Ben Stokes dives to make his ground and get six from overthrows during the World Cup final match between England and New Zealand. (AP Photo)Despite rescuing England and taking them to their maiden World Cup triumph, Ben Stokes reportedly asked the on-field umpires to take away the four overthrows, which eventually proved to be the turning point of the match.
During the clash against New Zealand in the finals, a throw by Martin Guptill deflected off Stokes’ bat and went over the boundary rope. The hosts were subsequently awarded six runs, though former umpire Simone Taufel opined that during the heat of the moment the umpires made an error and gave an extra run.
Fast bowler James Anderson, who could play alongside Stokes in the upcoming five-match Ashes Test series, said that the all-rounder had appealed to umpires to overturn their decision.
“The etiquette in cricket is if the ball is thrown at the stumps and it hits you, and goes into a gap in the field you don’t run. But if it goes to the boundary, in the rules it’s four and you can’t do anything about it,” Anderson said in BBC’s Tailenders podcast.
“I think, talking to Michael Vaughan who saw him (Stokes) after the game, Ben Stokes actually went to the umpires and said, ‘Can you take that four runs off. We don’t want it’. But it’s in the rules and that’s the way it is,” the pacer said.
After the ball crossed the boundary rope, an apologetic Stokes had raised his hands to indicate that he had not intentionally struck it with his bat.
Speaking about the incident, Stokes had also said that he apologised to New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson after the match, and also labelled the extra runs as a “fluke”.
Both England and New Zealand finished with 241 runs in their respective 50 overs and for the first time in cricket history, a World Cup final was decided by Super Overs.
However, at the end of the two Super Overs, both teams were once again tied at 15 runs. England were declared as winners on the basis of the number of boundaries scored by each side.
