While Super Sunday was undeniably one of the most magnificent sporting days in Britain in recent living memory, I cannot complete this month’s blog without first a mention of how proud we of our Womens Engalnd Football squad, their talent and achievements. The month kicked off with the FIFA Women’s World Cup semi finals between USA and England which became the most watched British TV broadcast of the year. Sadly for us Brits, the US beat us, but only just! So proud of the team, and they were just unlucky that the match turned against them.
‘Super-Over Sunday’ has to be the headline of the month as ‘the incredible sporting’ day of the year with results for England likely never to be repeated in one day again.
Cricket: England’s Mens Cricket team win the World Cup Final, for the first time in 40 years, playing against New Zealand (having beaten Australia in the semis earlier in the week.
Incredibly, the score line at the end of 50 overs normal play was level. This is an extremely unlikely event and in such circumstance the game continues to a final Super Over for each side, to decide who wins: Each team has to select 3 batsmen, one bowler and has six balls. This also went down the wire. Final scores:
New Zealand England
241 for 8 241 – all out
15 for 1 15 for 0
In the even more improbable event of the two teams reaching equal score after the Super Over, then the team the scores the most boundaries in the Super Over will win the game. NZ hit a 6, England hit two fours so won on the ‘boundary rule’
A small item of detail that I missed during that highly improbable (and eternally memorable) Men’s World Cup final score line was that England were all out at the end of normal play. I forgot they were down to their last man/last stand on the final ball.
My observation is… NZ, reached 241 for 8 after 50 overs, England threw the sink at it and had literally nothing left at all, being all out on the last ball of their last innings of normal play?
AT some stage during the match, it was also the UKs turn to host Formula 1 Grandprix at Silverstone: I had this on one screen at the same time as the Cricket was playing out on the other screen in my office, having given up all hope of getting much work done that day. The racing was breathtaking, with some of the most outrageous overtaking manoeuvres for a long long time. Lewis Hamilton took the lead at about the ½ point and went on to win race in front of a home crowd, making him the most successful F1 British driver in the UK in history, taking his toll to six UK Grand Prix wins.
England Netball were also in action in the World-cup quarter finals against Trinidad and Tobego. While the Roses got off to a slow start they came through in the second two quarters with an emphatic win 72-46, lining England up to meet the USA in the semi-finals.
As for the Tennis: Wimbledon Mens Final: Djokovic v Federa, The Times askes it’s readership the the next day ‘ was this the greatest final?’ Djokovic came back from the brink of defeat, being match-point down, to eventually win the match with an epic score-line of: 7-6, 1-6, 7-6, 4-6, 13-12
Foot-note: Text transcript during the final stages of the cricket:
