Reports | World Cup final overthrow to be reviewed in September

08/13/2019

Marylebone Cricket Club, the custodians of the game’s laws, that they will review the throw from the deep that ricocheted off Ben Stokes’ bat to the boundary during the 2019 World Cup final. England went on to tie the 50-over match, before lifting the trophy via boundary count in the Super Over.

In their second successive World Cup final, it was a second successive heartbreak for the lovable Kiwis. For England, scenes of wild joy, courtesy a fortuitous moment. Cricket fans around the globe were split in two: one side melted at the sight of the dejected Kiwis and called England unworthy champions, while the other, more level-headed side, questioned the sanity of such a crucial match being decided on a boundary count.

Former ICC umpire Simon Taufel, now a member of the MCC, only helped the controversy escalate when he pointed out a technical flaw made by the umpires on-field on the overthrow.

Chasing New Zealand’s 241, England needed nine runs from the final three balls when the incident took place. On-field umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Marias Erasmus awarded England six runs in total, two by the batsmen and four for the overthrow. But Taufel ruled that, as per the rules, the umpires should have awarded England five runs instead of six as the batsmen didn’t cross when Martin Guptill had released the ball from deep.

Chaired by ex-England batsman Mike Gatting, the MCC World Cricket Committee met at the Lord’s on Sunday and Monday, to discuss the matter.

“The WCC (World Cricket Committee) discussed Law 19.8 in relation to overthrows, in the context of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Final. WCC felt that the Law was clear but the matter will be reviewed by the Laws sub-committee in September 2019,” the MCC said in a statement, reported PTI.

Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, who is also part of the panel, skipped the meeting due to personal reasons.