England win World Cup as umpires mistake

Sports Desk: England won the Cricket World Cup after a 'clear mistake' by officials which robbed New Zealand of the title, a former Australian international umpire claimed on Monday.

Simon Taufel, who has been named ICC's Umpire of the Year on five occasions, said an extraordinary incident yesterday saw Ben Stokes handed six runs instead of five.

England matched New Zealand's score of 241 from the final delivery, but would have been left one short if the umpires had followed the rules, according to Taufel. 

With nine needed from three deliveries, Stokes and Adil Rashid pushed for a second run when a throw from the boundary deflected off Stokes' outstretched bat and away to the boundary for four byes and six in total.

But Taufel said they should have awarded five runs because Stokes and his partner Adil Rashid had not yet crossed for their second run as New Zealand fielder Martin Guptill released the ball.

'There was a judgement error on the overthrow,' Taufel told The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.

'The judgement error was the timing of when the fielder threw the ball. The act of the overthrow starts when the fielder releases the ball. That's the act.

'It becomes an overthrow from the instant of the throw.'

Aaccording to Law 19.8, pertaining to 'Overthrow or wilful act of fielder', England's second on-field run should not have counted, making it a total of five runs for the incident, not six. 

With England requiring nine runs off three balls, the most inconceivable thing happened. 

As Ben Stokes scampered back for a second run and dived for his crease, the ball thrown from the deep inadvertently ricocheted off his bat to the boundary.

After consulting with his colleagues, Kumar Dharmasena signalled a six - giving England a massive boost in a pivotal moment of their pursuit of 242.

The law states: 'If the boundary results from an overthrow or from the wilful act of a fielder, the runs scored shall be any runs for penalties awarded to either side, and the allowance for the boundary, and the runs completed by the batsmen, together with the run in progress if they had already crossed at the instant of the throw or act.'

Stokes, who was born in New Zealand, joked that he will be 'apologising for the rest of my life' after the incredible sequence of events that helped him score 14 runs off the final over to tie the game - and then claim a historic victory for England in the subsequent super over.

Speaking after the game, Stokes said: 'Playing against New Zealand is always a great event to be a part of. They're a seriously good team and they're great lads. 

'I said to (Captain) Kane (Williamson) I'll be apologising for that for the rest of my life!'  

Source: Daily Mail

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