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World Cup

England lift Cricket World Cup after dramatic showdown at Lord's

Ben Stokes the hero as hosts win in Super Over

England captain Eoin Morgan lifts the World Cup
England captain Eoin Morgan lifts the World CupCredit: Mike Hewitt

It took the last ball of a Super Over to decide it but England justified their tag of favourites to win their first Cricket World Cup at Lord's.

Hosts England had started the tournament as 2-1 favourites and were just 1-3 to overcome New Zealand in the final.

Those odds were even shorter after England restricted the Kiwis to 241-8, but that was just the start of a series of twists and turns.

As England lost early wickets their odds were pushed out, reaching 2-1 in-play when skipper Eoin Morgan was caught off the bowling of James Neesham to leave them at 86-4.

The combination of Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, who went on to record an unbeaten 84, seemed to steady the ship and steer them back to being 1-2 shots, but two crucial wickets then prompted those odds to flip-flop.

First Buttler went for 59 followed by Chris Woakes for two, and it was then New Zealand who were odds-on for victory.

England reached the final over needing 15 runs and were 4-1 to win the match, but everything turned on its head in a bizarre couple of balls in the final over.

First Stokes hit the second delivery of the over for six, then hit two off the following ball. But as he was running in for the second, the ball thrown in from the fielder hit his bat accidentally and ran through for four overthrows, giving them another six runs.

Stokes needed two off the final delivery but England managed only one which took the match to a Super Over. Both teams scored 15 off the extra over, but England were named winners having hit more boundaries.

Most firms settled England as winners in their match markets as the Super Over counted as part of the match in their rules. But Betfair Exchange, which had a separate tied-match market, voided match bets including all in-play trades.

England are 5-6 to follow up with Ashes success, while Stokes is 9-4 with Hills to be named the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year.


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Graham WoodsRacing Post Sport

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