England vs New Zealand, Final at London, , Jul 14 2019 - Ball by Ball Commentary

8.05pm Finally, England get their hands on the big prize. It could so easily have been New Zealand today, but you can't grudge Eoin Morgan's team. They're truly the best ODI side in the world, and if they had some holes in their combination before the tournament - the bowling attack conceding plenty, a tendency for their batsmen to crumble on bowling-friendly surfaces - those holes seem to have been filled now. They have two superfast wicket-takers for all conditions in Archer and Wood, and their batting looks so much more battle-hardened, as we saw today during that partnership between Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler.

And what of New Zealand? They've been through more close games than any other team in this tournament, and until today they'd been finishing on the right end of those results. Against Bangladesh, South Africa, West Indies, India - have I missed any? Today, in the closest finish imaginable - tied match, tied Super Over, losing on boundary count - they've come out on the wrong side. It's going to take a while for them to get this out of their systems.

We've had so much going on, so much to wrap up. Here's the final boundary count, the effective victory margin for England: 26-17. Is it the right way to separate tied teams? Who knows. It's the method we've got, and on this day it was England who triumphed. The smallest of margins.

Anyway, that is it from all of us for this World Cup. We've had dozens of people bringing you commentary, reports and live reports. We've had a fantastic team of correspondents travelling around England and Wales and bringing you the very best ringside views. There's all the people producing the video content. We have a fantastic desk that puts all this content together. On behalf of all of them, goodbye. We hope you've had as incredible a time as we have.

Eoin Morgan: "There wasn't a lot in that game, jeez. I'd like to comisserate with Kane. The fight, the spirit they showed. I thought it was a hard, hard game. This has been a four-year journey, we've developed a lot over those years, particularly the last two. To get over the line today means the world to us. The guys in the middle keep us cool, the way they play, the experience. It's calming at times. Not a lot between the teams. Just delighted we're lifting the trophy today. As long as he wasn't too cooked [sending Stokes back out for the Super Over]. Full credit to those two boys and Jofra. Every time he plays, he improves. The world is really at his feet at the moment."

Kane Williamson is the Player of the Tournament. "Look, it certainly wasn't just one extra run," he says. "So many small parts in that match that could have gone either way as we saw. Congratulations to England on a fantastic campaign. It's been challenging, the pitches have been a little different to what we expected. Lots of talk of 300-plus scores, but we haven't seen many of those. I'd like to thank the New Zealand team for the fight they showed to keep us in the tournament, and get us this far. A tie in the final. So many parts to it. The players are shattered at the moment. Obviously it's devastating. They've performed at such a high level through the tournament."

He continues, on the match: "We were weighing up the overheads versus the pitch, it was on the drier side. runs on the board, as it proved, was going to be challenging. We would have liked another 20, but in a World Cup final we'll take 240-250. Both sides showed a lot of heart, a lot of fight. For it to go to the last ball, and the last ball of the next match, it was pretty hard. That [the Stokes deflection] was a bit of a shame, wasn't it? You just hope it doesn't happen in moments like that. You can nitpick, but perhaps it just wasn't meant to be for us. It is perhaps tough to review the match, and such small margins."

Ben Stokes is the Player of the Match. He gets a handshake from Sachin Tendulkar, who's part of the presentation party. "I'm pretty lost for words," he says. "All the hard words that's gone in over these four years, this is where we aspired to be. To do it with such a game, I don't think there will be another like this in the history of cricket. Jos and I knew if we'd be there close to the end, New Zealand would be under pressure. Not the way I wanted to do it, ball going off my bat like that, I apologised to Kane. We backed the new kid, Jofra Archer, the talent that he's got, he showed the world today. The lads, in this one-day team, the Test team, my family, their support has been massive. Now I'm just looking forward to tonight, mate."

7.50pm: Here's a massive question from Vishal Jain: "What if Santner had stolen a bye in 49.6 ball of New Zealand's batting innings?" -- I'm thinking Buttler would have run the non-striker out, and New Zealand wouldn't have got that run anyway, but then again, what if...

Bhanu: "That deflection...got to be Hand of God, version of cricket." -- Absolutely!

Another variant from Raghu: "Hand of God Diego Maradona.. Bat of God Ben Stokes!!"

Jonny Bairstow "Massive commiserations to the New Zealand boys. Edges one way, edges another. The way the guys came back in the Super Over was fantastic, and Stokes was huge. To play at Lord's is one thing, to play a World Cup final at Lord's is something else."

