England powered into a first Cricket World Cup final in 27 years – and did it in some style.
Showing no nerves chasing the biggest prize in the sport, the tournament hosts trounced defending five-time champions and arch rivals Australia by eight wickets on Thursday (Friday NZ time) to ensure there will be a first-time winner of the World Cup.
Now England has setup a meeting with New Zealand at Lord’s on Sunday for the title. Roy led the way in a one-sided second semi-final in Birmingham, the opener living up to his billing as the showman of the team by smashing 85 off 65 balls as England hunted down a target of 224 to win in 32.1 overs. An extraordinary knock included five sixes – three in a row off Steve Smith, sending him out of the attack after one over – and nine fours.
I was six in 1992, I don’t remember it, but I have seen a lot of it. It is an opportunity for us on Sunday, a huge one at that too. It is a massive leap from where we were in 2015. Everyone in that dressing room must take a lot of credit for that” said the 32 year old skipper Eoin Morgan at post match presentation.