On 14th July 2019, England will take on New Zealand in the ICC World Cup final. The match is scheduled to start at 3:00 PM IST.
Where
Lord’s, the home of cricket in London, will be hosting the Final. This venue has hosted 4 ICC World Cup Finals before. This is England’s second appearance at Lord’s in a World Cup Final.
Match Preview
England
After losing two consecutive matches in the league stage to Sri Lanka and Australia, England needed to win both of their remaining matches to qualify for the semi-final. And they did that in a thumping manner, defeating India and New Zealand. Jason Roy has pumped great confidence in the England team with his 3 back to back fifties at the top. His inclusion in the team could not have come at a better time for England, and Jonny Bairstow getting back his mojo towards the end of the league stage meant a solid, match winning opening pair for England going into the knockout stage.
Chris Woakes has been delivering consistently for England with the ball. He’s picked wickets at crucial times, giving his side important breakthroughs. Jofra Archer, Mark Wood are accurate with the new ball, and Archer’s bouncers will trouble the struggling Kiwi batting order. Eoin Morgan and Joe Root made a statement with their attacking approach in the chase. England has got attacking batsman throughout the line-up with the likes of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler in the middle. While Joe Root at number 3 is someone who can anchor the innings and rally his side from an early setback to a fighting position. The English side looks confident and dominant in their current form.
New Zealand
New Zealand defeated India at Manchester to reach their second consecutive World Cup final. In an unusual semi-final played over two days, New Zealand managed to put 239 runs on the board batting first. It was the first 45 minutes of the 2nd innings that changed that tilted the scales in New Zealand’s favour. New Zealand had lost their last 3 games in the league stage, putting a consistently disappointing batting performance. Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor have played under pressure in every match in this tournament, as the openers failed to give a good start. Apart from the 139-runs opening stand against Sri Lanka, the openers have scored 83-runs in total in 7 innings of the league stage.
While Williamson and Taylor have flourished under pressure, their strike rates have dropped over time. In the semi-final against India, there were 25 overs of dot balls in the New Zealand innings. James Neesham showed his batting brilliance against Pakistan, as he and Colin de Grandhomme added 132 runs for the 6th wicket after Kiwis found themselves struggling at 83-5. While New Zealand’s batting is vulnerable in its current form, their bowlers are confident and are effective with the new ball. Trent Boult is skillful getting the ball swing back into the right hander as he did against Kohli, and Matt Henry can consistently bowl at the right line and length nipping the new ball away from the batsman. Kiwis have been excellent in the field, and Williamson’s bowling and fielding plans have worked brilliantly. Lockie Ferguson is Kane Williamson’s go to man when he needs a breakthrough in the middle overs.
Match Prediction
England has in-form and attacking batting order that goes deep and are confident as a team. While New Zealand are dependent on few select batsmen in the middle to get them to a decent score. On the bowling front, both teams have fared well as a bowling unit. Overall, England has a stronger side with more than one match-winner in the side, while New Zealand will need their bowlers to pull a miracle to stop England’s bulldozing top order.
England are likely to win this match and lift their first ever ICC World Cup.