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2019 Cricket World Cup
Ten teams, one league, and a final that was tied twice and settled on boundaries.
England rebuilt their one-day side after 2015 with this tournament in mind, and won it in the most improbable final ever played. New Zealand scored the same number of runs in the match and the super over, and lost.
Four years of preparation
England went out of the 2015 World Cup in the group stage, beaten by Bangladesh in Adelaide, and decided to start again. Under Eoin Morgan they picked attacking batters all the way down the order, told them never to play safe, and became the best one-day side in the world, posting the highest totals the format had seen. By 2019 they were ranked first and were favourites to win their own World Cup, which had never happened to them in eleven attempts.
The tournament, in England and Wales from 30 May to 14 July, was smaller than the last three. The ICC cut the field to ten teams and brought back the format of 1992: a single league in which every side played every other once, with the top four going to the semi-finals. Eight sides qualified through the one-day rankings, and West Indies and Afghanistan came through the 2018 qualifier in Zimbabwe. For the first time, Ireland and Zimbabwe were both absent, and associate nations were entirely missing.
A wet league
It rained, often. With no reserve days in the league stage, four matches were lost to the weather, three of them without a ball being bowled, including India against New Zealand at Trent Bridge. Between the showers there were big innings and big records. Rohit Sharma made five hundreds, more than anyone had made in a single World Cup, and finished on 648 runs, one ahead of David Warner. Mitchell Starc took 27 wickets, also a record for one tournament. Against Afghanistan at Old Trafford, Morgan hit 17 sixes, the most in any one-day innings.
Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan had one of the great individual tournaments, with 606 runs and eleven wickets, and Bangladesh beat South Africa and West Indies. Afghanistan lost all nine of their matches, though several narrowly. Pakistan, bowled out for 105 by West Indies in their first game, recovered to finish level on points with New Zealand and went out on net run rate.
England nearly go out
The favourites began well and then stumbled. England lost to Pakistan at Trent Bridge in their second match, and then, in the middle of the tournament, to Sri Lanka at Headingley, where they failed to chase 233, and to Australia at Lord's. With two matches left they needed to win both. They beat India at Edgbaston, with Jonny Bairstow making a hundred, and New Zealand at Durham, where Bairstow made another, and finished third.
India topped the table, losing only to England, and Australia were second. New Zealand, who had started with five wins and a washout and then lost their last three league games, took fourth place ahead of Pakistan.
Two days at Old Trafford
The first semi-final, India against New Zealand at Old Trafford on 9 July, was the only match of the tournament to need its reserve day. Rain stopped play with New Zealand on 211 for five in the 47th over, and the innings was finished the next morning, at 239 for eight. India then lost Rohit, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, each for one run, and were 5 for three. At 92 for six they were close to beaten, until Ravindra Jadeja joined MS Dhoni and hit 77 from 59 balls in a stand of 116. In the 49th over, with India needing 25 from ten balls, Dhoni went for a second run and was run out by a direct hit from Martin Guptill at deep square leg. New Zealand won by 18 runs.
The second semi-final at Edgbaston was one-sided. Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid took three wickets each, Australia were bowled out for 223, and Jason Roy made 85 as England won by eight wickets with more than seventeen overs to spare. For the first time since 1996, there would be a new World Cup champion.
The final
The final at Lord's on 14 July was between two sides that had never won the World Cup. Kane Williamson won the toss and batted on a slow pitch. Henry Nicholls made 55 and Tom Latham 47, and New Zealand's 241 for eight looked below par until England began their reply. Trent Boult, Matt Henry, Colin de Grandhomme and Lockie Ferguson bowled tightly, and England were 86 for four in the 24th over.
Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler rebuilt with a stand of 110, and when Buttler was caught for 59 England still needed 46 from 31 balls. Stokes batted on as wickets fell around him. With 22 needed from nine balls he was caught on the long-on boundary by Boult, who stepped on the rope as he held it: six runs, not a wicket. England needed 15 from the last over. Off the fourth ball, Stokes dived to complete a second run, and Guptill's throw from the deep hit his bat and ran away to the boundary. The umpires awarded six runs, two run and four overthrows; the correct award under the Laws, it was later argued, was five, because the batters had not crossed for the second run when the ball was thrown. Three were needed from the last two balls, and each ended with a single and a run out as Stokes went for a second run. England were all out for 241. The match was tied.
