Cricket World Cup 2019 key moments

Cricket World Cup 2019 has certainly lived up to the expectations of being the most anticipated events of the year. We witnessed some nail-biting encounters and the true spirit of cricket throughout the tournament. This World Cup had several significant moments right from the very beginning from rain delays to thriller matches.

Carlos Brathwaite heroics

We watched Carlos Brathwaite smashing the ball all over the ground but unfortunately failing to win. They, unfortunately, succumbed to the New Zealand bowling attack while chasing a target of 292 runs. When the Windies were trembling at 164/7, Carlos Brathwaite kept their hopes alive till the very end with one of the best knocks of his career scoring 101 off 82 balls. West Indies may have lost the match, but Brathwaite's innings gave us a World Cup moment to cherish for a lifetime. West Indies won the 2016 T20 World Cup because of one such performance by Carlos Brathwaite, but the performance in World Cup 2019 was equally splendid.

West Indies v New Zealand - ICC Cricket World Cup 2019

Rashid Khan's rare off-day

Rashid Khan's spell of 110 runs in 9 overs is the most conceded in World Cup history. It wasn't the only concern for the Afghanistan bowler as the English Batsmen hit 11 sixes which is the most conceded by a bowler in ODIs. At just 20 years of age, Rashid Khan has plenty of time to redeem himself.

Rashid Khan

The mystery of the bails

Five times throughout the tournament the bails have failed to fall off after the ball hit the stumps. Kohli and Finch along with, several former players asked for a change during the tournament. ICC, however, refused to change the zing bails mid-way through the World Cup. They have been used for a long time now, but there should be a review regarding this issue.

Zing Bails

Dhoni's run out

Rains washed off the semi-final between India and New Zealand which they continued on a reserved day. The Kiwis scored 239 runs in 50 overs, and then it was all up to Kohli and his men to take India forward.

Despite being at 92 for 6, hopes remained as Ravindra Jadeja and Dhoni guided India closer to victory. If Dhoni would have been on the crease longer, there would have been legitimate chances of winning the tie. Unfortunately, he was run out from a direct hit by Martin Guptill who had a disastrous World Cup campaign until this moment.

India v New Zealand - ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Semi-Final

The 'bat of god' incident

To top all the close encounters throughout the tournament, the final was the most exciting one. A throw deflected after hitting Ben Stokes' bat for a boundary, and it resulted in 4 overthrow runs. It seemed like the cup wasn't coming home until the last over.

Requiring nine from the last three balls, Ben Stokes pushed Boult's yorker-length delivery towards deep mid-wicket. Martin Guptill, who had dismissed Dhoni and India out of the World Cup in the last match with his crunch throw was at it again. As Stokes turned to run his second, a hard and flat throw from Guptill flew into the keeper's end to crash into the stumps once again, only it didn't.

The ball hit the outstretched bat from a diving Ben Stokes and went to the third man boundary awarding England six runs from one ball. England drew the game from there and ended up clinching the victory in the Super Over by the difference in boundaries.

New Zealand v England - ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Final

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