Updated May 15th, 2020 at 22:51 IST

Kevin Pietersen says England are the deserving winners of 2019 World Cup

Kevin Pietersen has said that England are the deserving winners of World Cup 2019 despite the controversial boundary count rule

Reported by: Karthik Nair
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Kevin Pietersen has said that England are the deserving winners of World Cup 2019 despite the controversial boundary count rule. The summit clash that was played on July 14, 2019, at the iconic Lords' Cricket Ground saw both teams tied at an identical score of 241 due to which the winner had to be determined by a super over. England were crowned world champions due to a superior boundary count rule after the super over had ended in a tie as well.

Meanwhile, the ICC was criticised by one and all for this rule.

READ: Virat Kohli The Best Captain India Has Ever Had For Encouraging Fast Bowling: Madan Lal

'England won, end of the story': Kevin Pietersen

During a recent interview with a news channel, Pietersen went on to say that the Eoin Morgan-led side changed the way one day cricket was played and that there was a complete change in their approach compared to 2015 and every other World Cup that the top-ranked ODI side had featured in. 

The veteran all-rounder also added that England, who were the hosts of World Cup 2019 were positive and they had a fear factor and an aura leading into that quadrennial event. He further added that England went on to win that contest and that is the end of the story as there is no point thinking about it now.

By the virtue of this win, England won their maiden ODI World Cup after failing to cross the finish line thrice in the 1979, 1987 and 1992 editions respectively. Meanwhile, the 'Three Lions' had also made it to the semi-finals for the first time since 1992. 

New Zealand, on the other hand, were the finalists of the 2015 edition under the captaincy of Brendon McCullum in 2015 which was jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand. They once again had to be satisfied being the runners-up four years later after falling agonizingly short.  

After the final, many fans and experts have gone on to say that the trophy should have been shared by both sides as neither of them was the winner or loser. 

(Image Courtesy: AP)

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Published May 15th, 2020 at 22:51 IST