ICC Cricket WC: England, New Zealand set for final
England's men will attempt to win the World Cup for the first time when they meet New Zealand in today's final beginning at 10:30 BST and 3:30pm (BD time) at Lord's. The hosts, playing in their first final for 27 years, will start as favourites against the 2015 runners-up.
"It would mean everything to win it," England captain Eoin Morgan said.
"The good faith, support and enthusiasm we've been shown in the tournament has been brilliant. It's a huge privilege to play in a World Cup final."
Morgan's men will be looking to emulate the England women's team, who won the World Cup on the same ground two years ago.
They will do so at the end of a tournament which has taken in 11 venues across England and Wales and been watched by more than 675m people worldwide.
The high voltage match will covered by Gazi tv, Machhranga tv, Sky Sports, it will be shown free-to-air on Channel 4 and More 4.
"It is an opportunity to win the World Cup, but also an opportunity to sell this great game that we love on a huge platform," said Morgan.
England's run to the final is a remarkable turnaround, given both their short-term and long-term World Cup history.
From reaching the most recent of their three finals in 1992, they had not won a World Cup knockout match until Thursday's semi-final victory over Australia.
Amid a catalogue of World Cup failures, the worst was arguably four years ago, when they were dumped out in the first round.
Since then, they have climbed to the top of the one-day international rankings through a renewed focus on limited-overs cricket.
Off the field, former England director of cricket Andrew Strauss took steps to put greater emphasis on the one-day side with the stated aim of winning the World Cup, while on the field, Morgan has encouraged his team to play with freedom, with the outcome being some spectacular performances, particularly with the bat.
Of the transformation, Morgan, who was also captain in 2015, said: "When you look back four years ago, it's incredible. It's two different teams, really, in the way we play.
Back-to-back group-stage defeats by Sri Lanka and Australia left them on the verge of being eliminated.
They responded with wins against India, New Zealand and a phenomenal semi-final performance to hammer Australia.
England beat New Zealand by 119 runs in their final group game just over a week ago, only for the Black Caps to then stun India in the semi-finals.
They too are looking to win the World Cup for the first time, having being swept aside by Australia in their only final four years ago.
On being regarded as underdogs in the final, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said: "A lot of people have said that on a number of occasions, which is great. England rightly deserve to be favourites.
Likely line-ups
England: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (capt), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood.
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Henry Nicholls, Kane Williamson (capt), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, Jimmy Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.
