The last over of the World Cup final was quite an eventful one. With England needing 15 runs to win the title, Ben Stokes hit one ball for a maximum. This was the third ball of the over. The fourth ball saw a complete controversy. Stokes hit the ball towards the boundary and went for two runs. There was a throw at the keeper’s end, and it hit Stokes’s bat on the way and went for a boundary. This resulted in an overthrow which added more runs into England’s tally.
ICC was heavily criticised for this rule. Everyone felt that the extra run should not have been awarded. ICC has broken the silence and spoken on this rule. Responding to this issue, an ICC spokesperson said that it was against their policy to comment on decisions made by the on-field umpires.
The spokesperson further added that it was according to the ICC rule book that the umpires took the decision.
A big stir was created around England’s victory in the finals after Simon Taufel commented. According to the former umpire, the on-field umpires had made an error when they awarded the extra run. He further termed it as a ‘clear mistake’ on the umpire’s part.
England’s Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid had not crossed each other when the New Zealand fielder threw the ball. Hence, they should have only been awarded five runs instead of six, including the overthrows.
But the on-field umpires awarded 6 runs of that ball to England. This helped get Stokes back on strike and England were able to tie the match in their 50 overs.
Furthermore, in the super-over too, there was a tie as both New Zealand and England scored 15 runs each. However, England was declared winners because they had hit more boundaries during the match.
