Like everyone else at Lord’s, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson had no idea how England had won the World Cup. Literally.

“Was it boundaries or something?” he asked, deadpan in a post-match press conference dripping with the dignity we have come to expect from Williamson and his team.

The man of the tournament was clapped out of the room — that is saying something when that room is occupied with cynical hacks. Williamson is class personified.

In the end, the Cricket World Cup — a brilliant 45-day, 48-match tournament — ended with a tie in the match, then another tie in the Super Over. To separate the teams, the ICC used a regulation they never expected to have to use: who scored the most boundaries? England won: 26-17, and are therefore World champions for the first time in men’s cricket. Both teams knew the rule and accepted it.

But it was the greatest ODI ever played, the greatest moment England have ever had using a white ball: a perfect day that had an imperfect decisive moment. New Zealand lost on a technicality. The shortcomings of such a system are obvious. Four singles are worth the same amount as four scored all in one shot. It does not matter how you do it, but that you do it. Given their scores were the same, that England were better at hitting boundaries means that New Zealand were better at finding gaps and singles.

How better to decide the game? Wickets taken seems a bit better, but the aim of this game is to score more runs, not take more wickets. So in a tournament that features a round-robin system, you could take the group game result. But, when these teams met 12 days ago, England had to win, whereas New Zealand knew they could sneak through with defeat. So that is surely not a fair measure.

My solution? Keep Super Over-ing. After one is tied, do another, and another after that if needed. So, after yesterday’s tie, England would bowl first, but a bowler other than Jofra Archer would have to deliver the over, and Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes would be unable to bat again.

In Pictures | World Cup England Cricket players celebrate their win 18 show all In Pictures | World Cup England Cricket players celebrate their win 1/18 Ben Stokes of England celebrates in the dressing rooms after winning the Final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Gareth Copley-IDI/IDI via Getty Images 2/18 England's Eoin Morgan with team mates and the trophy during the celebrations at The Oval Reuters 3/18 Jason Roy of England celebrates in the dressing rooms after winning the Final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 IDI via Getty Images 4/18 England's Eoin Morgan with team mates and the trophy during the celebrations at The Oval Reuters 5/18 England's Jonny Bairstow during the celebrations at The Oval Reuters 6/18 England's Joe Root with fans during the celebrations at the Kia Oval Action Images via Reuters 7/18 England's Eoin Morgan with the Trophy during the World Cup celebrations at the Kia Ova PA 8/18 England's Ben Stokes with fans during the celebrations at the Kia Oval Action Images via Reuters 9/18 England celebrate in the dressing rooms after winning the Final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 IDI via Getty Images 10/18 England's Jason Roy holds up a baby after winning the Cricket World Cup final match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London AP 11/18 Joe Root and Jos Buttler of England celebrate in the dressing rooms after winning the Final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 IDI via Getty Images 12/18 Eoin Morgan poses with the World Cup trophy during a photocall at Lord's, London PA 13/18 England's Liam Plunkett attends a World Cup victory event at The Oval in London AFP/Getty Images 14/18 England's Jason Roy during the celebrations at The Oval Reuters 15/18 England's Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid during the celebrations Reuters 16/18 England's Jonny Bairstow during the celebrations at The Oval Reuters 17/18 The cricketers push through the throng at The Oval to celebrate with their trophy Action Images via Reuters 18/18 England's Eoin Morgan with team mates and the trophy during the celebrations at The Oval Reuters 1/18 Ben Stokes of England celebrates in the dressing rooms after winning the Final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Gareth Copley-IDI/IDI via Getty Images 2/18 England's Eoin Morgan with team mates and the trophy during the celebrations at The Oval Reuters 3/18 Jason Roy of England celebrates in the dressing rooms after winning the Final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 IDI via Getty Images 4/18 England's Eoin Morgan with team mates and the trophy during the celebrations at The Oval Reuters 5/18 England's Jonny Bairstow during the celebrations at The Oval Reuters 6/18 England's Joe Root with fans during the celebrations at the Kia Oval Action Images via Reuters 7/18 England's Eoin Morgan with the Trophy during the World Cup celebrations at the Kia Ova PA 8/18 England's Ben Stokes with fans during the celebrations at the Kia Oval Action Images via Reuters 9/18 England celebrate in the dressing rooms after winning the Final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 IDI via Getty Images 10/18 England's Jason Roy holds up a baby after winning the Cricket World Cup final match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London AP 11/18 Joe Root and Jos Buttler of England celebrate in the dressing rooms after winning the Final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 IDI via Getty Images 12/18 Eoin Morgan poses with the World Cup trophy during a photocall at Lord's, London PA 13/18 England's Liam Plunkett attends a World Cup victory event at The Oval in London AFP/Getty Images 14/18 England's Jason Roy during the celebrations at The Oval Reuters 15/18 England's Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid during the celebrations Reuters 16/18 England's Jonny Bairstow during the celebrations at The Oval Reuters 17/18 The cricketers push through the throng at The Oval to celebrate with their trophy Action Images via Reuters 18/18 England's Eoin Morgan with team mates and the trophy during the celebrations at The Oval Reuters

Like a play-off in golf and, with the quality of resources diminishing — imagine Archer and Adil Rashid heading out to face the fifth Super Over, bowled by Mitchell Santner — a winner would be found quickly. After all, that represents one of cricket’s great fundamentals: that it asks elite athletes — bowlers — to do a thing that they are bad at — batting.