England’s triumphant cricketers celebrated on the Lord’s outfield with their wives, girlfriends and children after they won the World Cup in an epic final on Sunday.
All-rounder Ben Stokes kissed his partner Clare on the hallowed turf of the ‘Home of Cricket’ after he helped England win the trophy – less than a year after he was on trial over a late-night brawl.
Stokes was at the centre of the action in the deciding Super Over – which came into play when England and New Zealand were tied – as the home side lifted the trophy for the first time.
England’s Test captain Joe Root also shared a kiss with his wife, Carrie, as he celebrated World Cup success before he begins preparations for the Ashes later this summer.
Kiss of victory: Ben Stokes celebrates with his partner Clare after he helped England to World Cup victory amid unthinkable drama in the cricket final against New Zealand
England’s Test captain Joe Root kisses his wife, Carrie, after helping England to World Cup success against New Zealand
Celebration: Stokes embraces his partner on the outfield at Lord’s, the scene of one of English cricket’s greatest victories
Something else to lift: England batsman Jason Roy celebrates with his daughter after winning the World Cup final at Lord’s
Happy family: England’s Chris Woakes celebrates with Amie Louise Woakes and the Cricket World Cup trophy on Sunday
Also celebrating on the Lord’s outfield was batsman Jason Roy, who helped steer England to glory with a thrilling innings against Australia in the semi-final.
Roy held his daughter aloft as the players and their families celebrated on the field as darkness fell, long after the delirious spectators had gone home.
The batsman, 28, married Elle Winter at the Chateau de Lartigolle in France in December 2017.
His team-mate Chris Woakes held the trophy in one hand and his wife, Amie Louise Woakes, in the other as he joined in the celebrations.
On the Lord’s balcony, a crowd of wives, girlfriends and children were cheering for the England cricketers as they overcame New Zealand to lift the trophy for the first time.
An exhausted Stokes told Sky Sports: ‘I’m pretty lost for words. All that hard work for four years and now to be stood here as champions of the world, it’s an amazing feeling.
‘This is where we aspired to be and to manage to come here and do it in such a good game, I don’t think there will ever be a better game of cricket in history than that.
‘Playing against New Zealand is always tough, they’re a seriously good team. We had some luck at times and I said to Kane (Williamson) that I will be apologising for what happened for the rest of my life.’
Stokes was referring to an incident late in the final over of the 50 which saw him diving to beat Martin Guptill’s throw, inadvertently steering the ball to the ropes for four runs.
Youngest fan: Jason Roy, whose brilliant knock against Australia in the semi-final put England en route to Sunday’s final, holds his baby in his arms as the team celebrates victory
Looking up: Roy holds up his baby, Everly, with the storied pavilion of Lord’s – the Home of Cricket – behind them
Supporters: The England players are cheered on from the balcony as they beat New Zealand amid unthinkable drama
I’ve earned it: Ben Stokes holds a beer bottle as he joins his team-mates and their families on the turf at Lord’s last night
The match itself ended in gripping drama after England and New Zealand were tied after batting for 50 overs each, sending the World Cup final to an unprecedented tie-breaker.
Both sides had made exactly 241 in 50 overs, England recovering to match New Zealand’s total after they had slipped to a problematic 86 for four.
A tie is a relative rarity in itself, but what happened next was even more extraordinary.
To break the tie, both teams were given one over – six balls – to score as many runs as possible. But the Super Over also failed to separate the sides, who scored 15 runs each.
As a result, the fate of the World Cup came down to which team had scored more boundaries – fours and sixes – during the final.
England racked up 26 boundaries, while New Zealand scored 17.
As a result, when England’s Jos Buttler broke the stumps to run out New Zealand’s batsman with the scores still level, it was England who claimed their World Cup triumph in the most dramatic fashion possible.
The Queen and Prince Philip sent their congratulations to the cricketers, paying tribute to their ‘thrilling victory’.
We’re on your side: England players are cheered on from the stands during a nail-biting final in London on Sunday
Centre of attention: Ben Stokes celebrates with team-mates after playing a decisive role in England’s dramatic triumph
The cricket triumph capped an extraordinary Sunday for British sport.
Just as the World Cup final was reaching its dramatic climax at Lords, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic were locked in another epic contest – a five-set Wimbledon final between two of the game’s greatest champions.
Like the cricket, the tennis was decided in an unprecedented tie-break when the players reached 12-12 in the deciding set.
