Former umpire Simon Taufel believes that England were incorrectly awarded six runs instead of five due the deflected overthrow by Martin Guptill in the 2019 ICC World Cup final at Lord’s on Sunday.
Hosts England clinched their maiden World Cup title in the most dramatic of fashion after the scores of the two teams were level in the regulation 50 overs as well as the super over. In the end, England’s higher number of boundaries compared to the Kiwis turned out to be the difference maker.
The climax of the game was as frantic as it could be with a deflected overthrow in the final over of England’s regulation innings costing New Zealand dearly. England required nine runs for victory off the last three balls of the innings bowled by Trent Boult with Ben Stokes batting at the crease.
Stokes hit the fourth delivery of the over towards the on-side boundary where Martin Guptill fielded the ball before putting in a throw towards the wicketkeeper’s end. The throw deflected off the bat of a diving Stokes who was attempting to complete a second run before running away towards the boundary.
In the end, England were awarded six runs in total for the delivery although Taufel believes it should have been five.
“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,” states Law 19.8.
According to footage of the incident, Stokes and Adil Rashid had not crossed for a second run when Guptill made the throw from the deep and Taufel feels this should have led to only five runs being awarded. The former Australian umpire also argued that Rashid should have taken strike for the fifth delivery of the over instead of Stokes.
“It’s a clear mistake, it’s an error of judgement. They (England) should have been awarded five runs, not six,” Taufel told the 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.
“They did not cross on their second run, at the instant of the throw. So given that scenario, five runs should have been the correct allocation of runs, and Ben Stokes should have been at the non-striker’s end for the next delivery.”
Taufel, who was one of the most respected umpires on the circuit before retirement, refused to pinpoint the incident as the cause of New Zealand’s defeat.
“It’s unfair on England, New Zealand and the umpires involved to say it decided the outcome,” he said.
