England won the men's Cricket World Cup on 14 July 2019 by the barest of margins. Some would say well deserved, others would say whatever; England won simply by chance. Of course, Twitter had this and much else to say about the England v New Zealand World Cup final.
Indian, Australian, Pakistani and other fans were watching the match, but not really watching the match – they were like this.
I will freely admit, with India out of the competition my interest in the final was only desultory and it was only this morning that I found out about the result and the way it came about.
Indian supporters were mollified that the two teams in the CWC final were the only two teams that beat the Indians. Most Indians were supporting New Zealand though – maybe because the Kiwis are just that likeable or maybe just because colonial oppression was a thing for 200 years.
The scores read New Zealand 241/8 (50) and England 241 (50). The match was tied in the end and it went down to the super over.
England made 15 runs in their super over. New Zealand needed two off the last ball, but the attempted second run resulted in a runout. So here as well, it was a tie, but the according to the rules, side that scores the most boundaries in the super over wins. Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Scott Styris and other players slammed the silly boundary rule that resulted in England winning yesterday.
And so it was that England won the world cup. All those multitudes gathered at Trafalgar Square did not mind how it was won – on a technicality, by chance or whatever.
Under the “Won By” column, someone wrote “by pure luck” this is not untrue. In the end both teams were absolutely perfectly matched; there was nothing to choose between the two.
Skipper Eoin Morgan was asked if he had had the luck of the Irish (referring to his Irish roots) after the match. He said that even Allah was on his side; acknowledging the importance of diversity in his team.
England may have won the cup, but New Zealand won hearts, as the cliché goes. Skipper Kane Williamson in particular – his grace, composure, refusal to indulge in the blame game – won him a lot of hearts.
England may be responsible for introducing cricket to much of the world, but it had never won the cricket world cup. Now it has. At long last.
Indian fans had bought tickets for the finals in their thousands – because optimism! It became a case of have ticket will watch, though the zing was clearly missing.
The irony of Ben Stokes being born in Christchurch New Zealand and then being largely responsible for beating New Zealand was not lost on us.
The official cricket world cup handle posted this.
Indian fans were up in arms of course. No one, absolutely no one is allowed to compare the legendary Sachin Tendulkar unfavourably to anyone. Any time. Anywhere.
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