Daily Vocabulary: 16th July 2019

Ecstasy for England, agony for New Zealand in a humdinger

This wasn’t a final for the fainthearted. It was the kind that threatened nails, fastened hearts and quadrupled pure pressure and left both players and fans gobsmacked. New Zealand scored 241 for eight, England, after thriving on Ben Stokes (84 n.o.), was bowled out for 241. The World Cup’s summit clash was tied and a superover was needed to break the stalemate at Lord’s. The mad over As a tense Sunday evening waned, England scored 15 with Stokes and Jos Buttler having a biff against Trent Boult. And guess what? New Zealand replied with 15 too, with James Neesham clouting a six off Jofra Archer in a mad over that ended once Martin Guptill got runout while going for the winning run. Yet, England prevailed as it had more boundaries (26) than what New Zealand (17) scored through the pulsating contest. England champions, New Zealand runnersup by a hair’s breadth. This was a game for the ages, it was a glorious amalgamation of thrills, heartbreak, and tears, both from joy and soul-numbing grief. In the afternoon, on a pitch that wasn’t a featherbed, England needed its powerful openers, Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow, to lay the base. Nervous energy rippled as of his very first ball, Boult rapped Roy’s pad. The lbw claim never materialized, but Boult and Matt Henry kept luring tentative willows. One such endeavor from Henry forced Roy to nibble and England lost its marauder

Ecstasy(noun)
Meaning: an overwhelming feeling of great happiness or joyful excitement.
Synonym: rapture, bliss
Antonym: misery

Agony(noun)
Meaning: extreme physical or mental suffering.
Synonym: pain, hurt, suffering
Antonym: Heaven, paradise

Humdinger (noun)
Meaning: a remarkable or outstanding person or thing of its kind.
Synonym: ace, champion
Antonym: failure, flop

Quadrupled(verb)
Meaning: increase or be increased fourfold.
Synonym: tetrad, quadrivial
Antonym: unsettled, unready

Gobsmacked(adjective)
Meaning: utterly astonished; astounded.
Synonym: astonished, surprised
Antonym: unsurprised

Stalemate(Noun)
Meaning: a position counting as a draw, in which a player is not in check but cannot move except into check
Synonym: delay, standoff
Antonym: advance, headway

Pulsating(verb)
Meaning: expand and contract with strong regular movements.
Synonym: palpitate, pulse
Antonym: stillness

Rippled(noun)
Meaning: a small wave or series of waves on the surface of the water, especially as caused by a slight breeze or an object dropping into it.
Synonym: wavelet, wave, undulation
Antonym: roll, stream

Marauder (noun)
Meaning: a person who marauds; a raider.
Synonym: raider, plunderer,
Antonym: keeper, guard