ICC World Cup 2019 | It hasn’t sunk in yet, says Chris Woakes on reaching the World Cup final
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Chris Woakes, who alongside Jofra Archer, delivered a deadly opening spell to leave Australia reeling at 14 for three, said that his team is yet to comprehend the fact that they’ve made it to the World Cup final. Woakes picked up the man of the match award for his figures of 3 for 20 in 8 overs.
When Australia won the toss and elected to bat first on a sunny afternoon in Edgbaston, all of England’s prayers were for neither of the Australian openers to start well. Woakes ran in, delivered a full ball going across Warner, and the southpaw pounced on it. The ball raced away to the boundary cushions and all of England breathed a collective sigh: not again!Â
Playing in front of his home crowd, Woakes was bound to be nervous, and it showed. But the Birmingham boy adjusted his length, and soon had Warner caught at slips. Together with his new ball partner Archer, Woakes ripped through Australia’s top order. The scoreboard read 14 for three. England never really looked back after that. They played, perhaps, their best game of the tournament so far to swat the mighty Aussies aside by eight wickets and march into the finals at Lord’s on Sunday.Â
"We've had momentum from playing two good games against India and New Zealand and carried it on today. It [First World Cup final since 1992] probably hasn't sunk in, to win in the fashion we have against Australia is incredible and really looking forward to Sunday," Woakes said at the post-match presentation, reported Cricbuzz.Â
Man of the match for his spell of 3/20 in eight overs, Woakes said that it was a decent wicket to bat on. He noted that the result was decided by the difference in the first 10 overs of both innings. Australia were 27 for three, England were 50 for no loss.Â
"I don't think it was a bad wicket by any means and when you get wickets at the top, they have to rebuild, and we kept the pressure on. We got off to a flyer chasing a relatively small total and that's probably the difference," Woakes said.
Woakes, however, did not take all the credit to himself. Indeed, it was a collective performance that helped England pull one over their arch nemesis once again.Â
"[I am] Pretty speechless actually, incredible performance from the team, starting with the bowling and the way the guys finished that off was outstanding. There were some nerves around, a few anxious people in the dressing room - that's natural in the semi-finals of a major tournament. The way we produced the goods showed how good we are and how we perform as a team," Woakes said.
England’s captain Eoin Morgan, also, was all praise for his opening bowler. Woakes has troubled almost every batsman he has come across, especially in the first 10 overs, even if the conditions offering bare minimum. Morgan emphasized this fact.Â
"Extremely happy, he's a cool customer, goes about his business day in day out exceptionally. He's one of the best in the first ten overs over the last couple of years. Him and Jofra were outstanding and the other guys backed that up, which allowed us to stay on top," Morgan said at the post-match presentation.Â
