Sports fans on Sunday night witnessed back-to-back historic victories. The England Cricket team lifted the World Cup for the very first time in a nail-biting match against New Zealand, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer went head-to-head in the longest Wimbledon FInal match ever recorded and Lewis Hamilton won his sixth British Grand Prix.
ICC Cricket World Cup:
The two best Cricket teams in the world competed in a drama-filled finale at the legendary Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. New Zealand won the toss and decided to bat first. The Kiwis racked up a score of 241 from 50 overs. The English team were confident, but lost all their steam once the top order batsmen were completely obliterated. But that’s where the big guns came in. Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler maintained an impressive partnership and added 110 runs to the scoreboard before Buttler was caught out. After Buttler, England’s strategy was to let Stokes do the hitting and that worked beautifully. Boiling down to the last over, England needed 15 runs to win. In the most bizarre and magical way, Stokes scored 12 runs with a natural six and the other, by a coincidental deflection. Taking out Adil Rashid and completing 241 runs, the match was forced into a Super Over for the first time in World Cup history.
Stokes and Buttler came back to the crease to face Trent Boult and managed to accumulate 15 runs without a loss. New Zealand’s Martin Guptill and Jimmy Neesham were at the crease with a target of 16 runs with Jofra Archer bowling for England. On the last ball, New Zealand needed just two to win. Guptill hit the last ball and ran to secure his second run but was run out. And just like that, England became the Cricket World Champions because of the most number of boundaries hit.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz7Eo6xAuUm/
While the country of England celebrated, cricket experts and fans around the world heavily criticized the ridiculously unfair rules of the Super Over. The England Cricket team lifted the trophy while a lot of cricket fans took to social media to share how New Zealand deserved to win. The Kiwis successfully broke England’s top order, were successfully protecting their score of 241 and lost out due to the unjust rules of the Super Over.
Wimbledon:
Put two of the greatest Tennis players on a court, and you’re bound to get a match you’ll never forget. At 4 hours and 57 minutes, it was the longest Wimbledon final match ever recorded.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz6C3FqlRSi/
Novak Djokovic won the match 7-6 (7/5), 1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 13-12 (7/3) and lifted his fifth Wimbledon trophy, destroying Roger Federer’s hopes to become the oldest Grand Slam Champion. The match seemed to be favouring Federer, but Djokovic eventually caught up and reigned supreme, proving why he was the number one player in the world.
“I think that if this is not the most exciting final then definitely it’s in the top two or three of my career against one of the greatest players of all time, Roger, who I respect,” said Djokovic according to a report by TOI.
“Unfortunately in this type of match, someone has to lose. It is quite unreal to be two match points down to come back and strange to play a tie-break at 12-12,” he added.
British Grand Prix:
Lewis Hamilton won his sixth British Grand Prix after a thrilling and dramatic race. The win made him the most successful driver in British Grand Prix history, surpassing Jim Clark and Alain Prost.
Hamilton and his fellow Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas fought for the first position, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen were swerving right in front of each other, missing each other by just an inch to secure the third position. Hamilton was the first one to cross the checkered flag and quickly jumped on the top of his car and waved the union flag in front of thousands of fans, celebrating his victory.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz50orEHNUZ/
Hamilton was ecstatic about winning in his home country. “It’s been the single most incredible feeling and most special moments an athlete can have. I come here and I look at all this incredible support. They always ask you how much does it lift you up and it’s a huge amount of energy but a lot of weight comes with that, a lot of responsibility,” Hamilton said according to The Guardian.
“I really just wanted to deliver and, when you achieve something like today and you see all those British flags, one day I will look back and have a picture of me in the car with that flag and I will always be able to look at that and smile until my dying day,” he added.
Header Credit – Instagram, @cricketworldcup, @wimbledon & @lewishamilton
