The New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson revealed they were surprised to find out that the umpires amade a critical mistake in the final moments of the World Cup final, when Ben Stokes was awarded six runs following the controverisal overthrow. Former umpire Simon Taufel, on Monday, said that under Law 19.8, related to an “overthrow or wilful act of fielder”. According to Taufel, as per the ICC rules, the batsman should have been awarded 5 runs instead of 6.
Speaking to New Zealand Herald, Williamson said that he was not aware of the rules and trusted the umpire at the point. “I actually wasn’t aware of the finer rule at that point in time, obviously you trust in the umpires and what they do. I guess you throw that in the mix of a few hundred other things that may have been different.”
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If England were awarded five runs, they would have fell short of the target by a run and the match would never have entered the Super Over, with the BlackCaps winning the title.
NZ batting Craig McMillian also expressed his disappointment over the error. “I didn’t know that rule, to be perfectly honest. I’ve played a lot of games of cricket, watched a lot of cricket and overthrows have always been added to what’s been run, as opposed to the point of the throw coming in,” McMillan said.
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{{/usCountry}}BlackCaps head coach Gary Stead added: “The umpires are there to rule and they’re human as well, like players, sometimes errors are made. rationalised Stead. “That’s just the human nature of sport, and why we care so much about it as well.”