Arsalan
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Tomorrow on July 14 the world will have their new "FIRST TIME World Champion"
Forty six days after cricket's most celebrated extravaganza began it will come to an end, in what many hope will be a memorable occasion, on Sunday at Lords, the iconic home of Cricket as the hosts England take on New Zealand in the final.
ROAD TO FINAL:
New Zealand have reached the cricket world cup final second time in a row after losing to Australia in 2015 final in at the MCG. Their road to 2019 final have been a bit shaky though, coming in to the semifinals as the fourth placed team and making it through only on Net-Run-Rate after being tied on points with Pakistan. New Zealand had an easier run of fixtures at start of the tournament and they took full advantage of it, starting the tournament with an emphatic 10 wicket win over Sri Lanka and following it up with wins over Bangladesh and Afghanistan. What would have been their first real test in the tournament ended up with one point after game against India was a wash-out, A point that may have played in crucial role in them being in the final tomorrow! Next match New Zealand were up against out of sort South Africa but had to work their way to the win nonetheless, same as they will have to do in their sixth match against West Indies. Again a crucial win. Seventh game of the unbeaten New Zealand was against Pakistan which as the saying goes were “Cornered” by then. The result was the first defeat for New Zealand in the running tournament. This was followed up by defeat against Australia making their final game sort of a Quarter Final against England. New Zealand lost again. Three loses in last three games left them tied with Pakistan on points but qualifying for the Semi Finals only on NRR and being the only team not to have beaten any of the fellow semifinalists.
Coming in as the fourth team they had to play against the Indian, tone of the per-tournament favorites with batting in red hot form and bowling looking threatening for a change. India were the favorites but Kiwis had other plans. In rain effect match that ended up as a two dayer, New Zealand struggled to a half decent total but then their pace attack blew Indian batting away. The fierce duo of Trent Boult and Matt Henry had Indian 6 for 3 in five overs and 24 for 4 in the first 10, worst start in the world cup 2019. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul managed to score one run each. The modest total of 239 became a daunting challenge. Some fight shown by Ravendra Jadeja and Dhoni made it looked closer than it actually was but the New Zealand’s place in finals were sealed hen their start batsman Martin Guptil made his first real contribution of the tournament and ran Dohni out with an excellent direct hit.
England in contrast to New Zealand have reached the World Cup final after a long wait of 27 years having last played in the final in 1992 against Pakistan. England have in fact not even qualified for the Semi Finals since then. On their way to finals had their own fair share of hick-ups as well and had the wait till their last game and victory in that game to secure a place in Finals. Host and among the pre-tournament finals thanks to their scintillating ODI form (number one ranked in the world), England also started the tournament on a high note, beating South Africa convincingly by 104 runs in the tournament opener. Their second game saw them up against Pakistan who though not being the figurative “cornered tiger” just yet were given a proper spanking in their own opener by West Indians and were on the hunt. England lost the game chasing 348. They bounced back strongly with another convincing win over Bangladesh when they beat them in their third game with 106 runs and then followed it up with thumping wins over West Indies and Afghanistan with 8 wickets and then 150 runs respectively. England’s sixth game saw them up against Sri Lanka who were not having the best tournament but managed to beat England blowing the tournament wide open. England lost the next game to Australia making their last two games “must wins” to keep their destiny in their own hands. In their second last game of round robin phase of the tournament England came up against India and managed to beat an ordinary looking Indian team lacking ambition on the day. A win in last game against New Zealand sealed their spot in the Semi Finals as they finished 1 point above the fourth placed New Zealand and fifth placed Pakistan.
As third placed team in the Semi Finals England were up against the old foes Australia who have beaten them already in the group stage of the tournament. With Australia having an edge because of their vast experience at this stage of the game while England had the home ground advantage. The game was evenly poised until Jofra Archer and Chris Woakes decided to change that. Australian captain was dismissed for a first ball duck and the explosive Warner was sent back by Woakes on 9, restricting the explosive Australian batting to 13 for 2 in first five overs and then 27 for 3 in 10 the momentum was with England and they were not going to let it go. Australian Steven Smith tried and anchor one end, forming partnerships with wicketkeeper Carey and then Maxwell while fast bowler Mitchelle Starc bowler joined him to add useful 59 runs in the end to take the team total to 223. The score was always going to be low but the Australian pace attack was not to be discounted for. Not until the England opening duo of Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow decided to take the bowlers to the cleaners. An opening 124 runs stand between the two all but sealed the fate of Australia. Joe Root and Captain Eoin Morgan completed the formalities later and won England a spot in the World Cup finals with an eight wicket win in the Semi Finals.
