England fast bowler Mark Wood hopes his World Cup luck holds after his fortunate run out of New Zealand captain Kane Williamson helped take the host into the semifinals.
England thrashed the Black Caps by 119 runs at Durham quick Wood’s home ground of Chester-le-Street after posting 305-8 batting first.
Jonny Bairstow was named man-of-the-match for his second successive hundred, but Wood also played his part, taking 3-34 and delivering a significant contribution that was something of a fluke.
READ| World Cup 2019: Bairstow, Wood power England into semifinals
When Ross Taylor struck a drive down the ground, Wood just managed to get fingertips to the ball and divert it onto the non-striker’s stumps, leaving star batsman Williamson — who had been averaging 113.50 for the tournament prior to this match — run out for 27.
“He doesn’t know how unlucky he is because I’ve got the smallest hands for a bloke you’ve ever seen,” said a grinning Wood.
“I managed to just get a fingertip to it. The umpire wasn’t sure if I’d tipped it, and I said ‘I swear to God I did’ I knew it had flicked the end of my finger.
“He was one of the best players I’ve ever bowled at so to get him out any way you can is pretty important. It saved me bowling at him any more so I was pretty pleased.
“In big games, in big moments, you need those moments. I’m just pleased that in such a big game I managed to be so lucky.”
Meanwhile Williamson, asked about his freakish dismissal, said: “Is it luck or lack of it? It is one of those things.
“The English bowlers put us under pressure and I don’t know whether that run-out came from that, but you move on.”
Comments
SHARE