Cricket World Cup final twist as rules suggest England should have got five, not six for overthrows
A massive twist has presented itself following the drama of the World Cup final with a former umpire and leading cricket official explaining the umpires incorrectly awarded England a crucial extra run in their nailbiting win.
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World Cup winner England could have been incorrectly awarded an extra run in the 50th over of yesterday’s tied final.
On the third-last ball of the England innings, a throw from New Zealand’s Martin Guptill, at deep midwicket, hit the bat of Ben Stokes as he dived to complete a second run, and the ball deflected to the boundary.
After consultation, the umpires awarded six runs to England, the two run by the batsmen plus four overthrows, reducing the victory target to three runs from two balls.
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But several cricket pundits have pointed out the decision could have been in contravention of Law 19.8, which relates to overthrows, and England should have been given only five runs.
The law states that if a boundary results from an “overthrow or wilful act of a fielder”, the runs awarded include the boundary, the runs completed by the batsmen and any in progress, but only if “they had already crossed at the instant of the throw or act”.
Footage shows that as the ball was released by Guptill, Stokes and his partner, Adil Rashid, had not crossed for their second run.
However, the wording of the law does have a grey area. The “act” could mean when the ball deflected off Stokes’ bat, rather than when Guptill threw it.
But Australian Simon Taufel, a five-time ICC umpire of the year, told Fox Sports that officials Kumar Dharmasena and Marais Erasmus had made an error.
“It’s a clear mistake ... it’s an error of judgment,” Taufel told foxsports.com.au.
“In the heat of what was going on, they thought there was a good chance the batsmen had crossed at the instant of the throw. Obviously TV replays showed otherwise.
“The difficulty you (umpires) have here is you’ve got to watch batsmen completing runs, then change focus and watch for the ball being picked up, and watch for the release.
“You also have to watch where the batsmen are at that exact moment.
“It’s unfair on England, New Zealand and the umpires involved to say it decided the outcome.’’
No New Zealand player or official protested at the decision to award six runs at the time, or after the match.
Originally published as Cricket World Cup final twist as rules suggest England should have got five, not six for overthrows