Ben Stokes and Martin Guptill after the World Cup final at Lord’s on Sunday (AP Photo)England were awarded four overthrows plus two runs off one delivery in the last over after a throw by Martin Guptill deflected off the bat of Ben Stokes. This was a “clear mistake” and an “error of judgement” by ex-umpire, Simon Taufel, who is also a five-time winner of the ICC’s Umpire of the Year award, has said.
The greatest umpire of this generation, Simon Taufel, says 5 runs must have been awarded to England for the overthrow (according to the ICC rules), not 6. He says “it’s a clear mistake… an error of judgement.”…. Well, well @cricketworldcup @ICC !!! #ENGvsNZ
— Navneet Mundhra (@navneet_mundhra) July 15, 2019
Taufel said that England should have been awarded five runs instead of six runs because the overthrow rule states that runs shall not be awarded if the batsmen do not cross the middle of the pitch “at the instant of the throw”.
“It’s a clear mistake … it’s an error of judgment,” Taufel told foxsports.com.au.
“In the heat of what was going on, they (umpires Marais Erasmus and Kumar Dharmasena) thought there was a good chance the batsmen had crossed at the instant of the throw” Taufel added.
“Obviously TV replays showed otherwise.”
The relevant clause from the MCC rulebook says:
Rule 19.8: Overthrow or wilful act of fielder
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.
Umpires mistakenly gave England a crucial extra run after fielder’s throw hit Stokes and went to the boundary. England should have been given five runs – NOT six – before game was tied.
🎥 Sec 15 👇
https://t.co/w1B9c1MjKx#LKA #CWC19 #NZvENG #CWC19Final pic.twitter.com/meZeYR8yrO— Sri Lanka Tweet 🇱🇰 (@SriLankaTweet) July 15, 2019
Stokes had not crossed his partner when Guptill threw the ball. Therefore, not only should England have been awarded one run less than they were, it should have been Adil Rashid on strike instead of Ben Stokes when three runs were needed off the last two balls.
