2019 ICC Cricket World Cup Winners

England Win Maiden World Cup Title After Super Over Drama.

The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 12th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial, One Day International cricket tournament contested by men's national teams from the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted by England and Wales from 30 May to 14 July 2019, making it the fifth time England, or England and Wales, has hosted the World Cup. The final was played at Lord's on 14 July 2019, where England beat New Zealand on boundary count after both the match and the subsequent Super Over finished as ties.

The format for the tournament was a single group of 10 teams, with each team playing the other nine once, and the top four at the end of the group phase progressing to the semi-finals. The first semi-final was played between the teams finishing first and fourth in the league, while the second semi-final was played between the teams finishing second and third. Given the increase of ICC Full Members since the last World Cup, from 10 to 12, this is the first World Cup to be contested without all of the Full Member nations being present and the first to feature no ICC Associate Member nations.

(Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler and other England players meet Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May after winning World Cup)

The 2019 World Cup features ten teams, a decrease from previous World Cups in 2011 and 2015 which featured 14 teams.[5] The host, England, and the top seven other teams in the ICC One Day International rankings as of 30 September 2017 earned an automatic qualification, with the remaining two spots being decided by the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier.

On 19 September 2017, results confirmed that the top eight ranked teams by 30 September would be Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka; and these teams all qualified automatically for the 2019 World Cup.[7]

At the time of the announcement of the qualification structure, ICC Associate and Affiliate Members, who were guaranteed four spots in the previous two World Cup tournaments, could be represented by at most two teams, and possibly none at all if they were beaten by the lowest-ranked Full Members in the Qualifier. It also meant that at least two of the ten Test-playing nations at the time of the announcement would have to play in the qualifying tournament, and could miss the World Cup finals entirely.

Following recent successes, Ireland and Afghanistan were promoted into the ICC ODI Championship and were also granted full ICC membership, becoming the newest Test cricketing nations. However, they still needed to qualify for the World Cup via the current process.

The final stage of the tournament was a "Super Six" group, from which the top two teams qualified for the 2019 World Cup. The West Indies were guaranteed a spot after defeating Scotland in the penultimate round. Afghanistan joined them after defeating Ireland in the final over of their match.This was the first time since 1983 that Zimbabwe had failed to qualify for a World Cup contest.Ireland also missed the competition for the first time since 2003, and for the first time no Associate nation participated.

After New Zealand won the toss and chose to bat first, Henry Nicholls' first half-century of the tournament and a further 47 from wicket-keeper Tom Latham helped the Kiwis to a total of 241/8 from their 50 overs, as Chris Woakes and Liam Plunkett each secured three wickets for the hosts. Defending a middling score, the New Zealand bowlers bowled effectively, hampering England's top order, with only Jonny Bairstow managing more than a start with 36. With the loss of their top order, England fell to 86/4 in the 24th over; however, a century partnership between Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler for the fifth wicket got them back into the game before Buttler was caught. However, with five overs to play, England still required another 46 runs, and the bottom order was forced to bat more aggressively. Stokes managed to farm the strike and, more crucially, score runs, leaving England needing 15 to win from the final over, two wickets still in hand. After two dot balls, Stokes first planted a six into the stands at deep mid-wicket, before a deflection off his bat as he was coming back for two that would go to the boundary for an additional four. The final two deliveries went for a run each, but England lost their last two wickets going for a second run each time.[90] On July 22, Umpire Kumar Dharmasena admitted he made an error and should award 1+4 runs for the deflection instead of 2+4 runs.

With the scores tied at 241, the match went to a Super Over. England returned Stokes and Buttler to the crease, and they handled Trent Boult's bowling to accumulate 15 runs without loss. For New Zealand, Martin Guptill and James Neesham went in to face Jofra Archer needing at least 16 runs to claim the title. Archer's over started poorly, beginning with a wide, and a steady accumulation of runs along with a six left New Zealand needing two from the final delivery. Guptill hit the ball out to deep mid-wicket and tried to scamper back for the winning run, but Roy's throw to Buttler was a good one, and Guptill was run out well short of his crease. New Zealand finished with 15 runs to tie the Super Over, but England's superior boundary count in the match and Super Over combined (26 to New Zealand's 17) meant they claimed the World Cup title for the first time after three previous final defeats.

( England's Joe Root poses for a picture with the World Cup trophy at The Oval in London on Monday )

(England's Joe Root poses for a picture with the World Cup trophy at The Oval in London on Monday.)