Djokovic won the decider to claim his fifth Wimbledon title, and his 16th Grand Slam in all – four behind Federer, who holds the all-time record with 20.
On top of that, Formula One’s Lewis Hamilton claimed another sporting triumph on Sunday when he won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
The win keeps Hamilton on course to take his sixth world title, which would move him to within one of Michael Schumacher’s record haul.
Kiss that says ‘We’re on top of the world’: RICHARD KAY watches as England’s Superman Ben Stokes inspires his side to Cricket World Cup glory
By Richard Kay for the Daily Mail
Champagne and fireworks sprayed into the sky last night as England’s cricketers, the new world champions, fell to their knees.
An epic display of resilience, perseverance and sheer bloody-mindedness triumphed in one of the greatest matches at the home of cricket.
Lord’s – the bastion of blazers, white flannels and tradition – erupted into a cacophony of unbridled joy to the point of hysteria.
Never has a match of the sport England brought to the world ended in such stupendous, nerve-shredding, nail-biting pandemonium.
At last a sporting victory that – if not quite ranking alongside England’s football World Cup heroics in 1966 – comes darned close. No more the tag of gallant losers, for so long the nearly men of world cricket.
At exactly 7.30pm, with the sun low over the St John’s Wood stadium, 11 Englishmen finally filled the void in Britain’s trophy cabinet. England – world champions at cricket after the most preposterous, tortuous and see-sawing game it is possible to imagine.
Fortunes shifted and turned with ridiculous speed. If ever there was a game to sum up the unpredictability and capriciousness of sport, this was it. It had everything, unprecedented drama, heartbreak and sheer heart-stopping passion.
Sealed with a kiss: England’s Ben Stokes celebrates with his partner Clare after England win the World Cup
Fireworks erupt at Lord’s behind the winning England cricketers at captain Eoin Morgan lifts the World Cup trophy
The England team celebrate at Lord’s as captain Eoin Morgan lifts the World Cup trophy
England’s Jos Buttler knocks the bails off the stumps to take the wicket of New Zealand’s Martin Guptill in the super over to win the 2019 Cricket World Cup
When the moment came England’s newest sporting gods couldn’t take it in.
They needed the roar of a full house here, the screams of exhilaration. It was matched at the fan-zone in Trafalgar Square and elsewhere around the country with a great outpouring of national gratitude – and relief.
In years to come the history books will simply record this as an England victory over New Zealand. But it was far more than that.
And it will become one of those epic moments when people – asked about July 14, 2019 – will want to say, ‘I was there.’
A cacophony of delirious noise descended on Lord’s. And in the middle of it all, were the two figures who did as much as anything to bring cricket home
Both were born far from these shores – Ben Stokes, the tattooed tough guy, in New Zealand, and Jofra Archer who spent the first 18 years of his life in Barbados.
But last night they were being hailed as heroes of England just as Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst were 53 summers ago.
In fact, this England team will not want to single out any one player – each and every one vital cogs in a machine that looked for a moment, when it mattered most, like it was going to splutter to a halt.
Morgan beams as he becomes the first England cricket captain ever to win a World Cup – in the most thrilling and closest final in history
Underdressed fans in Trafalgar Square looked set to dive into the fountains in the course of their flag-waving celebrations
The England players leapt for joy after winning their first Cricket World Cup. The trophy is theirs because they scored more boundaries through the final, which was the closest in history
Fans in central London cheered shouted and waved flags beneath Nelson’s Column as in St John’s Wood Lord’s went wild
But that they got over the line at the end of a ‘super over’ of sudden-death cricket after the scores were tied, was down these two remarkable young men.
Stokes with his bludgeoning bat and Archer with his smooth-as-silk run-up and delivery of a ball that denied New Zealand their chance of glory.
Gut-wrenching for the black-clad Kiwis who were within a single run of victory but euphoria for the men in light blue.
Eoin Morgan’s side tied the final with New Zealand on 241 runs each – and then both astonishingly scored 15 runs in the supposedly tie-breaking super-over.
Fans held their breath as New Zealand’s batsman Martin Guptill dived in a bid to score a winning 16th run but England wicket-keeper Jos Buttler managed to gather the ball and run him out by just inches.
It meant the home side triumphed because they scored more boundaries – sending fans at Lord’s and thousands more in Trafalgar Square – plus watching on television – into delirium.
