The World Cup that did not have a Winner!
As if on cue to my recent blog post on ICC rules that are crying for change, we witnessed one more farcical ICC rule at play in the most decorated match played in 2019, yes the world cup final, and it significantly upped the luck factor for one of the teams involved in the well contested battle.
I do not have a problem with the rule where the match gets decided by the most number of boundaries scored by a team even if after the super over the score remains a tie, which was the case for this match. We need something to break the tie and this is one way where ICC chose to reward the team which played more bold and entertaining cricket. Rightly so, England, amidst muted celebrations lifted the much coveted trophy that they so badly wanted.
If they so badly wanted it, then why were the celebrations so muted? Well I guess possibly because England felt guilty being awarded 4 extra runs for an overthrow during the last over. Not that they could not have won otherwise, but that single event significantly tilted the result in England's favor in the match.
What was debatable and not right about those 4 extra runs was that when the throw came in from the fielder in the deep, the ball accidentally ricocheted (rebounded) off the bat of Ben Stokes, the batsman who was desperately trying to complete the run.
It is not that such an event has not happened before in the past, it has. We have witnessed such events and have always felt rewarding those extra runs to the batting team to an overthrow ricocheted of a batsman's gear was unfair to the bowling team. It is just that ICC sat tight on these rules and were lazy to make the subtle changes that would impart common sense and fairness. So this is my #4 recommendation to ICC - No overthrows if it rebounds from a batsmen's gear!
This unfortunate event just so happened at a such a crucial juncture and at such a grand stage that it did not allow enough time for the other team, New Zealand, to make a recovery. England lapped up the favor and went on to tie the match and then tied the super over again. Based on a technicality they were technically awarded the World Cup 2019. They almost deserved it. They were the most improved team in the last 4 years and they played an entertaining brand of cricket that appealed to the fans.
For the fans however it felt like the WC 2019 did not have a winner!
I do not have a problem with the rule where the match gets decided by the most number of boundaries scored by a team even if after the super over the score remains a tie, which was the case for this match. We need something to break the tie and this is one way where ICC chose to reward the team which played more bold and entertaining cricket. Rightly so, England, amidst muted celebrations lifted the much coveted trophy that they so badly wanted.
If they so badly wanted it, then why were the celebrations so muted? Well I guess possibly because England felt guilty being awarded 4 extra runs for an overthrow during the last over. Not that they could not have won otherwise, but that single event significantly tilted the result in England's favor in the match.
What was debatable and not right about those 4 extra runs was that when the throw came in from the fielder in the deep, the ball accidentally ricocheted (rebounded) off the bat of Ben Stokes, the batsman who was desperately trying to complete the run.
It is not that such an event has not happened before in the past, it has. We have witnessed such events and have always felt rewarding those extra runs to the batting team to an overthrow ricocheted of a batsman's gear was unfair to the bowling team. It is just that ICC sat tight on these rules and were lazy to make the subtle changes that would impart common sense and fairness. So this is my #4 recommendation to ICC - No overthrows if it rebounds from a batsmen's gear!
This unfortunate event just so happened at a such a crucial juncture and at such a grand stage that it did not allow enough time for the other team, New Zealand, to make a recovery. England lapped up the favor and went on to tie the match and then tied the super over again. Based on a technicality they were technically awarded the World Cup 2019. They almost deserved it. They were the most improved team in the last 4 years and they played an entertaining brand of cricket that appealed to the fans.
For the fans however it felt like the WC 2019 did not have a winner!
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