FINAL'S SETTING:
The Sunday’s final will be the 12th of ODI format with the world having seen five champions to date. Australia have won it a record five times, Indian and West India twice each while Pakistan and Sri Lanka have won it once. Tomorrow on July 14 the world will have their new "FIRST TIME World Champion" with neither New Zealand nor England having won the tournament before. Their previous best performance in the World Cup have been an appearance in Final with New Zealand losing to Australia in 2015 and England losing to Pakistan back in 1992.
The final game is expected to be a high scoring one however the pressure of the occasion and the assistance the pitch usually offers to fast bowlers early in the day can have a say and result in a low scoring game.
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES:
Both sides are well balanced with good batsmen and bowling. While New Zealand may claim a very slight edge in department of fast bowling with Trent Boult and Matt Henrey to open and followed by Ferguson, England will seek parity with Jofra Archer proving a hand full for most of the batsmen and joined by opening partner Woakes. England will also most likely play their spinner Adil Rashid who have proven himself in the tournament.
In batting England hold an advantage with their top order in the groove and kicking already. Jason Roy and Bairstow have taken the best bowling attacks apart recently and in this tournament and are followed by the likes of dependable Joe Root, reliable Eoin Morgan, arguably the best all-rounder in the game, Ben Stokes. New Zealand on other hand have lot of difficulties with the opening pair. The star man Guptill not clicking throughout the tournament and his opening partner changed once already. New Zealand will be depending heavily on Kane Williamson who is having an excellent tournament and also will want some support from Ross Taylor and Latham. If Martin Guptil can provide New Zealand with a good start then the batting line-ups of both will be relatively on par with each other.
VERDICT:
We can expect the team winning the toss to bat first and try to set a high total. The first few overs however can be tricky for batting side. England will want their bowlers and batsmen to continue doing pretty much the stuff they have been doing lately while New Zealand will want their opening batsman to rise up to the task and deliver at the biggest stage of world cricket.The home team will be playing at one of the most iconic grounds of the world, we all expect a lot of buzz and look forward to the entertaining final.
Written by Arsalan Aslam for defence.pk
Forty six days after cricket's most celebrated extravaganza began it will come to an end, in what many hope will be a memorable occasion, on Sunday at Lords, the iconic home of Cricket as the hosts England take on New Zealand in the final.
ROAD TO FINAL:
New Zealand have reached the cricket world cup final second time in a row after losing to Australia in 2015 final in at the MCG. Their road to 2019 final have been a bit shaky though, coming in to the semifinals as the fourth placed team and making it through only on Net-Run-Rate after being tied on points with Pakistan. New Zealand had an easier run of fixtures at start of the tournament and they took full advantage of it, starting the tournament with an emphatic 10 wicket win over Sri Lanka and following it up with wins over Bangladesh and Afghanistan. What would have been their first real test in the tournament ended up with one point after game against India was a wash-out, A point that may have played in crucial role in them being in the final tomorrow! Next match New Zealand were up against out of sort South Africa but had to work their way to the win nonetheless, same as they will have to do in their sixth match against West Indies. Again a crucial win. Seventh game of the unbeaten New Zealand was against Pakistan which as the saying goes were “Cornered” by then. The result was the first defeat for New Zealand in the running tournament. This was followed up by defeat against Australia making their final game sort of a Quarter Final against England. New Zealand lost again. Three loses in last three games left them tied with Pakistan on points but qualifying for the Semi Finals only on NRR and being the only team not to have beaten any of the fellow semifinalists.
Coming in as the fourth team they had to play against the Indian, tone of the per-tournament favorites with batting in red hot form and bowling looking threatening for a change. India were the favorites but Kiwis had other plans. In rain effect match that ended up as a two dayer, New Zealand struggled to a half decent total but then their pace attack blew Indian batting away. The fierce duo of Trent Boult and Matt Henry had Indian 6 for 3 in five overs and 24 for 4 in the first 10, worst start in the world cup 2019. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul managed to score one run each. The modest total of 239 became a daunting challenge. Some fight shown by Ravendra Jadeja and Dhoni made it looked closer than it actually was but the New Zealand’s place in finals were sealed hen their start batsman Martin Guptil made his first real contribution of the tournament and ran Dohni out with an excellent direct hit.
