Top story: Boundaries clinch it for England
Hello, it’s Warren Murray helping you settle in at the crease this morning.
It was, writes Vic Marks, the most astonishing, fortuitous, preposterous climax to a cricket match, let alone a World Cup final played out at Lord’s. The number of boundaries scored by each team had to be tallied up after England and New Zealand tied on 241 runs and a “super-over” failed to separate them. “At the end of it England emerged as World Cup winners for the first time.”
Optimism throughout the day was rationed like wartime jam, writes Andy Bull. “For most of the day Lord’s was alive with anxious chatter, a jittery, skittery babbling, ‘what do you think, can they, could they, will they, maybe?’ It rose to a new pitch in the penultimate over, the first of those manic final few minutes, when England needed 22 runs to win with nine balls to go.”
On the other side of the world, New Zealanders emerged tired and emotional in the predawn light. Then they went back to their Monday mornings. “It feels too familiar,” said one punter at a Nelson bar as the wickets fell during the Black Caps’ innings. “Like we are better than this.” Jubilation was the order of the day for long-suffering England fans, however: “I’ve hugged and kissed people I have never met before today,” said one.
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Skydiving disaster – All nine people on board were killed when a small plane carrying parachutists crashed in northern Sweden on Sunday. Swedish media quoted witnesses saying parachutists were seen trying to jump off the GippsAero GA8 Airvan just before it crashed into Storsandskar island. The Swedish prime minister, Stefan Lofven, sent condolences to the victims’ families and said the government would stay in close touch with crash investigators.
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Self-inflating politician – More accounts today of Boris Johnson’s speciousness and shamelessness en route to becoming the likely next prime minister. The author and journalist Sonia Purnell tells of sharing the Telegraph’s Brussels bureau with a figure whose inventive tales of EU megalomania “helped set in stone a pervasive anti-European narrative that never really encountered serious challenge in the UK … Johnson has always wanted to win at all costs, by fooling people into believing his performance or by sabotaging rivals if necessary”. Neil Sherlock, a former adviser to Nick Clegg, relates how Johnson (real first name Alexander) adopted a liberal-leaning “Boris Two” persona to help him win the presidency of the Oxford Union – after being beaten to it by Sherlock the first time around. A former News of the World reporter whom Johnson, in 1990, discussed having beaten up on behalf of a fraudster has told how he is still waiting for an apology.
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Sick leave lifeline – Two million low-paid workers may for the first time get statutory sick pay. About 100,000 people every year fall out of work completely after a sickness absence, according to the government, which hopes a sick pay rebate for small business will help people with disabilities and long-term conditions get back to work. Separately, the influential Global Future thinktank has suggested the £4.3bn contributed by EU migrants to the UK economy should be spent on disadvantaged communities which often have the greatest concerns about EU migration. It says the fund could form part of a “remain and reform” offer in a future referendum.
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Racism of Trump – The US president has used racist language to attack “the Squad” of four progressive Democrats, telling them to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came”. Out of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, only Omar was born outside America. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator seeking to run for the Democrats against Trump, wrote: “When I call the president a racist, this is what I’m talking about”.
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Moon bug – India’s first lunar landing attempt has been aborted, thankfully before the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft took off. The country’s space authorities said: “A technical snag was observed in launch vehicle system at T-56 minute.” The launch was put off to an unspecified later date “as a measure of abundant precaution”. The four-tonne spacecraft is equipped with a lunar orbiter, a lander and a rover that is designed to spend two weeks analysing the moon’s unexplored south pole.
Today in Focus podcast: Pointless pursuit?
The public expects cops to chase bad guys – but a shocking tally of deaths has exposed how often police chases put the public at risk. Tom Lamont asks whether the death of Matthew Seddon might finally change things. And: Sirin Kale on sexist dress codes.
Lunchtime read: Invasion of the e-scooters
They’re cheaper than cabs, less effort than a bike and more convenient than buses. But piles of e-scooters discarded by the roadside, a worrying number of injuries, drunk riders and even some road deaths have provoked a growing backlash. In the UK, the use of e-scooters actually remains illegal on both roads and pavements – despite the rise in models for sale in shops.
Those dangers were underscored when Emily Hartridge, a 35-year-old YouTuber and TV presenter, was killed after a collision with a lorry while riding an e-scooter in Battersea, south-west London. In June, Paris – with an estimated 20,000 trottinettes on the streets – had its first fatality after a young man was hit by a truck. So are e-scooters a vital new part of modern, eco-friendly urban transport – or a risky and unnecessary fad, being pushed as a money-spinner for tech investors?
Sport
Novak Djokovic called his Wimbledon final victory over Roger Federer “the most mentally demanding match of his career” after finding a way to overcome his opponent and a Centre Court crowd that was overwhelmingly against him. Simona Halep will rise to No 4 in the rankings when they are updated on Monday and a return to the world No 1 spot is well within her reach over the coming months. But her eyes are already set on something further afield. “I want to win any medal in the Olympics to fulfil everything I have done in tennis,” she said, her eyes lighting up at the thought of it.
Lewis Hamilton celebrated his victory at the British Grand Prix by revelling in the support he received at Silverstone across the weekend. After an Open Championship buildup that has been low-key to the point of non-existent Tiger Woods defended his scheduling choices after playing 18 holes at Royal Portrush on Sunday.
Business
China’s economic growth has faltered again, raising fresh concerns about how the superpower will cope with the headwinds from its trade dispute with the US. Official data published overnight said the economy grew at 6.2% in the second quarter of this year, the slowest rate for almost three decades. Asian stock markets had a mixed reaction to the news while the FTSE100 is expected to open very slightly up. The pound is on $1.256 and €1.115.
The papers
The papers are united in celebrating England’s win. The Guardian has a picture of England’s two heroes – Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer – rejoicing with the headline “Last-ball joy as England seal World Cup win”. The Times opts for a wraparound style front and back page with the dramatic moment when Jos Buttler runs out Martin Guptill to seal the win.
The Telegraph features a huge picture of the England players lifting the trophy with the headline, “Who said cricket was boring?”.
The most popular headline of the day is “Champagne super over”, a cunning pun combining the victory celebrations and the unprecedented format of the finale which is used by the Mirror, the Star, the Metro and – more surprisingly – the FT.
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