Dramatic scenes at Lord's as teams prepare for a super over as the match ends in a tie. _______________________ Jos Buttler is out caught in the deep off the bowling of that man Lockie Ferguson again. Turning point of the final? _______________________ Struggling with the bat, captain Eoin Morgan is caught brilliantly by Ferguson off the bowling of Jimmy Neesham. Now, England are under real pressure! _______________________ New Zealand fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan, who was involved in the 2015 World Cup, has an interesting quote from an interesting character to describe the context of the game. _______________________ After batting with so much control throughout his innings, Bairstow uncharacteristically plays on for Lockie Ferguson to take his first wicket of the match. England 71-3 in 19.3 overs. They still have plenty of batting to come, but they will be a touch nervous right now. _______________________ Joe Root swings wildly at a wide-ish delivery from Colin de Grandhomme to be caught behind for nine. The medium-pacer may have made some amends for dropping a return catch that would have sent Jonny Bairstow back to the pavilion, but England are still favourites to win at 59-2 in 16.3 overs. _______________________ Jason Roy is out after nicking a Matt Henry outswinger to Tom Latham as England are 28-1. _______________________ After five overs, England are 24-0. Openers Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow have been largely watchful although Roy was a trifle fortunate to escape an umpire review. Bairstow has a couple of boundaries from Boult's third over to relieve the pressure a little. But the tournament hosts will need to build a foundation here, given Trent Boult and Matt Henry are bowling beautifully with the new ball. _______________________ So that's that! New Zealand have set a target of 242 for England to win. The total is possibly below par, but it could still be a tricky run chase for the tournament hosts given it's the final. It's not unreasonable to expect fireworks from Jason Roy, but the Black Caps have arguably the best bowling attack in the World Cup so it's game on at this stage. _______________________ Woakes gets the prized wicket of Tom Latham after the left-hander tries to up the ante. the Kiwis are 234-7. _______________________ A struggling Colin de Grandhomme is out after visibly struggling against England's pace, particularly that of Jofra Archer. But the wicket goes to Chris Woakes - his second of the match - as De Grandhomme is caught by sub James Vince for 16. Can Tom Latham and Mitchell Santner hit out with less than four overs remaining? _______________________ New Zealand have lost their fifth wicket - and the fifth batsman to get into double figures before getting out. Jimmy Neesham holes out for 19 giving Plunkett his third wicket. An England win today surely makes the fast bowler a contender for the Man of the Match award. _______________________ Ross Taylor has been dismissed leg before wicket by Mark Wood for 15, but had he reviewed, the TV umpire would have announced "not out" as the bounce was too high. England are well in the driver's seat at the moment as New Zealand are 141-4 from 33.1 overs. _______________________ Has Liam Plunkett bowled the match-defining spell? The England fast bowler took the wickets of Williamson (caught behind) and Nicholls (bowled), but he has also been miserly thus far. His figures read: 7-0-26-2. But old hand Ross Taylor and wicketkeeper Tom Latham are at the crease chugging along. The run-rate is hovering around 4-plus. _______________________ Liam Plunkett takes the big wicket of New Zealand captain Kane Williamson as he is caught behind for 30. Umpire Kumar Dharmasena gives it not out before Eoin Morgan calls for a review and wins it. Huge blow for the Black Caps at 103-2. They are still going along nicely at a run-rate of 4.50, which means they can get a 270-plus total so long as they can keep a few wickets at the death. _______________________ Did you know New Zealand have beaten England in their two previous ODIs at Lord's? The Black Caps won by five wickets in 2013 and 51 runs in 2008. Will be it 3-0 today? _______________________ Paul Radley, our man at the World Cup, has spotted Indian and Australian fans in the stands, with some Men in Blue supporters apparently chanting "India! India!". Except India aren't playing, are they. _______________________ England got an early breakthrough as Chris Woakes takes the wicket of New Zealand opener Martin Guptill LBW. Woakes got one to come back in at the right-hander and after a consultation with fellow opener Henry Nicholls Guptill decided to review but the decision stood. _______________________ New Zealand have won the toss in the World Cup final against England and have opted to bat first. Hosts England have named an unchanged XI for the fourth game in a row, meaning Liam Plunkett retained his place in a seam-heavy attack at the expense of spin-bowling all-rounder Moeen Ali. Their opponents also kept faith with their semi-final winning side, Henry Nicholls having passed a fitness test. _______________________ England's World Cup final against New Zealand was delayed by 15 minutes after a rainy morning at Lord's. The planned 10am toss was pushed back after the early showers, which left the outfield damp and ground preparations slightly behind schedule. Neither side have won the tournament before, guaranteeing a new name on the trophy, with England thrashing Ashes rivals Australia to book their place in the showpiece and the Black Caps upsetting India. Our reporter Paul Radley seems to think whoever does win the toss should bowl first. Meanwhile, at the Nursery ground ... _______________________ 2019 Cricket World Cup final England v New Zealand Today, 1.30pm (UAE time) start Lord's, London Tune in to <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/%3Cspanclass='preview-text--highlighted'%3Esport%3C/span%3E/cricket/osn-to-ditch-all-non-cricket-sports-channels-from-march-31-1.824381">OSN Sports Cricket HD</a> or create an online account with Wavo for US$54 (a little less than Dh200). The account will provide customers access to two channels, OSN Cric Xtra 1 and OSN Cric Xtra 2. Matches: 90 England won: 41 New Zealand won: 43 Tied: 2 No results: 4 England: WWWLL (last five completed matches, most recent first) New Zealand: WLLLW <strong>Eoin Morgan, England captain, on whether mid-tournament setbacks have helped paved the way to the final:</strong> "I think it has helped us because it's lent itself to actually being more positive and aggressive and a bit smarter about how we play and it's sort of been the last-chance saloon since Durham, which has been nice in a way." <strong>Kane Williamson, New Zealand captain, on whether playing in a second straight final relieves pressure on his team:</strong> "Whether having had experience in a final or not is a good thing - any final you get the opportunity to play in is a really positive thing. But at the same time, as we know in this game nothing promises, so it does come down to putting a performance on the board that gives us the best opportunity to win." <strong>England:</strong> Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood. <strong>New Zealand:</strong> Martin Guptill, Henry Nicholls, Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wk), Jimmy Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson. On paper, England look more formidable: they have a once-in-a-generation batting line-up and plenty of options when it comes to bowling. New Zealand, on the other hand, have a strong bowling attack, but they have depended chiefly on captain Kane Williamson and old hand Ross Taylor for the bulk of their runs. This means the most decisive battle is likely to be between England’s batsmen and New Zealand’s bowlers – especially if England bat first.