England won their first-ever 50-over World Cup in 2019 against New Zealand. However, Legendary umpire Marais Erasmus recently revealed that an umpiring error contributed to England’s victory in the 2019 ODI World Cup. He also shared the conversation between him and his fellow umpire Kumar Dharmasena which gives a new insight into the match.
How England won the 2019 World Cup?
Erasmus was the on-field umpire during the England versus New Zealand final and there is no iota of doubt that the ICC ODI World Cup 2019 final was the most thrilling ODI WC final ever played. The match ended in a tie in the end as England and New Zealand had to play a super-over to decide the winner. The super-over also concluded in a tie. However, England clinched the title based on a boundary-count rule. The match sparked controversy and ridicule within the cricketing community.
During the match, England needed nine runs from three balls. Ben Stokes hit the ball to deep mid-wicket and ran for two runs. The throw on return struck Stokes’ bat as he dived and deflected for a boundary. In the heat of the moment, Erasmus and Dharmasena adjudged the incident as six runs (2 runs + 4 overthrows). Later analysis revealed that England should have been awarded five runs instead of six as the batters had not crossed when the fielder picked up and threw the ball back to the wicketkeeper.
Erasmus Admits Umpiring Blunder
Speaking to The Telegraph after retiring from his distinguished umpiring career, Erasmus acknowledged the made by him and Kumar Dharmasena during the final match. He revealed their realisation of the issue the day after the game at Lord’s.
“The next morning I opened my hotel room door on my way to breakfast and Kumar opened his door at the same time and he said, ‘did you see we made a massive error?”
“That’s when I got to know about it. But in the moment on the field, we just said six, you know, communicated to each other, ‘six, six, it’s six’ not realizing that they haven’t crossed, it wasn’t picked up. That’s it.,” Erasmus said.
‘England should have been awarded five runs, not six’
Former umpire Simon Taufel confirmed the error on the day of the final by saying that England should have been awarded five runs, not six. He emphasised the timing of the fielder's throw as the critical factor in the mistake.
"It's a clear mistake.. it's an error of judgement," Simon Taufel had told Sydney Morning Herald back in 2019. "They (England) should have been awarded five runs, not six.
"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," Taufel had added at the time.
OVERTHROW RULE
Law 19.8, pertaining to "Overthrow or wilful act of fielder", says: "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."
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