England vs New Zealand, World Cup final: What if it’s a tie? 10 unknown facts about the mega event

Eoin Morgan’s England face Kane Williamson-led New Zealand at Lord’s on Sunday in the ICC World Cup 2019 final. Deemed as the favourites to lift the cup, hosts England have lived up to the billing by reaching the finals of the World Cup after 27 years. England did not have a smooth sailing into the finals. In fact their semi-final qualification was in danger after defeats to Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia but Morgan’s men turned it around with successive wins against India and New Zealand to book their semi’s spot and then bulldozed through defending champions Australia to advance to the finals.

New Zealand, the ever underdogs of the World Cup despite playing 6 semi-finals previously, had the perfect start to the tournament with five wins in a row but their campaign went off track after they lost their last three group stage matches and sneaked through to semi-finals based on net run rate. The Blackcaps though stunned hot favourites India in the semi-final in a low-scoring match to advance to their second successive World Cup final.

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Here are 10 unknown facts about today’s England vs New Zealand World Cup final at Lord’s

New Champion

The Cricket world will get a new champion after 23 years. The last time a team won its maiden World title was Sri Lanka way back in 1996. Since then Australia have won four World Cups and India laid their hands on the trophy once. England and New Zealand – the two finalists of the World Cup 2019 – have never won an ODI World Cup and they will also be facing each other for the first time in a World Cup final.

What if it’s a tie?

The World Cup 2019 is the first fifty-over tournament which has the Super Over concept to decide the winner in the knockout games. So, if the England vs New Zealand final at Lord’s ends up in a tie then a Super Over will be used to determine the winner. The group stage standings or the net run rate count for nothing.

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What if it’s a washout?

There are no chances of rain in London on Sunday.However, just for information, there is a reserve day if it does rain on Sunday and play will be resumed from it where it was left off, like it was in the India-New Zealand first semi-final. In case of a no result on the scheduled day of the final as well as the Reserve Day for it, the trophy will be shared by the England and New Zealand.

Lord of Lord’s

England became the first country to host the World Cup five times when this tournament kick started on May 30. England had hosted the world event in 1975, 1979, 1983, and 1999 previously. And in all those occasions the final was played at the Home of Cricket Lord’s, making it the venue to host most World Cup finals. Lord’s will become the first venue to host five World Cup finals on Sunday.

Kumar Dharmasena, the lone champion

Sri Lanka’s Kumar Dharmasena and Marias Erasmus of South Africa have been appointed as the on-field umpires for the World Cup final between hosts England and New Zealand. The former Sri Lankan leggie Dharmasena will be the only World Champion to take the field for the final on Sunday. Dharmasena had won the World Cup for Sri Lanka in 1996. None of the players in the New Zealand and England sides have won a World Cup before.

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Indians still hold the aces

India may have been knocked out of the World Cup from the semi-finals but Indians have a major role to play in the final. 41% of the tickets for the final were pre-booked by the Indian fans hoping that Virat Kohli’s men would make it all the way, which has given a huge headache to the New Zealand and England fans. The fans from both countries have reportedly been persuading the Indian fans to sell their tickets on original value and allow them to be a part of history.

Highest prize money

The winner of the World Cup 2019 will receive around USD 4 Million, which is the highest amount won by any team in any World Cup till date. The runner up will be able to claim the prize money of USD 2 Million which is also a good penny even after losing the cup.

From ball boy to champion?

Ross Taylor, when 18, was sent to MCC Young Cricketers, the club based at Lord’s. Every year, the most promising New Zealand cricketer would get that honour. Martin Crowe did it for a year, Ken Rutherford, and Taylor. They were known as YCs. 17 years later, the right-hander will walk out to play the final the World Cup final at the same very venue.

Toss factor

Teams batting first have won three out of four prior finals hosted at Lord’s while the team that has won the toss has lost the match in all four occasions at the venue. Although this doesn’t guarantee anything but the captains will be wary of this unfortunate toss statistic.

Where are the leaders?

This will be the first World Cup final since 1999 when both the highest wicket-taker and leading run-scorer so far in the tournament will not be a part of the summit clash. The World Cup’s top run-scorer Rohit Sharma’s (648) India were knocked out in the semis and so was the leading wicket-taker Mitchell Starc’s (27) Australia. New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, however has an outside chance of toppling Rohit Sharma if manages to score 101 runs in the final. Williamson currently has 548 runs and is 1 run away from becoming the captain with most runs in a single edition of World Cup.