England in contrast to New Zealand have reached the World Cup final after a long wait of 27 years having last played in the final in 1992 against Pakistan. England have in fact not even qualified for the Semi Finals since then. On their way to finals had their own fair share of hick-ups as well and had the wait till their last game and victory in that game to secure a place in Finals. Host and among the pre-tournament finals thanks to their scintillating ODI form (number one ranked in the world), England also started the tournament on a high note, beating South Africa convincingly by 104 runs in the tournament opener. Their second game saw them up against Pakistan who though not being the figurative “cornered tiger” just yet were given a proper spanking in their own opener by West Indians and were on the hunt. England lost the game chasing 348. They bounced back strongly with another convincing win over Bangladesh when they beat them in their third game with 106 runs and then followed it up with thumping wins over West Indies and Afghanistan with 8 wickets and then 150 runs respectively. England’s sixth game saw them up against Sri Lanka who were not having the best tournament but managed to beat England blowing the tournament wide open. England lost the next game to Australia making their last two games “must wins” to keep their destiny in their own hands. In their second last game of round robin phase of the tournament England came up against India and managed to beat an ordinary looking Indian team lacking ambition on the day. A win in last game against New Zealand sealed their spot in the Semi Finals as they finished 1 point above the fourth placed New Zealand and fifth placed Pakistan.
As third placed team in the Semi Finals England were up against the old foes Australia who have beaten them already in the group stage of the tournament. With Australia having an edge because of their vast experience at this stage of the game while England had the home ground advantage. The game was evenly poised until Jofra Archer and Chris Woakes decided to change that. Australian captain was dismissed for a first ball duck and the explosive Warner was sent back by Woakes on 9, restricting the explosive Australian batting to 13 for 2 in first five overs and then 27 for 3 in 10 the momentum was with England and they were not going to let it go. Australian Steven Smith tried and anchor one end, forming partnerships with wicketkeeper Carey and then Maxwell while fast bowler Mitchelle Starc bowler joined him to add useful 59 runs in the end to take the team total to 223. The score was always going to be low but the Australian pace attack was not to be discounted for. Not until the England opening duo of Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow decided to take the bowlers to the cleaners. An opening 124 runs stand between the two all but sealed the fate of Australia. Joe Root and Captain Eoin Morgan completed the formalities later and won England a spot in the World Cup finals with an eight wicket win in the Semi Finals.
FINAL'S SETTING:
The Sunday’s final will be the 12th of ODI format with the world having seen five champions to date. Australia have won it a record five times, Indian and West India twice each while Pakistan and Sri Lanka have won it once. Tomorrow on July 14 the world will have their new "FIRST TIME World Champion" with neither New Zealand nor England having won the tournament before. Their previous best performance in the World Cup have been an appearance in Final with New Zealand losing to Australia in 2015 and England losing to Pakistan back in 1992.
The final game is expected to be a high scoring one however the pressure of the occasion and the assistance the pitch usually offers to fast bowlers early in the day can have a say and result in a low scoring game.
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES:
Both sides are well balanced with good batsmen and bowling. While New Zealand may claim a very slight edge in department of fast bowling with Trent Boult and Matt Henrey to open and followed by Ferguson, England will seek parity with Jofra Archer proving a hand full for most of the batsmen and joined by opening partner Woakes. England will also most likely play their spinner Adil Rashid who have proven himself in the tournament.
In batting England hold an advantage with their top order in the groove and kicking already. Jason Roy and Bairstow have taken the best bowling attacks apart recently and in this tournament and are followed by the likes of dependable Joe Root, reliable Eoin Morgan, arguably the best all-rounder in the game, Ben Stokes. New Zealand on other hand have lot of difficulties with the opening pair. The star man Guptill not clicking throughout the tournament and his opening partner changed once already. New Zealand will be depending heavily on Kane Williamson who is having an excellent tournament and also will want some support from Ross Taylor and Latham. If Martin Guptil can provide New Zealand with a good start then the batting line-ups of both will be relatively on par with each other.
VERDICT:
We can expect the team winning the toss to bat first and try to set a high total. The first few overs however can be tricky for batting side. England will want their bowlers and batsmen to continue doing pretty much the stuff they have been doing lately while New Zealand will want their opening batsman to rise up to the task and deliver at the biggest stage of world cricket.The home team will be playing at one of the most iconic grounds of the world, we all expect a lot of buzz and look forward to the entertaining final.
Written by Arsalan Aslam for defence.pk
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