The super over
For the first time, a World Cup final went to a super over. Stokes and Buttler faced Boult and made 15. Jofra Archer, a debutant in one-day cricket only weeks before the tournament, bowled New Zealand's over. He began with a wide, Jimmy Neesham hit him for six, and New Zealand needed two from the last ball. Guptill hit it to deep midwicket, ran one, and turned for the second. Jason Roy's throw reached Buttler, who broke the stumps with Guptill short. The super over was tied at 15.
The tie-break in the playing conditions was the number of boundaries each side had hit in the match and the super over. England had 26, New Zealand 17. England were world champions for the first time. Stokes, with 84 not out, was player of the match, and Williamson, whose 578 runs had held New Zealand together all tournament, was player of the tournament.
After Lord's
The way the final was decided was felt to be unfair almost everywhere, including in England. Within months the ICC changed the rule: a tied super over in a knockout match is now followed by another, until one side wins. New Zealand's response, led by Williamson, was remembered as much as the result, and they won the first World Test Championship two years later.
The tournament drew around 752,000 spectators and, according to the ICC, a global audience of well over a billion. The next World Cup would go back to India, with the same ten-team league, and end with a very different kind of final: the 2023 World Cup.
Final result
New Zealand 241/8 v England 241. Match tied (England won on boundary count). Played on 14 July 2019 at Lord's, London, with Kane Williamson captaining New Zealand and Eoin Morgan captaining England. Player of the match: Ben Stokes.
The road to the final
| Round | Date | Match | Result | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semi-final | 9 Jul | New Zealand 239/8 v India 221 | New Zealand won by 18 runs | Old Trafford, Manchester |
| Semi-final | 11 Jul | Australia 223 v England 226/2 | England won by 8 wickets (with 107 balls remaining) | Edgbaston, Birmingham |
The table
| Team | P | W | L | T | NR | Went on to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| India | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Semi-finals |
| Australia | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Semi-finals |
| England | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Champions |
| New Zealand | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Runners-up |
| Pakistan | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | League stage |
| Sri Lanka | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | League stage |
| Bangladesh | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | League stage |
| South Africa | 9 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | League stage |
| West Indies | 9 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | League stage |
| Afghanistan | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | League stage |
League-stage matches only, ordered by wins. The official tables awarded points and separated level teams on run rate, so a team's place here can differ from its official position.
Wins by team
- Wins
- Champions
Leading run-scorers and wicket-takers
| Batter | Team | Inns | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 100s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rohit Sharma | India | 9 | 648 | 140 | 81.00 | 98.3 | 5 |
| David Warner | Australia | 10 | 647 | 166 | 71.89 | 89.4 | 3 |
| Shakib Al Hasan | Bangladesh | 8 | 606 | 124* | 86.57 | 96.0 | 2 |
| Kane Williamson | New Zealand | 9 | 578 | 148 | 82.57 | 75.0 | 2 |
| Joe Root | England | 11 | 556 | 107 | 61.78 | 89.5 | 2 |
| Jonny Bairstow | England | 11 | 532 | 111 | 48.36 | 92.8 | 2 |
| Aaron Finch | Australia | 10 | 507 | 153 | 50.70 | 102.0 | 2 |
| Babar Azam | Pakistan | 8 | 474 | 101* | 67.71 | 87.8 | 1 |
| Ben Stokes | England | 10 | 465 | 89 | 66.43 | 93.2 | 0 |
