'Absolute joke': Outrage over 'farcical' finish to Cricket World Cup final
The cricket world is in a state of shock after the World Cup was decided by a boundary countback.
England won their maiden World Cup in dramatic style, beating New Zealand after both the super over and 50-over game were tied.
Chasing 16 to win in the extra over, Jimmy Neesham and Martin Guptill took 14 from Jofra Archer's first five balls before Guptill was run out by Jos Buttler following a Jason Roy throw as he came back for the second run on the last ball.
It meant England won the game after scoring nine more boundaries than the Black Caps, thanks in part to the heroics of super over batsmen Ben Stokes and Buttler.
However the countback rule handing England the victory when New Zealand actually didn’t lose the match has caused outrage.
Hey @ICC you guys should disband.
Match was tied. Super over was tied.
And England wins the world cup because of more boundaries.
This is a farce, not cricket.— nirav (@flankerfreak) July 14, 2019
ICC rules for the super over is a farce #ICCWC2019 NZ did everything right and to lose on the no of boundaries is farcical @ICC @cricketworldcup
— Sridhar Iyer (@contactiyer) July 14, 2019
The rule that the team which scored the most boundaries is such a farce. By that logic, why not consider the number of wickets lost or dot balls or maidens bowled? The whole super over thing is such a farce. Hope @ICC bins it for the good of cricket.
— PB (@TheNoviceGooner) July 14, 2019
Should've just shared the WC after the Super over was tied. This is a farce! NZ were robbed! #ENGvsNZ #CWC19Final
— First Name (@jordanborthill) July 14, 2019
This is a farce... game tied, Super over tied. By an inch or mile, a winner of a final needs to be determined on the day. In no other sport...
— Salaar Waqar (@salaarwaqar) July 14, 2019
There has to surely be a better way to decide a World Cup than on boundaries scored. What a farce. Why not play another super over? #CWC19
— N.Sudarshan (@sudunarayan) July 14, 2019
This is not right! New Zealand won as they still had 2 wickets on hand at the end of the 50 overs. The super over farce stole the World Cup from the legitimate winner. #CWCFinal
— lbhargava (@bhargaval) July 14, 2019
@ICC you are a absolute joke .... seriously... number of boundaries hit???? Shambles .... hope this final changes two rules ... no extra runs if it hits the batsman on throws and for God’s sake , do another super over if it’s a tie ...
— Naren Bala (@Narenb23) July 14, 2019
Absolute Joke @icc
Super over in a 50 over cricket.
Tied scores in a super over.
One team wins and the other loses for scoring the same number of runs
Absolutely ridiculous rules. #NZVENG #CWC19— Prashanth (@YVPRASH) July 14, 2019
So England wins the World Cup because of the rule that if super over is tied then the team who has hit more boundaries will win, what an absolute joke @ICC
— 🇩🇪🐐 (@its_me_axad) July 14, 2019
Even the end of the regular match was marked by drama as Stokes hit 84 not out and both teams finished on 241.
With 15 required off four balls, Stokes launched Trent Boult over the mid-wicket boundary for six.
From the following delivery he again hit Boult into the deep, and as New Zealand attempted to run him out on the second run, the ball hit Stokes' bat and deflected to the boundary.
Stokes immediately apologised, but the umpires were left with no choice but to award four overthrows and six runs in total.
Adil Rashid and Mark Wood were then both run out at the bowlers' end on the final two balls of the innings, as Stokes kept the strike but fell one run short of victory.
"Not the way I wanted to do it, ball going off my bat like that, I apologised to Kane," Stokes said.
"I'm pretty lost for words.
"All the hard words that's gone in over these four years, this is where we aspired to be.
"To do it with such a game, I don't think there will be another like this in the history of cricket."
Insane drama
It came after New Zealand appeared to be in control of the game with England teetering at 4-86.
Lockie Ferguson took 3-50 and Jimmy Neesham 3-43, while Colin de Grandhomme went for just 1-25 from his 10 overs.
Nerves had appeared to be setting in for the hosts, with Joe Root getting out in uncharacteristic fashion for just seven off 30 balls.
But from there England recovered.
Buttler and Stokes put on 110 for the fifth wicket, with Buttler looking the far more comfortable of the pair.
Together they got the margin down to 46 off 32 balls before Buttler sliced Ferguson to Tim Southee at deep extra cover on 59 off 60 balls.
Chris Woakes followed two overs later when he tried to hit Ferguson over the legside but skied it to wicketkeeper Tom Latham.
Liam Plunkett and Archer both went in the penultimate over to Neesham, but all the while Stokes was going.
New Zealand had a chance to remove him with 22 needed off nine, when he hit Neesham to Boult at the deep mid-on boundary.
Boult took the ball cleanly, but put his foot on the rope as he went to relay it back to Martin Guptill and Stokes survived.
However, it was only to be the start of the drama in one of the best one-day matches ever played.
Earlier, Woakes and Plunkett had been the best for England with the ball with three wickets each.
Henry Nicholls had played a lone hand with the bat for New Zealand with his 55, as the Black Caps struggled to build momentum.
The win is England's first major men's World Cup win on home soil since the 1966 football World Cup.
with AAP
