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England revelled in their first World Cup triumph on Monday, soaking up the adulation of a disbelieving nation after one of the most extraordinary finishes to a cricket match in history.
The host country, after 44 years of trying, finally became world champions with a stunning victory over New Zealand at Lord's, triumphing on superior boundary count after both the match and the additional Super Over shootout ended with the scores level.
Hundreds of children flooded across the outfield at the Oval, across town from Lord's, to help Eoin Morgan's men celebrate their historic triumph.
The south London ground was where England launched their World Cup campaign with a victory over South Africa way back on 30 May.
Later, the players were due to go to a reception hosted by outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May at Downing Street.
As 'Happy' by Pharrell Williams blared out, the youngsters were delighted to catch sight of England stars such as Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer and flocked towards their new heroes.
It was a more modest celebration than the open-topped bus parade through the streets of London for England's 2005 Ashes victors but was in keeping with the push to sell the game to a new generation.
England coach Trevor Bayliss drafted in with the aim of winning the World Cup following their miserable first-round exit at the 2015 tournament, said: "I heard some of the young guys in the team say the 2005 Ashes inspired them to bigger and better things.
On Sunday, the Queen sent her congratulations to England and the Royal Mail postal service announced it would issue a series of special stamps and decorate 15 post boxes to celebrate both the World Cup win and England's victory at the 2017 Women's edition of the tournament.
Prime Minister May, a lifelong cricket fan, was due to host the team at a reception.
"The achievement, delivered in such a thrilling style on home soil, will live forever in our sporting history." "It's also exciting to think just how many children will be inspired by this victory to pick up a bat for the first time and hopefully become the great cricketers and World Cup winners of tomorrow," she added.
"We must build on this success” she concluded.
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