Virat Kohli Congratulates England, New Zealand For "Great Show" In World Cup Final

Virat Kohli, who led India for the first time in a World Cup, congratulated champions England and runners-up New Zealand for their "great show" in World Cup 2019 final. The World Cup 2019 final turned out to be a dramatic affair with England winning their maiden title due to their superior boundary count in comparison to New Zealand at Lord's on Sunday. "Great show by both the teams in the #CWC19Finals yesterday. Congratulations @englandcricket," Virat Kohli tweeted.

Great show by both the teams in the #CWC19Finals yesterday. Congratulations @englandcricket.

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) July 15, 2019

New Zealand and England finished on 15 runs in Super Over but England won due to a tie-break rule because they hit more boundaries.

After defeats in previous finals against Pakistan in 1992, Australia in 1987 and the West Indies in 1979, it was a cathartic moment for English cricket.

Morgan and his team-mates were cheered to the rafters by the ecstatic capacity crowd at Lord's as they joined Bobby Moore's 1966 footballers and Martin Johnson's rugby union team of 2003 as England's World Cup winners.

England's triumph was the culmination of a remarkable rise over the past four years.

Following their dismal first round exit at the 2015 World Cup, England's then director of cricket Andrew Strauss embarked on a root-and-branch reform of their one-day international set-up.

Adopting an aggressive game-plan under Morgan and Australian coach Trevor Bayliss, England's rebuilding plan paid off spectacularly.

They had already climbed to the top of the ODI rankings heading into the tournament and, after plenty of highs and lows over the past six weeks, they eventually justified their tag as the bookmakers' pre-tournament favourites to win the World Cup.

It was not an easy ride for England, whose defeats against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia in the group stage put them on the brink of elimination.

But Morgan's men kept their cool to defeat India and New Zealand and book a last-four spot before crushing Australia in the semi-finals and surviving one final test of their nerve against New Zealand.

While England celebrated, it was another heart-breaking loss for New Zealand, who also finished as runners-up in the previous World Cup in 2015 after losing to Australia in the final.

(With AFP inputs)