The 14TH of July 2019,
an important date in the Cricketing History of England and New Zealand. Neither of them has won a Cricket World Cup
before. England had reached the Finals
in 1979, 1987 and in 1992 prior to this.
Despite being the second team to have participated in more World Cup
finals, England never Won the World Cup before. New Zealand’s only Final was in
the previous World Cup in 2015, which they lost to Australia. Cricket was eager to welcome a New Winner.
New Zealand won the
toss and elected to bat first. The Kiwis
scored 241 for the loss of 8 wickets in their allotted 50 Overs. Chasing a Par Score, England were bowled out
for 241 exactly in 50 Overs. The
fortunes switched frequently like a pendulum, between New Zealand and England. The lady luck was indecisive in her
patronage. Nothing more explicit than
the Last Over of the England innings.
Needing 15 of the last
over bowled by Boult, New Zealand managed to get through 2 dot balls at the
start of the Over to make it 15 of 4 balls. Match truly in favour of New
Zealand. Ben Stokes then carved out a Six of the 3rd ball to bring the match
even. This brought required runs to 9 of
3 Balls. This is when the Lady luck
first showered her blessings on England.
The ‘Bat of God’ did the rest. A
full toss from Boult was hit to deep midwicket.
Guptill attacks the ball and attempts a direct hit but the Bat of the
Diving Stokes deflected the Ball while he was trying to save himself from being
run-out. The deflection sent the ball
away to the boundary. With utter
confusion, Kumar Dharmasena awarded 6 runs to England, instead of 5. England managed to manufacture a Tie in the
remaining balls.
Under the earlier ODI
rules, New Zealand would have been declared the Winners as they lost only 8
wickets. The new ODI era brought in the
Super over concept. As destiny would
play out, the Super over also ended up in a Tie. As per the rules of the World Cup 2019, the
match was awarded to England as they scored the maximum number of
Boundaries. How ridiculous?
Everyone knew the rules
but never thought it would play an important role, that too in deciding the
Champion. The whole world was shocked
when the reality creeped in. A bowl-out
would have been a better option after the tied Super Over. This would have brought in some consolation
to the losing side. So many questions
are raised now on the Rules and the wrong decision made by Kumar
Dharmasena.
Many of the questions
are valid but two points need to be remembered always. Firstly, this rule was not invented on that
day or was manipulated to declare the Winner.
It was there from the beginning of the World Cup. Secondly, No one realized that error of
Kumara Dharmasena until Simon Taufel brought to the notice, much later. Had they realized the mistake even at the end
of the 50th Over, they could have readjusted the Score and awarded the match to
New Zealand.
Destiny had already
taken side with England and Lady Luck married them that day. It was inevitable that England won the World
Cup. It was the moment they have been
waiting for. The men who took the Game
to a Global Audience had to wait for a long time to be crowned. End of it all. England would have been happier if they had
won it without any controversies and New Zealand would have felt less awful if
they had really lost it. The Game of
Cricket lost that day.
(The above article was written as an Editorial for publication in Aug. 2019 issue of PRINCE’S VOICE – A Community eMagazine)
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