England are men’s Cricket World Cup champions for the first time, and in the most thrilling fashion imaginable as the tournament’s greatest ever final was decided by a Super Over – and a brilliant run out off the final ball. Eventually, it was decided by boundaries hit, and England had 26 to New Zealand’s 17.

Jimmy Neesham, who was contemplating quitting the game just months ago, appeared to be carrying New Zealand to victory but Martin Guptill, who is in the most filthy form, needed two from the final ball – and was run out by Jason Roy coming back for the second.

England, led by the brilliant Ben Stokes, had matched New Zealand’s 241 in 50 overs – having needed two to win off the final ball – then Stokes and Jos Buttler scrambled 15 from the Super Over. It was an all-time great cricket match to end a very memorable tournament.

That the game even made it to a super over was remarkable. England entered the final over of real time needing 15 and via a fine Stokes six, six more after overthrows skidded away to the fence. An over before, Trent Boult had stood on the boundary when catching Stokes – who played his sixth seminal innings of the tournament.

So the first free-to-air cricket in this country for 14 years did not disappoint. It was not the World Cup’s sexiest pitch and it was not necessarily a friend to the hosts, but it provided compelling cricket. It brought a vocal crowd – a not very Lord’s-y crowd – to its feet, while crowds gathered on the roof of the apartments overlooking the ground.

With the game on Channel 4, countless new viewers were introduced to cricket’s cruelness, its agony and, at the end, its ecstasy too. Every single ball was an event. The time between each of those balls felt like an eternity. The tension was unbearable.

For the first half of the day, things went well for England. Chris Woakes and Liam Plunkett bowled terrifically to claim three wickets each. Jofra Archer deserved better than the single wicket he picked up at the death. Mark Wood touched 95.7mph, thus delivering the fastest ball of the tournament. England are known as a batting team, but they are a mighty bowling side too, and New Zealand were limited to 241.

That, though, set up New Zealand’s gameplan perfectly. Win toss, bat first, scramble to serviceable score. All that was left to do was bag early wickets, field brilliantly, then turn the screw with medium pace.

There were little contributions throughout New Zealand’s innings, as they again read the pitch well. Henry Nicholls grafted hard up top, Tom Latham did the same at the end, and everyone else at least got a start. Plunkett’s variations were a handful, as he got the ball to stick in the pitch, while Woakes was relentlessly consistent. The only obvious blemish came in the extras column, where there were 17 wides and a no ball. In a low-scoring game, those are large numbers.

So England were left needing 242 to win the World Cup – the sort of total they had failed to reach in their mid-tournament lull. This time the batting was not hideous, they were just out-foxed.

You did not have to be a veteran viewer to be baffled that it took New Zealand 34 balls to take their first wicket. Trent Boult was all over both Jason Roy – who survived an lbw review first ball by the narrowest margin – and Jonny Bairstow – who so nearly played on twice. At the other end, Matt Henry was a menace too, with his seven-over spell costing just 22.

The fog appeared to be lifting, mainly through some crisp cover driving, when Henry had Roy caught behind. It was the very least New Zealand deserved; they bowled every bit as well as they did against India for nothing like the rewards.

England’s luck continued when, as New Zealand went 19 balls without conceding a run, Bairstow was dropped by Colin de Grandhomme in his follow through. Already, every single was cheered like the winning run. England knew this would take some chasing.

When Joe Root went after de Grandhomme and was caught behind, then Bairstow finally played on to Lockie Ferguson, 242 looked like a mountain. De Grandhomme did not concede a boundary until his seventh over, and the pressure forced Morgan into whacking it to deep-point. Ferguson, fresh off a fiery spell, took a quite brilliant catch diving forward.

The fall of Morgan brought Stokes and Buttler together. It is hard to think of two English white-ball cricketers – from this or any era – better equipped to the task at hand. Stokes dug in, while Buttler somehow found a run from almost every delivery. Both parked risk, with just eight of their first 50 runs. They needed a lot of runs, but had plenty of time to get them.

But an over after each reached his half-century and they passed the hundred partnership, Buttler – who had played some outrageous ramps – looked to open the shoulders. He got one cover drive away, but was then caught at deep point by the diving sub Tim Southee. Ferguson was the bowler this time, but the catch was almost as good as his earlier.

After Woakes went too, Stokes found one last ally in Liam Plunkett, who ran hard and biffed some boundaries too. They went into the penultimate over needing 24 from 12 balls. Neesham and Boult would be the bowlers, as Lord’s fizzed. Boult caught Plunkett at long-on, then tried to do the same for Stokes – only to tread on the rope and give England their first six of the innings. Neesham then bowled Jofra Archer, leaving Stokes needing 15 off the last over. He has not made a century this tournament,

Boult found two dots with fine yorkers, and the game seemed to slip beyond England. Then he slog-swept six and got six more when – extraordinarily Martin Guptill threw four overthrows after England had already run two. Suddenly, England needed three from two. Rashid was run out wanting a second, then so was Mark Wood. The greatest final was not done yet - few could believe the thrills that were still to come.