Host England Heavily Favored Over New Zealand in Sunday’s Cricket World Cup Final

Posted on: July 13, 2019, 01:00h. 

Last updated on: July 13, 2019, 02:30h.

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England will have the chance to win its first Cricket World Cup on Sunday, when it takes on New Zealand in the tournament final at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.

Cricket World Cup England
England enters the Cricket World Cup Final as a heavy favorite over New Zealand, as both sides look to win their first title. (Image: Getty)

The hosts will enter the final match as a significant favorite, with FanDuel Sportsbook posting England as a -350 pick over New Zealand (+245).

Both Nations Seeking First Title

Both countries are looking to win the Cricket World Cup for the first time. New Zealand was beaten by Australia in the 2015 final, while England has been the runner-up three times, most recently in 1992.

The English side made it to the final with a dominant victory over Australia on Thursday. After holding the Australians to a middling total of 223 runs, England was able to reach that target with more than 100 balls remaining to book their ticket in the final. Jason Roy led the attack, batting for 85 runs including nine fours and five sixes, while Chris Woakes earned man of the match honors for taking three wickets while allowing just 20 runs in his eight overs.

Semifinals are usually nervy and often tight, so to win the way we did was incredible,” Woakes said after the match. “[Eoin Morgan] is cool as ice with everything he does, regardless of the situation. He is great to have as a captain.”

New Zealand had a grittier path to the final against heavily favored India. Held to 239 runs in their innings, New Zealand appeared to be in serious trouble. But conditions weren’t terribly conducive to run scoring, and the tide changed quickly when India’s first three batters were out for just five runs inside the first 20 deliveries. Rain forced the match into a second day, but in the end, India were bowled out for 221, 18 runs short of the target.

After topping the round-robin table with a 7-1 record (with one match rained out), India was understandably disappointed, with some calling for a change in format to give more advantage to a team that performs so well during the grueling group play stage.

“You finish No. 1 in the table and then a spell of bad cricket and you are out of the tournament completely. But you have to accept it,” said Indian captain Virat Kohli. “I’m very disappointed. We played outstanding cricket throughout this tournament and to just go out on the basis of 45 minutes of bad cricket is saddening and it breaks your heart because you have worked so hard throughout the tournament to build momentum.”

Yes, Even America Has Cricket World Cup Betting

If you’re an American, much of the above might sound like gibberish, as cricket hasn’t been a popular sport in the United States in well over a century. It might come as a surprise, then, that some US bookmakers take a wide range of action on the Cricket World Cup.

At FanDuel Sportsbook in New Jersey, there are many bets available beyond just picking the winner. You can guess who will be named man of the match, with Roy (+750) considered the most likely candidate. Other prop bets include predicting which team will hit the most sixes – think home runs – with England (-145) slightly favored over New Zealand (+150).

Naturally, betting will be much heavier in the UK, where England will be looking to finally lay its hands on a major international sports championship after seeing deep runs flame out so many times in recent years. That includes both the English men’s and women’s soccer teams, each of which finished fourth in their respective 2018 and 2019 World Cup runs.