World Cup 2019: Top four knocks of the tournament

The 2019 ICC World Cup finally came to an end after an enthralling final between host-nation England & New Zealand, where the former prevailed on the basis of total boundaries hit in their innings after both the match and the super over ended in a tie.

Both sides fought valiantly till the last ball but it was all-rounder Ben Stokes innings who turned the match in England's favor. His knock of 84 kept England in the hunt even after the wickets of Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, and Eoin Morgan fell in the space of 27 runs.

Like Stokes's innings, there were several other knocks in the tournament which were valiant efforts and will forever be etched into World Cup folklore.

Here are the top four knocks of the 2019 ICC World Cup.

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#4 Ravindra Jadeja's 59-ball-77 vs New Zealand

A dejected Jadeja after his dismissal in the semi-final.

The World Cup is by far the biggest spectacle in cricket and the pressure that players are under while representing their nation is immense and even the biggest of stars can crumble under it.

That is exactly what happened in the semi-final match between India and New Zealand, chasing a competitive total of 240 runs on a slow and sticky pitch, the mighty Indian batting order had six of their batsmen back in hut by the end of the 31st over with just 94 runs on the board.

With the last recognized batting pair on the crease and an additional 146 runs required off the last 19 overs, the end-result seemed a certainty but India weren't going out without a fight. The fightback started with first-innings fielding hero Ravindra Jadeja jumping out of his crease and smashing Jimmy Neesham over long-on for a maximum. The Indian fans rediscovered their voice with that shot while Jadeja along with the ever-dependable Mahendra Singh Dhoni started resurrecting India's innings.

Jadeja made sure that the required-run-rate did not spill into unreachable territory by hitting at least one boundary between overs 38 to 42 and reached his half-century - his first in nearly 5 years - in 39 balls.

Jadeja's timely hits and tireless running brought the equation down to 37 required off the last 3 overs but, alas, he could not take India over the line as in an attempt to clear the boundary he skied the 4th ball of the 48th over into the hands of Kane Williamson, prematurely ending his innings at 77.

Jadeja was by far the best batsman in that match, he was the highest run-getter in the match, he was the only batsman who faced 20+ balls and still had a strike rate above hundred & his 4 maximums were exactly double of what the remaining batsmen from both teams could hit in total.

#3 Kane Williamson's gritty match-winning knock of 106* vs South Africa

Kane Williamson.

Kane Williamson practically played as an opener for New Zealand in the World Cup, since bar the first match against Sri Lanka, the Kiwi captain faced the new ball in 10 out of the 11 matches they played in the tournament.

Chasing a target of 242 on a tricky surface versus South Africa, New Zealand lost their first wicket very quickly after Rabada caught Munro off his own bowling in the 3rd over of the innings.

Williamson was back on the ground, earlier than he would have liked but the Kiwi captain isn't one of them who complain, he lets his bat do the talking. Williamson started rebuilding New Zealand's innings along with Martin Guptill and by the 15th over, set his team up in an advantageous position but a brain-fade saw Guptill losing his wicket rather uncharacteristically via a hit-wicket.

Before Williamson could map out the next course of action, New Zeland lost Ross Taylor and Tom Latham in a gap of three overs and from an advantageous position at 72/1, New Zealand were now staring down the barrel at 80/4. However, Williamson stood tall and along with Neesham, ran hard between the wickets while finding the odd boundary and stitched together a partnership of 57 runs.

A single on the on-side in the 28th over got Williamson his 2nd fifty of the tournament but the work was far from over. Neesham succumbed to the two-paced surface and gave a simple catch to Amla at slip, the equation of 105 required off 100 balls wasn't daunting even after Neesham's wicket but New Zealand had only one more recognized batsman left and hence all their hopes now rested on the shoulders of captain Kane.

Williamson, though, found an able partner in Colin de Grandhomme who played the aggressor in their partnership while he aptly played the role of a sheet anchor, ticking runs off the board without taking any risk. The partnership put together 91 runs for New Zealand and nearly played South Africa out of the game but De Grandhomme tried a shot too many and succumbed to Lungi Ngidi in the penultimate over of the match leaving Williamson with the task of scoring the final 14 runs in 11 balls.

Tension could be felt all around the stadium but Williamson was in a zone of his own, with his ice-cool demeanor and deft touch, the Kiwi captain beat the short third man off the final ball of the over to collect a boundary and bring the equation down to eight off six.

Andile Phehlukwayo was given the responsibility of bowling the last over, he served a slower one first up to Santner who pulled it to deep mid-wicket for a single. Williamson was on strike now and he had five balls to knock off the remaining seven runs, the pressure was on both sides and whoever blinked first was going to face the music. Unfortunately for South Africa, Phehlukwayo blinked first, he sent in a slower ball to Kane who after spending nearly 46 overs on the pitch picked the bones out of it and sent it packing over deep mid-wicket and into the stands to bring up a hard-fought century.