| Jason Roy | England | 7 | 443 | 153 | 63.29 | 115.4 | 1 |
| Bowler | Team | Overs | Wkts | Best | Avg | Econ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mitchell Starc | Australia | 104.2 | 27 | 5/26 | 18.59 | 4.81 |
| Lockie Ferguson | New Zealand | 89.4 | 21 | 4/37 | 19.48 | 4.56 |
| Jofra Archer | England | 108.2 | 20 | 3/27 | 23.05 | 4.26 |
| Mustafizur Rahman | Bangladesh | 73.4 | 20 | 5/59 | 24.20 | 6.57 |
| Jasprit Bumrah | India | 84 | 18 | 4/55 | 20.61 | 4.42 |
| Mark Wood | England | 95.4 | 18 | 3/18 | 25.72 | 4.84 |
| Mohammad Amir | Pakistan | 73 | 17 | 5/30 | 21.06 | 4.90 |
| Trent Boult | New Zealand | 99 | 17 | 4/30 | 28.18 | 4.84 |
| Shaheen Shah Afridi | Pakistan | 48.4 | 16 | 6/35 | 14.63 | 4.81 |
| Chris Woakes | England | 85 | 16 | 3/20 | 27.88 | 5.25 |
Records of the tournament
Highest scores
- 166
- 147 balls · David Warner
- 153
- 121 balls · Jason Roy
- 153
- 132 balls · Aaron Finch
- 148
- 71 balls · Eoin Morgan
- 148
- 154 balls · Kane Williamson
Best bowling
- 6/35
- 9.10 overs · Shaheen Shah Afridi
- 5/26
- 9.40 overs · Mitchell Starc
- 5/29
- 10.00 overs · Shakib Al Hasan
- 5/30
- 10.00 overs · Mohammad Amir
- 5/31
- 10.00 overs · James Neesham
Team totals
- Highest
- 397/6
- Highest
- 386/6
- Highest
- 381/5
- Lowest
- 105
- Lowest
- 125
Every round robin result
| Date | Round | Match | Result | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 May | Round robin | England 311/8 v South Africa 207 | England won by 104 runs | Kennington Oval, London |
| 31 May | Round robin | Pakistan 105 v West Indies 108/3 | West Indies won by 7 wickets (with 218 balls remaining) | Trent Bridge, Nottingham |
| 1 Jun | Round robin | Sri Lanka 136 v New Zealand 137/0 | New Zealand won by 10 wickets (with 203 balls remaining) | Sophia Gardens, Cardiff |
| 1 Jun | Round robin | Afghanistan 207 v Australia 209/3 | Australia won by 7 wickets (with 91 balls remaining) | County Ground, Bristol |
| 2 Jun | Round robin | Bangladesh 330/6 v South Africa 309/8 | Bangladesh won by 21 runs | Kennington Oval, London |
| 3 Jun | Round robin | Pakistan 348/8 v England 334/9 | Pakistan won by 14 runs | Trent Bridge, Nottingham |
| 4 Jun | Round robin | Sri Lanka 201 v Afghanistan 152 | Sri Lanka won by 34 runs (D/L method) | Sophia Gardens, Cardiff |
| 5 Jun | Round robin | South Africa 227/9 v India 230/4 | India won by 6 wickets (with 15 balls remaining) | The Rose Bowl, Southampton |
| 5 Jun | Round robin | Bangladesh 244 v New Zealand 248/8 | New Zealand won by 2 wickets (with 17 balls remaining) | Kennington Oval, London |
| 6 Jun | Round robin | Australia 288 v West Indies 273/9 | Australia won by 15 runs | Trent Bridge, Nottingham |
| 8 Jun | Round robin | England 386/6 v Bangladesh 280 | England won by 106 runs | Sophia Gardens, Cardiff |
| 8 Jun | Round robin | Afghanistan 172 v New Zealand 173/3 | New Zealand won by 7 wickets (with 107 balls remaining) | The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton |
| 9 Jun | Round robin | India 352/5 v Australia 316 | India won by 36 runs | Kennington Oval, London |
| 10 Jun | Round robin | South Africa 29/2 v West Indies | No result | The Rose Bowl, Southampton |
| 12 Jun | Round robin | Australia 307 v Pakistan 266 | Australia won by 41 runs | The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton |
| 14 Jun | Round robin | West Indies 212 v England 213/2 | England won by 8 wickets (with 101 balls remaining) | The Rose Bowl, Southampton |
| 15 Jun | Round robin | Australia 334/7 v Sri Lanka 247 | Australia won by 87 runs | Kennington Oval, London |
| 15 Jun | Round robin | Afghanistan 125 v South Africa 131/1 | South Africa won by 9 wickets (with 116 balls remaining) (D/L method) | Sophia Gardens, Cardiff |
| 16 Jun | Round robin | India 336/5 v Pakistan 212/6 | India won by 89 runs (D/L method) | Old Trafford, Manchester |
| 17 Jun | Round robin | West Indies 321/8 v Bangladesh 322/3 | Bangladesh won by 7 wickets (with 51 balls remaining) | The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton |
