England were wrongly awarded an extra run on the fourth ball of the last over of their innings in the ICC World Cup final victory over New Zealand, renowned former international umpire Simon Taufel said, reported Independent.
In the final over of regular play, Ben Stokes inadvertently deflected the ball off his bat to the boundary rope as he dived to reach the crease, turning what would have been two runs into six and playing a crucial role in equalling New Zealand’s total to force a super-over.
But Taufel says the on-field umpires made a “clear mistake” in awarding England six runs, rather than the correct figure of five, as the batsmen had not yet crossed for the second run when the ball was thrown. The error also meant that England’s best batsman, Stokes, retained the strike.
Taufel, talking to Foxsport.com.au, referred to the rather vague rule 19.8 of the MCC rulebook which 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."
“It’s a clear mistake … it’s an error of judgment,” Taufel said. However, the Australian did defender his former colleagues, Kumar Dharmasena and Marais Erasmus, describing them as the “best of the best”.
“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 (of the throw),” he said. “You also have to watch where the batsmen are at that exact moment.”
Taufel added: “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.”
In the final over of regular play, Ben Stokes inadvertently deflected the ball off his bat to the boundary rope as he dived to reach the crease, turning what would have been two runs into six and playing a crucial role in equalling New Zealand’s total to force a super-over.
But Taufel says the on-field umpires made a “clear mistake” in awarding England six runs, rather than the correct figure of five, as the batsmen had not yet crossed for the second run when the ball was thrown. The error also meant that England’s best batsman, Stokes, retained the strike.
Taufel, talking to Foxsport.com.au, referred to the rather vague rule 19.8 of the MCC rulebook which 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."
“It’s a clear mistake … it’s an error of judgment,” Taufel said. However, the Australian did defender his former colleagues, Kumar Dharmasena and Marais Erasmus, describing them as the “best of the best”.
“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 (of the throw),” he said. “You also have to watch where the batsmen are at that exact moment.”
Taufel added: “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.”