DOHA: Rewind to 2019 World Cup final between hosts England and New Zealand at the Lord’s Cricket Ground.
From Trent Boult inadvertently standing on the boundary rope to Ben Stokes sliding in to divert a throw for the most fortuitous of overthrows, then the first-ever ODI Super Over arriving on the grandest of stages, it was a match which had it all.
The fabled home of cricket has rarely witnessed a cacophony of noise like that which greeted Jos Buttler whipping off the bails with Martin Guptill short of his ground, England securing victory on boundary countback after both the regulation match and Super Over finished tied.
It marked a culmination of England’s remarkable journey under the captaincy of Eoin Morgan, who set out to lift the World Cup on home soil and achieved it, as famously uttered by commentator Ian Smith, by the barest of margins.
New Zealand will have noted the irony in the fact it was their own fearless approach, inspired by Brendon McCullum, which sparked Morgan’s mantra. McCullum, of course, has since gone on to similarly revolutionise England’s Test team.
Memories of that famous day at Lord’s will be in the minds of both teams on October 5 as they kick off the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in Ahmedabad, not least because so many of the same players will be on show.
Seven from each XI in the final four years ago are part of their country’s respective squads this time around, with Buttler having stepped up to captain England following Morgan’s retirement. (ICC Media)