Jos Buttler "I thought I'd seen everythign in cricket, and that game was just ridiculous. Hard to put it in words. We wanted to take it deep. We didn't feel like the run rate would be an issue if we were both there in the end. A couple of good partnerships, we'll chase this down. Trying to put pressure back on New Zealand. Don't know what happened there in the end. Unbelievable."

Joe Root: "It's almost written in the stars for Ben. Everything he's gone through, I can't be more proud and pleased for him."

Liam Plunkett: "Hasn't sunk in yet. What a finish that was. Hats off to the Kiwi boys. Over the moon."

Ben Stokes: "I'm pretty lost for words. All the hard work over four years to get here, and to be champions of the world is an amazing feeling. Playing against New Zealand is always a great event to be a part of. They're a seriously good team, they're a bunch of good lads. I spoke to Kane, I apologised (for the deflection for overthrows)."

Jofra Archer: "Was pretty sure I was going to bowl it. Just had a chat with Morgs (starts chuckling) heart's still racing, sorry. It's probably the only tournament I've ever won in my life. From the beginning, the guys did so well. Would have been disappointed if we didn't win. They've been a really good family to me."

7.40pm England's players troop back through the Long Room and back onto the field. New Zealand's players are slumped on the grass.

Rishabh: "England has been on the receiving end of many heartbreaking losses due to overthrows - Natwest Final 2002, that WT20 game against Netherlands in 2009. Both games at Lord's! What an occasion and place to have a chance to redeem their luck! And redeem they did, and how!" -- Can't think any of those were as random and - Bothamesque, who-writes-your-scripts-esque - as this one with the deflection off Stokes.

Raj: "If, instead of boundaries, they had counted the total wickets taken then it would have been a celebration for NZ. To be honest, that should have been the actual heuristic so it takes into consideration not just the batting but also the bowling figures"

Guru: "So the trend continues WC HOSTS winning the WC" -- Yup. India, Australia, and England now.

7.35pm What scenes at Lord's. Glorious sunshine at 7.35pm. The 1975 final was similar, extending for hours and hours and ending late in the evening with the ground still bathed in sunshine. This is kind of like that, but better. What a match we've had.

Jason Roy was the fielder at deep midwicket, the guy who threw the World Cup-winning throw. What a wonderful, cruel sport this is. I can't imagine how Martin Guptill must be feeling at this moment. Ben Stokes is in tears as he embraces members of his support staff. A smile on Jofra Archer's face. He was such a late addition to this squad. He ended up bowling the last, most nailbiting over of them all.

Two to win off one ball. If it's tied, England win it. They're ahead on the boundary count: 26 to 17.

Two of one ball. Guptill gets just the one ball. What a final. What a crazy, beautiful final.

Williamson's padded up. Of course he is.

New Zealand require 3 runs off 2 balls.

New Zealand require 5 runs off 3 balls.

New Zealand require 7 runs off 4 balls.

Can he throw in another big memory?

One out-of-form opening batsman, who'll be remembered in years to come for two throws from the deep.

It's Martin Guptill and Jimmy Neesham.

Okay, this is too much. Can't take it anymore. England break away from their huddle. Who's opening for New Zealand?

Archer stands by, silent, outwardly calm.

Sixteen runs, six balls. One World Cup title. Some sort of consultation between Eoin Morgan and the umpires.

The most Jofra Archer has conceded in an over in his ODI career is 15 runs. according to our stats whiz Bharath Seervi. New Zealand need 16 to win the Super Over.

Who will come out to bat for them? It's Jofra Archer to bowl.

Those four overthrows. They've been pivotal in getting the game this far. Will those overthrows continue to haunt New Zealand in the coming years?

Looks like Archer will bowl England's over. He's sitting by the edge of the boundary, ball in hand.

7.07pm Thanks, Deiva. So... the Super Over. England will bat first. The teams have only two wickets each. And what happens if we get another tie now? the team that has hit more boundaries in their innings and the Super Over will win.

Who will New Zealand nominate as their bowler? Boult? Right after he's finished the most draining of final overs? Lockie Ferguson, with his changes of pace? The New Zealand players are gathered in a circle, and all kinds of deliberations must be going on. They look pretty calm, though.

England have nominated Stokes and Buttler as their two openers. It's Trent Boult to bowl. Neither of these three players deserves to be on the losing team. Neither team deserves to be the losing team. But we must have a winner. A World Cup winner. Here we go.