England had appeared dead-and-buried as they chased the Black Cap’s score but strong innings by Buttler and Ben Stokes, some fielding blunders from New Zealand, and some jaw-dropping good luck reversed their fortunes.
In one remarkable moment in the final over of England’s 50, a dive for the crease by Stokes even connected unknowingly with a throw-in from a fielder, generating four overthrows and keeping English hopes alive.
That paved the way for the super over, a six-ball shoot-out that had only occurred 11 times in international history and never before in an ODI.
Pulsating, absorbing and in a way utterly ridiculous. Nothing could separate these two teams – they had fought each other to an epic draw.
But there has to be a winner. So after 50 overs each of outstanding cricket they came back for a do-or-die over of six balls each. The team with the most runs would win.
Who else could England turn to but Stokes? In his six years as an England player he has been hero and villain. But yesterday he was something else – a man of steel, Superman even.
His team crumbled around him as he strained every sinew to get them over the line.
By the end he was almost on his knees with exhaustion, his eyes rimmed with sweat, dirt and fatigue.
But he stepped forward to lead the charge. Together with Jos Buttler, another of England’s superstars, they posted 15 runs from their six balls.
Step forward Archer, the youngest, most callow member of this remarkable team. Rather than the experience of, say, Chris Woakes, captain Eoin Morgan went for Archer’s sublime speed.
He did not disappoint, though it was only with the very last ball that the win was reached.
All smiles: Joe Root and Jos Buttler celebrate winning the Cricket World Cup after the closest-possible Final
Bedlam: England players wheel away after they won the Cricket World Cup for the first time in the most dramatic ending imaginable in the final at Lord’s
Supporters in the ‘fanzone’ in Trafalgar Square celebrate after watching England win the Cricket World Cup today
England’s Ben Stokes, whose match-saving knock rescued the game for England when a collapse seemed imminent, celebrates after winning the Cricket World Cup final
Had New Zealand made two runs, it would have been they and not England in cricketing heaven. Afterwards Stokes spoke for the nation: ‘I don’t think there will be a better game of cricket in history.’
He was not exaggerating. As a sporting contest this was unmatched, tipping first one way then another.
England had come to Lord’s as massive favourites.
They were playing at home in front of a huge, partisan crowd and on the back on a magnificent demolition of Australia in the semi-finals.
The stars were surely aligned for the home side to finally do what they have never done in their history. The last time they were even in a final was 27 years ago when Prince Andrew was still married to Sarah Ferguson.
Yesterday Andrew, long since divorced, was there representing his mother the Queen.
Buckingham Palace released a statement from her after the pulsating match: ‘Prince Philip and I send our warmest congratulations to the England men’s cricket team after such a thrilling victory.
‘I also extend my commiserations to the runners-up New Zealand, who competed so admirably in today’s contest and throughout the tournament.’
Fans watching in pubs around the country erupted in joy after the last ball – pictured fans at The George Inn
The final twelve balls went for thirty runs, each one greeted as agony or ecstasy by the hordes of fans in Trafalgar Square
Prime Minister Theresa May was also there.
She loves her cricket and pretty soon she will be able to spend much more time following the sport as she prepares to leave Downing Street.
The ground was packed with supporters of every stripe. Indians and Australians making as much noise as the fans of the two competing teams.
There was all sorts of entertainment that cricketing bods think they need to provide these days – an electric guitar wizard who played at the fall of every wicket, the Red Devils parachute team and the ubiquitous streaker.
The touts had a field day. I saw a ticket changing hand for £500, others were going for £3,000.
I also saw the heartbreak of a young man being turned away after he shelled out £300 for what was a forgery.
The ground was festooned with Union flags and as the tension ratcheted up they were waved increasingly frantically.
In past encounters between these teams, the members wearing their egg and tomato ties and garish jackets would have watched proceedings from their famous redoubt, the Pavilion, with polite applause.
Not yesterday, on the greatest day of English cricket.
Making a splash: Cricket fans in Trafalgar Square cool off in the fountains as the match reached a gripping climax on Sunday
Super Sunday: England cricket fans pack into Trafalgar Square to watch the World Cup final on a day which ended in extraordinary drama in both the cricket and the tennis
The Barmy Army flocked to London’s Trafalgar Square yesterday morning hoping that England would take their first ever World Cup victory at the home of cricket
Trafalgar Square was packed with cricket fans yesterday afternoon enjoying a beer and watching the England run chase in the capital