ICC World Cup 2019: Final, New Zealand vs England – Statistical Preview

England and New Zealand will clash at the Lord’s Cricket Ground with the motive of bagging their maiden World Cup title. Both the teams struggled in various junctures during the league phase but they bounced back and peaked in the semi-finals to make it through to the summit clash. England will be hoping to become the 3rd team in succession to win the World Cup at home which will be a reward to their evolution in ODIs post their 2015 CWC. New Zealand, on the other hand, will be hoping to make count their appearance in a World Cup final unlike the turn of events in the previous edition.

All the key stats and numbers ahead of the grand finale of the World Cup 2019 at the Lord’s:

0 – Both New Zealand and England have poor records in ODI tournament finals. New Zealand have won only five of the 22 ODI finals they have been a part of, while England won eight out of 24. The Kiwis lost the only CWC final they played in 2015 while England lost thrice – 1979, 1987 and 1992.

1 – Only once has a side batting first won an ODI final at Lord’s in the last 20 years. The first three ODI finals hosted by the venue were in 1975, 1979 and 1983 World Cup finals; all won by the team batting first. However, in the previous eight ODI finals played here, the teams batting first lost six times while another game ended in a Tie.

1 – The 119-run victory in the league phase brought an end to England’s 5-match losing streak in the World Cup against New Zealand. The English team defeated the Blackcaps in their first three CWC meets but ended up on the losing side in the next five fixtures.

2.21 – Ratio between the average runs per wicket scored by New Zealand in this World Cup with and without Kane Williamson at the crease. The Kiwis scored 1120 runs at an average of 48.7 per wicket when Williamson was at the crease but only 793 runs at 22.03 before and after his departure.

3 – Jonny Bairstow has scored a century in each of his last three ODI innings against New Zealand. Overall, the England opener scored 491 runs from seven ODI innings against New Zealand at an average of 491 runs.

If Bairstow scores another ton in the final against the Blackcaps, he will only be the 2nd player to score four consecutive ODI centuries against an opponent. Virat Kohli achieved this feat against the Windies when he got three consecutive tons last year.

3-1 – New Zealand’s defeat to Australia in the league game was their first ODI defeat in four matches at the Lord’s. New Zealand holds the upper hand against England in ODIs at Lord’s as they’ve won both their meetings at this venue against the English side.

39 – As many as 39 wickets have been bagged by the left-arm pacers at Lord’s across the four matches in this tournament. The left-arm quicks claimed two 4-wicket hauls and four 5-wicket hauls in those matches. However, Trent Boult will be the only left-arm pacer playing the final on Sunday. The Kiwi pacer took a 4-fer including a hat-trick in the game against Australia at this venue.

548 – Kane Williamson has scored 548 runs across nine innings in this tournament. He surpassed Martin Guptill’s 547 runs that he scored in 2015 which was the previous most number of runs scored by a New Zealand player in a World Cup. Williamson’s 548 runs are also the joint-most by a captain in a World Cup. Mahela Jayawardene also amassed 548 runs as captain in 2007.

1000 – Ross Taylor (987) and Martin Guptill (976) need 13 and 24 runs respectively to complete 1000 runs in the World Cup. Among New Zealand players, only Stephen Fleming (1075) has scored over 1000 runs in the World Cup.