‘I thought I’d seen everything in cricket’
Daniel Vettori and Ajit Agarkar discuss whether it is fair for a team to win a World Cup on number of boundaries scored in the match (1:59)
New Zealand – 241 for 8 in 50 overs. England – 241 all out in 50 overs. Super Over. England – 15 for no loss. New Zealand – 15 for 1, Martin Guptill run out off the last ball. England win the World Cup, for the first time, on boundary count. It was about as dramatic as a cricket match has ever been and here’s what England’s world champions had to say immediately afterwards on the host broadcast.
Ben Stokes: Yeah. Don’t know, I’m pretty lost for words. All the hard work over the four years, to be champions is an amazing feeling. This is what we aspire to be. To do it in such a good game, don’t think there’ll be a better game in history than this. Pretty done to be honest, Playing against New Zealand is a great event to be part of. They’re great lads. I think I’ll be apologising to them for the rest of my life [for that overthrow for four off his bat in the last over]. There’s no chance I wasn’t going to be there till the end. You live for these moments. I walked up to Jof (Jofra Archer) before he bowled that over (Super Over) and told him: “whatever happens from here, this isn’t going to define your career, because I’ve been through a tough time before (2016 World T20 final).” It’s absolutely fantastic, without the lads in both the one-day and Test team, and my family – the support has been incredible.
Jonny Bairstow: Elated! Massive commiserations to New Zealand. One hell of a game, edged one way and then another. What a hell of a tournament. The way the guys came out in the Super Over, huge! Ben Stokes’ performance was amazing. They bowled pretty well, they put us under heck of a lot of pressure. The ball was doing something. The way Jos [Buttler] and Stokes put together that partnership, it won us the game at the end of the day. What a special moment, what an atmosphere. To play at Lord’s is one thing, to play at Lord’s in a World Cup final is a completely different matter. To have friends, family and rest of the amazing fans – it’s difficult to put to words.
Jos Buttler: It’s unbelievable! I thought I’d seen everything in cricket. The game was ridiculous, amazing occasion. Very hard to put words to it at the moment. What an unbelievable day. We wanted to take it deep, knew the run rate won’t be an issue if we batted till the end. We wanted to put a partnership together and tried to put the pressure back on New Zealand. Unbelievable.
Joe Root: Unbelievable! Wow! Hard to sum it up. What a tournament. The lads have done everything asked of them. We’ve come through difficult periods in the group stages, performed when the pressure was on. Feel for Ben – he’s been through a tough time, his family has been through a lot, and now to see him here, can’t be more pleased for him.
Liam Plunkett: It hasn’t sunk in yet. What a great finish! Great game. Hats off to the Kiwi boys. We’re over the moon. I knew we still had batters when I got out. I just felt like it was going to happen for us.
Jofra Archer: I’m pretty sure I was going to bowl it [Super Over]. So I just had a double check. Heart’s still racing, sorry. [laughs] It’s the biggest thing. It’s one of the only tournamnets I’ve ever won in my life. The boys started so well. It’d be really disappointing if we didn’t win. Especially this man Stokes calming me down before I bowled. It’s the best family.