World Cup 2019: Most Runs, Most Wickets after England Vs New Zealand Final
A magnificent World Cup 2019 came to a remarkable end as England became the 'World Champions' for the first time in the tournament's history after beating New Zealand on the basis of a superior boundary count after the super-over ended in a tie.
Chasing 242 to win the World Cup, England, just like New Zealand, lost wickets at regular intervals and found themselves at a precarious situation of being 4 down for just 86 runs. Yet, the ever-reliable crisis man Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler joined together to stitch a crucial 110-run stand. Just when England were looking odds on favourite to win the match easily, New Zealand came back well with two quick wickets of Buttler and Chris Woakes.
The Kiwi bowlers also managed to bowl some very tight overs at the death and the required run rate was always on the rise for England. With two overs to go, England required 24 runs and the match was well-poised. However, in spite of a six off the fourth ball from Stokes, England lost two wickets to put themselves in a situation where they needed 15 off the last over. Stokes hit a six yet again to reduce the equation to 9 required off 3 balls but the game changed on the fourth delivery. Stokes mishit a ball to the mid-wicket fielder and took off for a double and the resulting throw to the striker's end hit the English all-rounder and sped off to the boundary. After that England just needed 3 runs to win but two run-outs of two balls meant that the game had to go to the super over.
Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler came out to bat again in the super over and managed to score 15 runs off it. In return, James Neesham put New Zealand in a favourable position after striking a six off the second ball. Yet, when they required two to win the super over, the match and the World Cup, they ended up one run shot and only managed to tie the super over as Martin Guptill couldn't reach the crease with Jos Buttler dislodging the stumps to send a nation into exhilaration.
Earlier in the day, New Zealand won the toss and chose to bat on a grassy Lord's wicket. Like how it had panned throughout the tournament, New Zealand lost an early wicket as Martin Guptill was sent back by in-dipper from Chris Woakes. Henry Nicholls and skipper Kane Williamson fought on and brought up New Zealand's hundred in the 22nd over but the latter soon departed for a scrappy 30 off 53 balls. The Kiwis kept on losing wickets at regular intervals after that with only Tom Latham standing tall amidst the collapse. Latham eventually got dismissed for a crucial 47-run knock and New Zealand managed to notch up a total of 241-8 after 50 overs.
World Cup Most Runs
It turned out to be an average day for the batsmen who were part of the 'Most Runs' list with only minor changes taking place. Kane Williamson and Jonny Bairstow scored 30 and 36 respectively with the latter moving up a spot above Babar Azam. These meagre returns meant that Rohit Sharma's leading run-scorer tag didn't come under any threat at all.
World Cup Most Wickets
Jofra Archer and Mark Wood took a wicket each whereas Lockie Ferguson picked up 3 scalps as there were small changes within the 'Most Wickets' list too. This was a breakthrough tournament for both Archer and Ferguson on the international arena whereas Mitchell Starc continued with his exploits in the ODI format to finish the World Cup as the leading wicket-taker by a huge margin.
Man of the Tournament Award- Kane Williamson
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson's 548 runs in 9 matches along with his astute captaincy and sportsmanship won him the 'Man of the Tournament' award. While batsmen around him failed for the majority of the tournament, Williamson never moved away from his successful path as he invariably came up with match-winning knocks throughout the tournament.
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