| 18 Jun | Round robin | England 397/6 v Afghanistan 247/8 | England won by 150 runs | Old Trafford, Manchester |
| 19 Jun | Round robin | South Africa 241/6 v New Zealand 245/6 | New Zealand won by 4 wickets (with 3 balls remaining) | Edgbaston, Birmingham |
| 20 Jun | Round robin | Australia 381/5 v Bangladesh 333/8 | Australia won by 48 runs | Trent Bridge, Nottingham |
| 21 Jun | Round robin | Sri Lanka 232/9 v England 212 | Sri Lanka won by 20 runs | Headingley, Leeds |
| 22 Jun | Round robin | India 224/8 v Afghanistan 213 | India won by 11 runs | The Rose Bowl, Southampton |
| 22 Jun | Round robin | New Zealand 291/8 v West Indies 286 | New Zealand won by 5 runs | Old Trafford, Manchester |
| 23 Jun | Round robin | Pakistan 308/7 v South Africa 259/9 | Pakistan won by 49 runs | Lord's, London |
| 24 Jun | Round robin | Bangladesh 262/7 v Afghanistan 200 | Bangladesh won by 62 runs | The Rose Bowl, Southampton |
| 25 Jun | Round robin | Australia 285/7 v England 221 | Australia won by 64 runs | Lord's, London |
| 26 Jun | Round robin | New Zealand 237/6 v Pakistan 241/4 | Pakistan won by 6 wickets (with 5 balls remaining) | Edgbaston, Birmingham |
| 27 Jun | Round robin | India 268/7 v West Indies 143 | India won by 125 runs | Old Trafford, Manchester |
| 28 Jun | Round robin | Sri Lanka 203 v South Africa 206/1 | South Africa won by 9 wickets (with 76 balls remaining) | Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street |
| 29 Jun | Round robin | Afghanistan 227/9 v Pakistan 230/7 | Pakistan won by 3 wickets (with 2 balls remaining) | Headingley, Leeds |
| 29 Jun | Round robin | Australia 243/9 v New Zealand 157 | Australia won by 86 runs | Lord's, London |
| 30 Jun | Round robin | England 337/7 v India 306/5 | England won by 31 runs | Edgbaston, Birmingham |
| 1 Jul | Round robin | Sri Lanka 338/6 v West Indies 315/9 | Sri Lanka won by 23 runs | Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street |
| 2 Jul | Round robin | India 314/9 v Bangladesh 286 | India won by 28 runs | Edgbaston, Birmingham |
| 3 Jul | Round robin | England 305/8 v New Zealand 186 | England won by 119 runs | Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street |
| 4 Jul | Round robin | West Indies 311/6 v Afghanistan 288 | West Indies won by 23 runs | Headingley, Leeds |
| 5 Jul | Round robin | Pakistan 315/9 v Bangladesh 221 | Pakistan won by 94 runs | Lord's, London |
| 6 Jul | Round robin | Sri Lanka 264/7 v India 265/3 | India won by 7 wickets (with 39 balls remaining) | Headingley, Leeds |
| 6 Jul | Round robin | South Africa 325/6 v Australia 315 | South Africa won by 10 runs | Old Trafford, Manchester |
Scheduled matches with no scorecard
3 fixtures were never started, so there is no scorecard to show. 45 of the 48 scheduled matches are in the archive.
| Match | Fixture | Venue | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 11 | Pakistan v Sri Lanka | County Ground, Bristol | Abandoned without a ball bowled because of rain. |
| No. 16 | Bangladesh v Sri Lanka | County Ground, Bristol | Abandoned without a ball bowled because of rain. |
| No. 18 | India v New Zealand | Trent Bridge, Nottingham | Abandoned without a ball bowled because of rain. |
Who played
Every player who appeared for each team at the tournament, with the number of matches played. Taken from the scorecards, so players who were in a squad but never played are not listed.
India · Semi-finals
Australia · Semi-finals
England · Champions
New Zealand · Runners-up
Pakistan · League stage
Sri Lanka · League stage
Bangladesh · League stage
South Africa · League stage
West Indies · League stage
Sources
- Scorecards: CricArcade ODI match archive, linked from every result
- 2019 Cricket World Cup (Wikipedia): format, groups and unplayed matches
- ESPNcricinfo: ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, results and scorecards
- Wikipedia: Cricket World Cup (history of the tournament)