Ian Smith recalls several nerve-wracking moments of the World Cup 2019 Final at Lord's

Ian Smith recalled the dramatic scenes of the 2019 World Cup final that was played between hosts England and second-time finalists New Zealand at the 'Mecca of Cricket' Lord's on July 14, 2019. Both teams were battling it out to win their maiden coveted trophy. Smith was in the commentary box during the closing stages of the contest that included a tie and then a high-octane super over.

'It was great': Ian Smith

“It was great and where it came from, I don’t know. I had no idea it was going to turn out that way when I sat down with seven overs to go. I had no idea that the last commentary stint that usually is around 30-35 minutes was going to last closer to 90 minutes. And it was, I have always said this about commentary, it is not a competition, it is a combination. When you work alongside people, you bring out the best in each other,” said Smith while speaking to the 'Voice of Indian Cricket' Harsha Bhogle on ' Inside Out'. 

“Is it my favourite time of commentary, it has to be, right up there because it was perhaps one of the greatest games of cricket we have ever seen or ever likely to see, particularly when you consider the importance of what was at stake and the stage we were playing on,” the New Zealand commentator added.

 

When the boundary count rule deprived New Zealand of glory

New Zealand had made it to their second straight World Cup final after knocking out firm favourites India in the semi-finals while England had qualified for summit clash after a long wait of 27 years by eliminating the title-holders Australia. Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to bat first as the Black Caps posted 241 in their 50 overs. In reply, the hosts were reduced to 86/4 and just when they were in trouble their middle-order batsmen Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler added 110 runs for the fifth wicket stand after which New Zealand started pulling things back.

Just when they appeared to be in the driver's seat, an overthrow from Martin Guptill deflected off Stokes' bat and went for a boundary even before the batsmen had completed running two. However, the on-field umpire Kumar Dharmasena signalled it as six runs, and eventually, the match was tied and a super over was needed to determine the winner.

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Much to everyone's surprise, even the super over ended in a tie after Martin Guptill was run out while attempting a non-existent second run. Thus, England were declared winners due to the boundary count rule as they had scored more boundaries compared to New Zealand.

Ian Smith, who had shared the commentary box with former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly and had commented on MS Dhoni's heart-breaking run out in the semis by Martin Guptill, was once again in the commentary box during the super over and yet again, the focus was on Martin Guptill.

''This is the moment. It's Archer to Guptill. Two to win. Guptill's gonna push for two. They have got to go. It's gonna go to the keeper's end. He has got it. England have won the World Cup by the barest of margins. By the barest of all margins. Absolute ecstasy for England. Agony, agony for New Zealand," shouted Ian Smith from the commentary box.

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(Image Courtesy: AP)