It’s hard to forget how the sea of light blue shirts erupted when England defeated New Zealand in the most dramatic fashion at Lord’s in July 2019.
But England’s journey to victory was not easy as their World Cup campaign came close to an end after back-to-back defeats to Sri Lanka and Australia in the round-robin stages.
In two must-win games against India and then New Zealand, England fought back hard to reach the semi-finals, where they defeated old rivals Australia, before winning the World Cup in extraordinary fashion.
It was the first time there had been a draw in a World Cup final and what better place for it than in the ‘Home of Cricket’, where the crowd sang Sweet Caroline.
As the players’ shadows grew longer than Lord’s, we witnessed one of the most miraculous moments in British sporting history. Here’s how it happened:
Group stage difficulty
England made a solid start to their World Cup campaign after beating South Africa by 104 runs at The Oval, where Ben Stokes completed an incredible one-handed diving catch to dismiss Andile Phehlukwayo on 24.
It was described by Sky Sports Cricket commentator Naseer Hussain, as “one of the greatest catches of all time.”
However, in their next match, Pakistan gave England their highest ever run at a World Cup. Needing 349 for victory, the hosts fell to a narrow defeat by 14 points.
Pakistan seamers Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir blazed through England’s middle and lower order at the death at Trent Bridge despite centuries from Joe Root and Jos Buttler.
England recovered well from this encounter, beating the West Indies by eight wickets and Afghanistan by 150 runs, with their captain Eoin Morgan breaking a record 17 sixes, but suffered two more heavy losses to Sri Lanka and Australia.
Fast bowler Lasith Malinga inspired Sri Lanka at Headingley as he picked up four wickets to help his side win by 20 runs.
England were favorites in this match and made a strong start by dismissing Sri Lanka’s openers within the first two overs.
Stokes contributed with the bat, adding 82 not out, but was left in the middle as the tailenders fell victim to Sri Lanka’s pacers, with veteran Malinga leading the charge.
Australia further dented England’s semi-finals hopes when they defeated them by 64 runs at Lord’s.
Left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc bowled an incredible yorker that flattened Ben Stokes’ off-stump (89), while Jason Behrendorff took a maiden ODI five-for, leaving the hosts’ campaign hanging by a thread.
A change of course
Heading into the all-important match against India at Edgbaston, England recovered well from their back-to-back defeats, reviving their hopes of reaching the semi-finals.
An excellent 111 from Jonny Bairstow, along with 79 from Stokes, took England to an impressive total of 337-7 from their 50 overs.
After India lost opener KL Rahul for a duck in the third over, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli built a 138-run partnership for the second wicket to give their fans some hope. However, England seamer Liam Plunkett broke the duo apart and helped restrict India to 306-5 by winning 3-55.
That put England into a must-win match against New Zealand in Durham, where Bairstow scored a second straight century by shooting 106 off 99 balls to help them clinch a spot in the semi-finals, while the Black Caps were thrown out for 186.
Baristow also became the first England batsman to score back-to-back World Cup tons.
Looking for redemption at Edgbaston, England faced Australia in the semi-final. Armed with pacer Jofra Archer and Chris Woakes, the boys in blue smashed their old foes by eight wickets to reach the final.
Archer took a wicket from the very first ball of his set to remove the dangerous Aaron Finch before Alex Carey also took a blow on the chin from the fast bowler.
Lifting the trophy
The Lord’s crowd roared the anthems before the electric atmosphere was silenced by the tension of the finale.
Bathed in sweltering sunshine, Ben Stokes scored a sensational 84 not out from 98 balls that pulled England from 86-4 to level with New Zealand’s 241-8.
In the final over of the regular match, England needed 15 runs and Ben Stokes hit a six before a throw from deep by New Zealander Martin Guptill deflected off his bat for four overthrows.
Archer, who made his ODI debut just two months earlier, was tasked to bowl the infamous Super Over. Jimmy Neesham hit Archer’s second ball for six to increase the nerves among the Lord’s crowd.
Needing two from the last delivery, Guptill clipped the ball to deep mid-wicket where Jason Roy gathered and a diving Guptill was caught just in front of his crease, forcing Buttler to take the bails off as the stands erupted in celebration.
There was joy as England huddled and Lord’s spectators pulsed with adrenaline in what remains one of the most exciting finals in cricket, with commentator Ian Smith having won the World Cup “by the narrowest of margins.”
Archer missed the Ashes and the rest of this year’s cricket summer after suffering another stress fracture to his right elbow.
However, the 28-year-old will travel with the England squad to the upcoming World Cup in India as a reserve and continue to work on his fitness.
England head to India hoping to defend the 50-over title they won so thrillingly and also add to the T20 World Cup they claimed in Australia last year by beating Pakistan in the final.
Watch the ICC Cricket World Cup in full live on Sky Sports between October 5 and November 19.