British PM May hosts victorious England Cricket team

• The prime minister, who is due to stand down next week, greeted the players in front of her residence and posed for pictures with the team and the trophy

• May, a keen Cricket fan, was at the match and, after the win, posted a video clip on Twitter of herself dancing

British Prime Minister Theresa May hosted the World Cup-winning England Cricket team in the garden of her Downing Street residence on Monday, describing their win as "one of the great sporting spectacles of our time".

England ended their 44-year wait for a first 50-overs world title by beating New Zealand in a nailbiting final Super Over on Sunday.

Theresa May attends a reception for the England cricket team at Downing Street, London, on Monday. Yui Mok/Reuters

May, a keen Cricket fan, was at the match and, after the win, posted a video clip on Twitter of herself dancing.

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The prime minister, who is due to stand down next week, greeted the players in front of her residence and posed for pictures with the team and the trophy.

"When the odds were against you in the biggest game of your lives, you simply and stubbornly refused to lose. It is that determination, that character, that has made you world champions. But, more than that, you have made history," May told the players during the drinks reception, according to remarks released by her office.

"You have helped the nation fall in love with Cricket once again," she said, adding that the match was "a final for the ages".

Since being unceremoniously dumped out of the 2015 edition of the tournament in Australia, the England side have reinvented themselves as one-day Cricket specialists and had headed into the World Cup as overwhelming favourites.

The match, which England won by the thinnest of margins after a tie-break Super Over, was watched by more than 8 million people in Britain.

EU congratulates England

Britain may be in the middle of a painful divorce from the EU, but Brexit did not stop Brussels congratulating England on Monday on their dramatic Cricket World Cup triumph.

Before moving to the usual round of questions about migration, US trade relations and EU competition rules, European Commission chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas used a daily briefing with journalists to hail the win.

Former Britain's PM Sir John Major (right) attends a reception for the England team. Reuters

"Congratulations to the England Cricket team on winning the men's Cricket World Cup in a nail-biting final against New Zealand. Cricket is coming home!" said the smiling Greek spokesman, whose enthusiasm for the game had previously passed unnoticed.

England were captained in their thrilling Super Over triumph on Sunday by Irishman Eoin Morgan, giving a European gloss to the side's maiden 50-over tournament triumph.

Schinas followed his warm words for England with similarly enthusiastic congratulations for the Portuguese roller hockey team, who saw off Argentina in the final of their own world cup on Sunday.

Agencies