World Cup 2019: ICC responds to overthrow controversy in the final

The 2019 World Cup final was a witness to some jaw-dropping display of cricket by hosts England and New Zealand at the Lord’s Cricket Ground with the former coming out trumps in the Super Over. However, the match was also marred by a bit of a controversy, which took place in the last over of the allotted 100 overs. The incident unfolded when the Kiwis needed nine off three balls.

A strong throw from the deep-midwicket fielder resulted in four overthrows. The batters ran a couple and hence the Black Caps scored six runs in the fourth ball of the 50th over, reducing the target down to three off a couple of deliveries. The umpires seemed to have misinterpreted the rules under extreme pressure and gave the Three Lions six runs instead of five and it ended up making a difference.

The apex cricket board opens up on the grave error

Meanwhile, the International Cricket Council (ICC) responded on the matter. An ICC spokesperson said, “It was against the policy to comment on any decisions (made by the umpires). The umpires take decisions on the field with their interpretation of the rules and we don’t comment on any decisions as a matter of policy,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying by foxsports.com.au.

The controversy came to the fore after Simon Taufel, the former umpire, claiming that England was awarded an extra run after the leather had ricocheted off the bat of Stokes, who was diving to make the crease for the second run. Taufel, who’s a five-time winner of ICC’s Umpire of the Year Award, clearly pointed out the error that turned out to be costly for Kane Williamson’s Kiwis in the end.

He was referring to ICC’s Law 19.8 which states that the batters are awarded an extra run only if the batsmen have crossed when the fielder releases the ball. Stokes and his partner Adil Rashid didn’t cross each other when Martin Guptill hurled in the throw. Marais Erasmus and Kumar Dharmasena, the on-field umpires, were unable to spot the same and the game went into the one-over eliminator.

Even the Super Over got tied with both teams scoring 15. Unfortunately for the Black Caps, the Brits had hit more number of boundaries than them. After 102 overs to jaw-dropping cricket, Eoin Morgan and Co got to lift the trophy on the basis of a superior ‘boundary count’. It was Guptill’s run-out that brought the curtains down on New Zealand’s chances.