would you have written this piece if England had been on the other end of the result in the same circumstances?
Paul
Roar Guru
Kiwis have mighty long memories and it's only a small country.,so I'd hate to be playing for England if they have to face the All Blacks any time soon and you can bet the Black Caps will be using this as motivation to beat the Poms every chance they can get, but especially at the 2023 World Cup.
Paul
Roar Guru
Its common knowledge that Poms are the worlds best whingers Freddie. I think it's their favourite sport, way ahead of soccer, which they whinge about constantly. The issues being raised are NOT about the rules but how the rules were incorrectly used to favour England. As others have pointed it, the game may have finished very differently if the rules had been applied correctly.
George
Guest
Quite. The narrative has shifted from listing all the reasons England have no chance in the tournament (need to bat first, need a flat track, can only slog, have rubbish bowling etc etc).
FunBus
Roar Rookie
Five reasons for the ‘bitter taste.’ 1. The Poms won. 2. The Poms won. 3. The Poms won. 4. The Poms humiliated Oz in the SF. 5. The Poms won. Thanks for extending our joy with this hilarious and epic hissy fit.
Rainbow
Guest
The poms were awarded the world cup and nothings gonna change it so articles likes this are a bit pointless. Everyone knows that this "victory" has the same taint about it as the 2005 Ashes. It will be amusing listening to the endless justification from insecure English supporters over the next 18 months listing the reasons why they deserve the world cup. At least this will make a change from the same insecure English supporters continually listing every sporting achievement in their history.
Basil
Guest
Funny I don't recall any similar talk when South African Grant Elliot won that semi-final for NZ in the last world cup. I wonder why? The article also overlooks one piece of luck that did go NZ's way -batting first on a pitch that got increasingly difficult to score runs on as the game progressed. The Boult step on the boundary seemed unavoidable, or almost so, check the replay, it was hardly comical.
Ad-O
Guest
If it was about performance over the entire tournament then the trophy would be going back to India. In a knockout format it's about bringing it on the day, and once again England win a world cup final on the back of a dodgy call. Not to worry though. It hasn't stopped them celebrating 1966 for the last 53 years, and if I were them I wouldn't be bothering about it now.
Michael Fernandez
Roar Rookie
Things did go their way in the final, that happens in all sports, not as if England haven't been on the wrong end of a decision in sport, this time it was their turn. Let's not forget that they lifted that trophy on the back of some of the most scintillating performances throughout the tournament (Morgan v Bangladesh, impressive against India, NZ in the last 2 group games when backs against the wall and outstanding in the semis) not all about just one game.
Freddie
Guest
Dear oh dear. No-one does whinging like the Aussies. How is it England’s fault? Unfortunate for NZ for sure, but a “bitter” taste? Everyone knew the rules beforehand.
Harry Selassie
Roar Rookie
Add more luck, or rather a mistaken call by the umpires which directly affected the outcome of the final: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2019/07/15/picture-proves-umpire-error-handed-england-cricket-world-cup/ "Stokes and Rashid had not crossed when Guptill threw in from the boundary edge, meaning England were erroneously given one extra run by umpires Marais Erasmus and Kumar Dharmasena. To add to New Zealand's sense of injustice, had this been spotted at the time, Rashid would have been on strike for the penultimate delivery rather than Stokes, further diminishing the chances of England completing a famous victory." In other words England should have lost by 1 run. Just one more sign everything went England's way yesterday. Bad luck for the Black Caps. Very bad luck.