London will stand still today as England bids to win their first-ever ICC World Cup crown against New Zealand at Lord’s from 5.30 am.
England’s rich history in sports has not been matched by success at World Cups, so much so that the only World Cup title they have ever won was at football way back in 1966.
Today, the majority of some 26,000 fans will flock to the storied St John’s Wood venue to see if they can finally break a 44-year drought at the World Cup. The last time England hosted the World Cup and reached the finals was 40 years ago in 1979, when the West Indies defeated them by 92 runs to lift the crown. They reached the finals again in 1992 only to be turned back by Pakistan.
New Zealand, on the other hand, had never reached a World Cup final for the first 10 editions and all of a sudden they are now in back to back finals, having done so in 2015 when they co-hosted the tournament with eventual winners Australia.
England skipper Eoin Morgan put it into context yesterday.
“It means a huge amount to me and everybody in the changing room. It’s a culmination of four years of hard work, dedication, a lot of planning and it presents a huge opportunity to go on and try and win a World Cup,” Morgan said.
“I think for everybody around the country, the support we’ve had throughout has been unquestionable and that’s, as a team you know, it makes you feel extremely lucky to be part of a team that has that sort of support.”
He added: “I think it presents another opportunity for both teams and the ICC to sell the game on a huge platform, two very strong sides, hopefully, produce a really good game of cricket. It’s on terrestrial television around the country and obviously various outlets online. It presents a huge opportunity for us to sell this great game.”
The man who played for Ireland before representing England has huge respect for New Zealand despite the fact that his team will go in as favourites.
“New Zealand is an extremely tough side, with a lot of experience, a lot of skill. They were the best side in the group stage and they improved, very similar to us, from the group stage to the semifinal performance. So we are striving to improve on our performance. No doubt they will.”
His opposite number, Kane Williamson, was also quietly confident.
“We can beat anybody when we turn up. We are looking forward to the challenge, it’s a very special moment to play in a World Cup final, especially at Lord’s,” Williamson said following heir semifinal stunner against India.
“We are just enjoying our cricket and it’s nice to be getting on a bus to London, rather than flying home. It’s been an enjoyable ride, but the feet are on the ground and we look forward to our next challenge.”
Williamson said then he was hoping that the Indian fans who went ahead and bought tickets for today’s final will come on board and support his team.
TEAMS
England - Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Jos Buttler (wk), Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
New Zealand - Kane Williamson (capt), Tom Blundell (wk), Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (wk), Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.
HOW THEY GOT THERE
ENGLAND
England bt South Africa by 104 runs, The Oval
Pakistan bt England by 14 runs, Nottingham
England bt Bangladesh by 106 runs, Cardiff
England bt West Indies by 8 wkts, Hampshire Bowl
England bt Afghanistan by 150 runs, Old Trafford
Sri Lanka bt England by 20 runs, Headingley
Australia bt England by 64 runs, Lord's
England bt India by 31 runs, Edgbaston
England bt New Zealand by 119 runs, Durham
SEMIS
England bt Australia by 8 wkts, Edgbaston
NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand bt Sri Lanka by 10 wkts, Cardiff
New Zealand bt Bangladesh by 2 wkts, The Oval
New Zealand bt Afghanistan by 7 wkts, Taunton
India vs New Zealand, Trent Bridge - Abandoned
New Zealand bt South Africa by 4 wkts, Edgbaston
New Zealand by West Indies by 5 runs, Old Trafford
Pakistan bt New Zealand by 6 wkts, Edgbaston
Australia bt New Zealand by 86 runs, Lord's
England bt New Zealand by 119 runs, Durham
SEMIS
New Zealand bt India by 18 runs, Old Trafford
England vs New Zealand by numbers
• England have won seven of their last nine men’s ODIs against New Zealand, including a 119-run victory at The Riverside (Durham) in the group stage of the ICC World Cup 2019.
• Before England’s triumph over New Zealand earlier in this tournament, they hadn’t beaten the Black Caps in the ICC World Cup since 1983, suffering a string of five consecutive defeats against them in the competition in that time.
• England are playing in their first ICC World Cup final since 1992, whilst New Zealand have now reached this stage in back-to-back editions (also 2015) having never made it to the final before.
• Neither England nor New Zealand have ever won the ICC World Cup before. Whichever side triumphs in this match will be the sixth different team to win the tournament.
• England are trying to emulate the England women’s ODI side who lifted the ICC World Cup in 2017 with a dramatic 9-run victory over India at the same venue (Lord’s).
• England and New Zealand have met twice before in men’s ODIs at Lord’s, the Black Caps winning both previous encounters, a five-wicket victory in 2013 and a 51-run triumph in 2008.
• This will be England’s seventh ICC World Cup match at Lord’s. They have won four of their previous six such games but did lose their solitary fixture at this London venue so far in the current edition of the tournament (64-run loss to Australia).
• New Zealand had won three out of three ODIs at Lord’s before suffering an 86-run loss to Australia at the iconic venue earlier in this World Cup.
• England have played one more match than New Zealand at this World Cup (India v New Zealand group stage abandoned), yet England have still hit over 1,000 more runs than the Black Caps, including 100 more boundary fours and 53 more sixes.