The Finals

New Zealand vs. the home team England, an unexpected clash takes place at the legendary and revolutionary ground “The Lord’s”. The fact of India losing the semi-final match is because of the swing of the ball caused by the rain as I mentioned in my previous blog. The batsmen (Virat, Rohit and Rahul) never expected the swing in the ball and were astonished while playing. The look on Kohli’s face after the appeal by New Zealand looked baffled. Past is past, now we have two teams that have never won the world cup till now. New Zealand lost to Australia in the previous (2015) world cup finals, whereas England lost to Pakistan in 1992 finals.

Looking back at the previous matches:

New Zealand vs. India, a very low total for India to chase down compared to their previous performances in the world cup. Unfortunately, the top-order collapsed for a very low score and the unbalanced middle-order had a very big task at hand. The performance of the middle order was comparatively better to the other games while Dhoni and Jadeja made an extraordinary 7th wicket partnership. This increased the total score and gave back New Zealand a hard fight until the last over. New Zealand saved every single run possible with their commendable work in the field giving India a very tough fight. The commentator’s also said that “New Zealand will make the total of 240 seem like 260-270 for the opponents by their fielding. The unsung hero Matt Henry picked up the early wickets, making India unstable at the starting of the game.

Australia vs. England the famous rivalry called the “Ashes” play the world cup semi-finals. The poor start from the openers of Australia increased the hopes of England, while Steve Smith started to take charge of the game and played each and every ball (run a ball). Though, Steve Smith was strong on one end the other Australian players started losing their wickets very quickly. Mitchell Starc and Alex Carry helped Steve Smith by contributing to the total score. A year ago on the very same day England faced Australia; the England football team was knocked out of the semi-finals by USA.

The weather on the day of the game:

The weather forecast predicts partly cloudy sky and chances of slight drizzle and a light wind as the temperature might go up to 20 degree Celsius around noon. The rain and slight wind can be helpful for the bowlers to swing the ball and maybe the tournament as well to their side. The batsmen batting after the drizzle will be astonished just like the Indian top order batsmen and probably have to fight back hard to take the trophy home. The ball will also come a little bit slower after bouncing because of the precipitation tempting the batsmen to come down the wicket. The batsmen have to remain patient for the ball to come to them and not to go for the ball.

The teams:

· England

A very strong opening pair in the world cup Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow are in the perfect shape for the finals. Followed by Joe Root a classic and the best player that England requires in a one day format, helps to boost the team score drastically even in the start of the game. We experienced one of the best bowling figures from Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer in the previous match against Australia and also bowled impressively in the entire tournament. The middle order for England is comparatively stronger than the other teams relieving a bit of pressure from the top order batsmen. As a whole, England is a very effective team capable of winning the world cup in their home ground this year. In case they seal their victory, nothing like it.

· New Zealand

One of the strongest fielding side throughout the world cup by making the opponent team struggle for each and every run. The poor opening partnership by Martin Guptil and Henry Nicholls in the recent matches creates pressure on the upcoming batsmen Williamson and Ross Taylor, even though the opening batsmen fail, Williamson and Taylor back them up. The bowling attack is very impressive with a new hero Matt Henry. Trent Boult and Mitchell Santner are always the main bowlers for New Zealand. They should also be careful about their fifth bowling option because, this was the drawback for them when they played against India which helped India reach a total of 221.

After all this, I believe that this time it will be the home team (England) taking the trophy. I believe it is England because of the overall strength of the team and their effort as a whole. New Zealand have their chances only if, their top order batsmen give a good start for the team.