Cricket News: Battle for first Cup - Can Black Caps finally shed underdogs tag?

The world today will witness a new dawn when a title-starved England cricket team, led by an Irish, meet their match in New Zealand's feisty Black Caps in an ICC WC 2019 final that will produce a new champion at The Lord's cricket ground in London on Sunday. The last time England and New Zealand met in the 2019 World Cup, it was a group stage encounter and the hosts broke a 27-year-old record to beat the Kiwis in a showpiece event tie. But all that will count for nothing when the two teams clash in the final at Lord's. While New Zealand beat favourites India to seal the final spot, England thrashed arch-rivals Australia by eight wickets to set up the final date. On paper, it will clearly be a case of home advantage standing Eoin Morgan's men in good stead, but as Kiwi coach Gary Stead hinted on Friday, calling the New Zealand boys underdogs for the final clash would be unfair. After all, they beat the much-fancied Indians to book their ticket to London.