The equation after the first 2 balls of the final over stood at 1 required off 4, the South Africans morale had all but disappeared after that six and it was clearly summed up by the 3rd ball of the over. Phehlukwayo delivered a 3rd consecutive slower ball, way outside off-stump which Williamson caressed through point and short third-man for a boundary to clinch an important victory for his team.

#2 Carlos Brathwaite's breathtaking century vs New Zealand

Carlos Brathwaite after his century.

While teams like India, Australia, England ploughed through teams like well-oiled machines in their quest for World Cup glory, there are teams like the West Indies who add some flavor to the tournament with their nonchalant free-flowing eye-catching style of cricket.

West Indies are by far the most inconsistent team when it comes to performance on the field, during one phase of the game they may look like an unstoppable force but can fold like a deck of cards in a matter of minutes in another. The very same thing happened in their group stage match vs New Zealand.

Facing a mammoth total of 291, West Indies were on course for the target at the start of the 23rd over with the score at 142/2 but like always they threw caution to the wind and lost two wickets in consecutive balls, the situation now turned from advantageous to peculiar.

Fall of the 4th wicket saw Carlos Brathwaite join Chris Gayle on the pitch and he started his innings with a boundary albeit, through an outside edge, he followed it up by creaming two balls to the cover boundary in the 25th over.

While Brathwaite tried to steady the innings from one end the other end was least complying as the West Indies lost three wickets between the 24th and 27th overs. With just the tailenders for company, Brathwaite curbed his natural game and for the next 4 overs only took singles that were on offer.

He finally broke the shackles in the 32nd over by smashing Santner over the long-on boundary for a maximum. 2 overs later, he managed a couple of hits to the boundary off Colin De Grandhomme.

While Brathwaite tried his hardest, boundaries were still few and far in between and by the end of the 45th over, West Indies were in need of another 47 runs with just one wicket in hand. Brathwaite had a job on his hands and he had to do something that wouldn't have crossed his mind even during his wildest dreams, to produce an innings that surpassed the one from the 2016 T20 World Cup final.

He started off strong by hitting Trent Boult for a boundary in the 45th over and then followed it up with a maximum off Ferguson in the 46th. The equation after 47 overs stood at 33 required off the last 3 overs.

Matt Henry induced a top-edge off Brathwaite on the first ball of the 48th over for a double but what followed after that is something that will forever be etched into World Cup folklore. In the next four balls, Brathwaite smashed Henry for three consecutive sixes and a four as he brought the equation down to eight off 12.

The following over, Brathwaite took a double on the 4th ball to bring up a much deserved century and also brought down the equation to six off eight balls. On the final ball of the over, he heaved the ball onto the long-on boundary in an attempt to finish the match but, alas, with dejected eyes he had to see the white leather nestle into the hands of Trent Boult stationed just meters before the boundary.

#1 Eoin Morgan's whirlwind innings of 148 vs Afghanistan

Eoin Morgan.

England vs Afganistan was by far the most lopsided match-up in the 2019 World Cup, England were the favorites for the title and had dominated their last two games, winning by 106 runs and 8 wickets respectively, while Afghanistan, on the other hand, were playing in just their second ICC World Cup tournament and had lost both their previous two matches without putting up a fight.

England won the toss and elected to bat on a batters' paradise, their openers, especially Jonny Bairstow gave them a good start and by the time Eoin Morgan took guard, his team were well placed at 168 for 2 in 31 overs.

He got into action quickly by smoking both the 7th and 8th ball of his innings for maximums. Morgan made sure that Afghanistan's star spinner Rashid Khan was not allowed to settle down by smashing him for two sixes and a boundary during the leggie's 6th over.

He even went after one of Afganistan's most experienced campaigners, Mohammed Nabi, by pulling him over deep mid-wicket for six and in that process brought up his fifty off just 36 balls.

Morgan seemed to have developed a special liking for leg-spinner Rashid Khan, In the bowler's seventh over of the innings, Morgan smashed Rashid for three sixes with the last one bringing up his century in just 57 balls. In the leggie's following over, 45th of England's innings, Morgan again hit him for three maximums taking his total six tally to 13.

In the 47th over of the innings, Morgan went after his counterpart Gulbadin Naib and clubbed him for 3 sixes, taking his total tally of sixes hit in the match to 17. Naib had the last laugh though as he had Morgan caught at long-off off the last ball of the over but the English captain had done his job by then and had served up a batting masterclass for fans around the world.

Morgan finished with a score of 148 off 71 balls with 17 sixes and four fours. The 17 sixes he hit in the innings are the most by a batsman in the history of ODI cricket. Morgan's 57-ball-hundred is also the 4th fastest in World Cup history.