'Believed in Martin Guptill's hitting ability,' Kane Williamson on Super Over choice in 2019 World Cup Final

The 2019 World Cup cricket final between New Zealand and England is remembered for many reasons. It was not only a nail-biting match, but the way its result was decided, it divided the cricketing world into two. The final between the two sides went down to a Super Over after scores were levelled. As fate would have it, even the Super Over was tied and England were declared champions on basis of boundary count in the match. While some thought the game should have ended as a tie, others felt England won as per the rules of the game. Playing first in the Super Over, England gave New Zealand a target of 16 runs. Recalling the match, the Black Caps captain Kane Williamson explained why they chose Martin Guptill and Jimmy Neesham to face the Super Over in the final. [caption id=“attachment_8542611” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] New Zealand’s captain Kane Williamson. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)[/caption] Speaking with Ravichandran Ashwin on the spinner’s YouTube show titled DRS with Ash, Williamson said Neesham was in the good form in the tournament and Guptill has the ability to hit ball out of the ground. The team relied on Guptill despite him not being in good form in the World Cup. “I had a very brief discussion with the coach Gary Stead, I had a few guys in my mind who could go out to bat as we were going to bat second in the Super Over. The decision to send out batsmen was dependent on how much we were chasing and who the bowler is probably going to be,” the captain said. He added that other reason why the two batsmen were selected was that they were both quick between the wickets. From England, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler faced the super over. Stokes had also played a memorable innings of 84 not out in the final.