Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

England were crowned World Cup champions for first time ever after they triumphed over New Zealand in a thrilling final that went down to a Super Over.

With the match ending as a tie and the Super Over as well, England won because of the number of boundaries they had hit.

Opting to bat first, New Zealand lost opener Martin Guptill early on as he was trapped lbw off the bowling of Chris Woakes for 19.

Henry Nicholls and captain Kane Williamson made up for the loss of Guptill with a 74-run partnership before Williamson was caught behind off the bowling of Liam Plunkett for 30.

Nicholls went on to score 55, which came off 77 balls and included four boundaries, before he was clean bowled by Plunkett.

Ross Taylor only scored 15 runs before he was given out lbw off the bowling of Mark Wood.

James Neesham mustered 19 runs before he became Plunkett’s third victim.

Colin de Grandhomme fell shortly after, while Tom Latham scored 47 before falling to Woakes.

With Matt Henry being cleaned up by Jofra Archer, New Zealand finished on 241/8.

Plunkett and Woakes picked up three wickets apiece, while Archer and Wood chipped in with one wicket each.

Chasing 242 to win, England lost opener Jason Roy in the sixth over as he was caught behind off the bowling of Henry for 17.

Joe Root made seven runs before he was caught behind off the bowling of De Grandhomme.

Lockie Ferguson then cleaned up Jonny Bairstow for 36, while England skipper Eoin Morgan was removed by Neesham after scoring nine runs.

Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler came to the rescue as they forged a 110-run partnership, during which both batsmen brought up their half-centuries.

Buttler went on to score a 60-ball 59 before he was dismissed by Ferguson, who also took out Woakes.

Neesham then sent Plunkett and Archer packing in the space of four balls, which left England needing 15 off the last over.

After bowling two dot balls, Boult conceded a six off the third ball, while England also got six runs off the fourth ball since Stokes ran two but when the throw from the deep was coming in, it ricocheted off his bat and went to the boundary. Since it was inadvertent, it counted as six runs to the score.

England got one run off the penultimate ball before Adil Rashid was run out and upon needing two to win off the final ball, they could only get one since Wood was run out when trying to complete the second run.

Stokes finished unbeaten on 84, which came off 98 balls and included five boundaries and two sixes.

Ferguson and Neesham took three wickets apiece, while Henry and De Grandhomme claimed one wicket each.

With the match tied, a Super Over was needed and England scored 15 runs off theirs courtesy of some excellent shots and running from Stokes and Buttler.

In response, New Zealand scored 14 runs off their first five balls, which left them needing two to win off the last delivery.

However, they only got one as Guptill was run out when trying to dive in to complete the second run.

As a result of the Super Over being tied, England were crowned champions since they hit more boundaries.

Stokes was named Man of the Match, while Williamson was bestowed with the Man of the Tournament award for scoring 578 runs in 10 matches, which included two centuries and two fifties, at an average of 82.57.