English cricketers go ballistic as footballers seek glory

The English cricket team might have been comprehensively outplayed in their series opener against India last night, as the visitors romped home to an eight-wicket victory, but the loss did not deter Eoin Morgan's men from revelling in the other English side's historical win all the way east at the Spartak Stadium, Moscow.

Jos Buttler, who is already well known for posting celebratory videos ever since he revealed that glimpse of himself after Mumbai Indian's surprise win in the 2017 IPL final, shot the English cricketers celebrating the football side's nerve-wracking win against Colombia to secure a berth in the quarterfinals.

Locked in at 1-1 after full-time, England held their cool in the penalty shootout as Eric Dier scored the match-winning penalty to seal England's first ever win in this manner in a World Cup match. They also ended a drought more than a decade long of not getting over the line in a knockout game, 2006 being the last time they won one. They will now face Sweden in their bid to advance to the semi-finals and further their bid to finally live up to the meteoric expectations after years of disappointing results at the pinnacle stage of international football.

This year is being touted as the eventual one for England to repeat their heroics of 1966, back when they won their first and only title. So, to see the leaps and screams of ecstasy from the likes of Jason Roy, Joe Root, Alex Hales, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Moeen Ali and Jos Buttler as Dier nailed the deciding shot on target, before breaking out into an enthusiastic chorus of "It's coming home..," a reference to the long-awaited repeat of a global title victory for the football-crazy nation.

English cricketers' celebrations were reminiscent of similar reactions by South African cricketers that have emerged on social media every now and then, as the Proteas, even when touring, get behind their rugby side, Springboks, to back them despite often being in inconvenient time zones.