rub of the green
England’s Ben Stokes WRONGLY awarded crucial extra run in dramatic World Cup final as umpires make ‘clear mistake’
ENGLAND were WRONGLY awarded a vital extra run during their stunning World Cup win against New Zealand resulting in the game ending in a draw.
That is according to one former international umpire who reckons a "clear mistake" helped the hosts at the end of their 50 overs.
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After already getting lucky in the 49th over when Trent Boult caught him only to step on to the boundary for a six, Ben Stokes was then at the centre of it again in the final over.
Needing 15 off the last six balls, Stokes was restricted to dot balls off the first two deliveries. He then whacked Boult for six to leave England requiring nine off the last three balls. That is when the drama unfolded.
Stokes - who top-scored with 84 not out - played his shot and desperately sprinted back with Adil Rashid to make it two runs.
But as the all-rounder dived for the crease to avoid the run out, he inadvertently deflected the ball away from the stumps... and out to the boundary.
He apologised immediately for the incident as the umpires gave six - two for the running and four for the ball hitting the boundary.
But former umpire Simon Taufel referenced rule 19.8 of the MCC rulebook relating to additional runs.
It reads: "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."
This means, because the batsmen had not passed each other for a SECOND time when the fielder threw the ball, Stokes' SECOND run should not have counted.
Where the indecision lies, however, is that most cricketers would argue it was just one of those freakish incidents - summed up by the New Zealanders taking it in their stride - with no hint of complaint.
And that extra run saw the nail-biting clash end in a draw before England eventually won it in the sudden-death Super Over shootout.
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'CLEAR MISTAKE'
But Taufel believes it was a massive blunder, telling Foxsport.com.au: "It’s a clear mistake… it’s an error of judgement."
Although describing umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Marais Erasmus as the "best of the best", Taufel added: "The difficulty [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]. You also have to watch where the batsmen are at that exact moment.
"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."
The suggestion, therefore, is that Rashid and Stokes had not crossed when the ball was launched to the square, meaning they should instead have received five runs rather than six.
So when England reached their tally of 241, the exact same as New Zealand, some may feel the English should have been one short.
Of course, the full six runs were given and the likes of Stokes, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer and Jason Roy shone in the Super Over to secure the win, finally clinching it due to the number of boundaries hit in the regular innings.
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England's director of cricket Ashley Giles responded to the claims on Sky Sports News: "You can look at so many moments during the day.
"If that had been the case, Stokesy got a full toss on the last ball and would probably have smashed it out of the park rather than try and nurdle two.
"And if you look over there, we've got the trophy so you'll find it very difficult to get it out of their hands."
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