'NZ was robbed that day' - Fans react to fourth anniversary of 2019 ODI World Cup final between England and Australia

England Cricket Team (Source: Twitter)

On this day in 2019, the final of the ODI World Cup happened between England and New Zealand. Two teams who had never won a World Cup took on each other on the big day. The match turned out to be arguably the greatest in the history of the sport.

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to bat first. The Blackcaps were going well at one stage as they were 103/1 after 22.3 overs. Liam Plunkett in his second spell produced a terrific spell and dismissed the likes of Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls. Mark Wood and Chris Woakes chipped in with good support from the other end.

In their restricted 20 overs, New Zealand managed to score 241 runs, which many felt was a below-par total. New Zealand lost their last 7 wickets for 138 runs. Chris Woakes and Liam Plunkett picked 3 wickets each for England.
Chasing the total, England found themselves in trouble, as they were reduced to 86/4 at one stage. Jos Buttler joined Ben Stokes and played one of the most important knocks in the final. While Stokes anchored the chase from his end, Buttler scored boundaries often to keep England in the hunt. The wicketkeeper batter scored 59(60) before getting dismissed.

Drama towards the end

The 110-run partnership between the two brought England back into the game. But at the same time, England lost many wickets at the other end. Ben Stokes, meanwhile, started accelerating from his end. The Southpaw stood in between New Zealand and victory.

So much drama followed towards the last few minutes of the game. Trent Boult caught Ben Stokes and stepped on the boundary ropes. Martin Guptill’s throw had a deflection off a diving Stokes’ bat and the ball travelled for the boundary. The match ended in a tie and even the super over ended in a tie! In the end, England was declared the winner based on boundary count. Ben Stokes was awarded the Player of the Match for his brilliant batting performance.

Here's how the fans reacted to the anniversary of the great match:

NZ was robbed that day. No questions about it.

— Sandeep Iyer (@Just_Sandman) July 14, 2023

Interesting to see McCullum in the video being tensed and heartbroken, but then goes on to join the England team to change their style of test cricket. An inside job I reckon? 🤔

— Anubhav Singh (@squeezedmoment) July 14, 2023

And this was in spirit of game according to England pic.twitter.com/OKhBoCMLuQ

— Prasunjha (@Prasunj90898109) July 14, 2023

Meanwhile actual hero laughing in corner pic.twitter.com/p580R91qoU

— ` (@buttlerhive) July 14, 2023

It was biggest theft in the history of Cricket and the day when poms forgot about 'Spirit of Cricket'

— MandarWajpe (@wajpem22) July 14, 2023

NZ are the real winners for every cricket fan 🖤

— Nikhil Pujari (@nikhilsp27) July 14, 2023

😭😭😭This one hurts real bad tbh!

— Sukki (@blazin_paradise) July 14, 2023

And most controversial too.

— Naveen (@_naveenish) July 14, 2023

It's a day when people who often talk about the importance of "Spirit of Cricket" probably had taken shelters.

— Vipin Tiwari (@vipintiwari952) July 14, 2023

SA vs AUS - 1999 Semi final
SA vs AUS - 2006 at Jo'burg

More exciting and best ODI matches ever

— MA (@coverpoint_) July 14, 2023