ICC World Cup | I'll be apologising to the New Zealand players for the rest of my life, reveals Ben Stokes
Ben Stokes admitted that he will be apologising to his New Zealand counterparts for the rest of his life after the incident that occurred in the last over of the second innings at Lordâs on Sunday. Stokes was adjudged man of the match for his brilliant 84* off 98 deliveries in yesterdayâs triumph.
England made their way to their maiden ICC World Cup title by defeating New Zealand in yesterdayâs final by virtue of scoring more boundaries over the course of the entire match played at Lordâs. The three lions had multiple strokes of luck en route to laying their hands on the coveted trophy and one of those incidents came in the final over of the second innings with Ben Stokes on strike, as Kiwi pacer Trent Boult attempted to thwart the Englishman from achieving the target.
On the fourth ball of the over, Stokes hit a full-toss to deep midwicket. Martin Guptill swooped down on and threw the ball towards the wicket-keeperâs end in search of a direct hit. However, Stokesâ bat unintentionally deflected the ball away as he dived forward to save himself from being run-out. The resulting overthrow gifted the home team with six runs which proved to be decisive in the end.
"Yeah. Don't know, I'm pretty lost for words. All the hard work over the four years, to be champions is an amazing feeling. This is what we aspire to be. To do it in such a good game, don't think there'll be a better game in history than this. Pretty done to be honest, Playing against New Zealand is a great event to be part of. They're great lads. I think I'll be apologising to them for the rest of my life [for that overthrow for four off his bat in the last over]. There's no chance I wasn't going to be there till the end. You live for these moments," Stokes said at a post-match interaction, reports ESPNCricinfo.
Stokes, who scored a man of the match worthy 84* off 98 deliveries on Sunday, added that he had a word with Rajasthan Royals teammate - Jofra Archer - before the latter bowled the super over which decided the game.
"I walked up to Jof (Jofra Archer) before he bowled that over (Super Over) and told him: âwhatever happens from here, this isn't going to define your career, because I've been through a tough time before (2016 World T20 final).â It's absolutely fantastic, without the lads in both the one-day and Test team, and my family - the support has been incredible," Stokes added.