Eoin Morgan Reveals The Moment Where He Thought England Were 'Dead And Buried' In The World Cup Final

Eoin Morgan, England World Cup-winning captain, recalled the moment where he felt that the game was out of his teams’ grasp during the 2019 final against New Zealand at Lord’s.

It is exactly one year to the day when England and New Zealand played out possibly the greatest World Cup final of all time; a game that had everything – drama, controversy, more drama, tied 50-over match and super-over and a controversial finish.

Chasing 242 to win the coveted title, England found themselves in a spot of bother, reeling at 4-85 when Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes produced a brilliant partnership to claw England back. Buttler got dismissed after a half-century but Ben Stokes kept his cool and stayed till the end, ensuring that the game ended in a tie.

Stokes rode his luck substantially during his knock. And, one of those instances came when he hit a James Neesham delivery straight to the long-on boundary. Trent Boult claimed the catch but only after he had crossed the rope. And, Morgan revealed it was a moment where he literally thought that his side was ‘dead and buried’.

“There’s only one (moment of doubt) for me and it probably came to me the second time I watched it. Jimmy Neesham’s bowling to Ben, he bowls a slower ball, Ben hits it down to long-on and I remember the ball being in the air …,” Morgan was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

“And it’s gone high and not quite as long as he’d liked and for a minute I just thought ‘That’s it, it’s over, Ben’s out, we still need 15 an over’ – that’s when I thought for a split second we were dead and buried.” he added.

Also Read: On This Day In 2019: England Beat New Zealand In A Dramatic Thriller To Lift Their Maiden World Cup

“The final is actually, it’s bigger than cricket”- Eoin Morgan

England eventually went on to win the final on the back of the boundary count rule. Reminiscing the win, Morgan hailed England’s achievement as one of the highlights of a sporting day ever in British history.

“The final is actually, it’s bigger than cricket. It’s actually propelled up as one of the highlights of a sporting day ever in British history that will be around for a very long time so it was probably more satisfying that it will continue to be like that.” Eoin Morgan said

Eoin Morgan has now shifted his focus on the two ICC T20 World Cups, which are scheduled to take place in Australia and India. He added that winning one of the two events on the back of the 50-over World Cup win will be a significant achievement.

“There hasn’t been a team who have held T20 and 50-over World Cups so that would be a nice challenge,” he said. “But, realistically, probably out of the next two World Cups, winning one of them would be unbelievable. To win two would be a bigger achievement than winning the 50-over World Cup. “Just because both of them are away from home and would favour Australia in Australia and India in India, so you would have to win both of them to top the 50-overs win.” Eoin Morgan said.