A great game of cricket ended in a tad farcical manner.
Experts and fans alike slammed the arbitrary boundary rule to decide the winner of the Cricket World Cup 2019 Final. After 100 overs of match and then super over failed to separate the two finalists England and New Zealand, the hosts won as they had hit more boundaries.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson wasn't even exactly sure what was the rule which decided the final result. He had a vague idea that boundaries were the final differentiator and probed about it in the press conference, probably indicating how obscure the rule is and is only used as a tie-breaker when a super over also ends in a tie.
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While Williamson, being the true gentleman he is refused to dwell on the rule and gave full credit to England for a hard fought victory, other former players weren't that charitable.
Many took to Twitter to slam ICC for coming up with such a 'ridiculous' rule and questioned why the number of wickets fallen was not used instead. New Zealand scored 241/8 whereas England were all out for the same score in their stipulated 50 overs, so if the rule was like that, New Zealand would have scraped through.
World Cup finals have the trend of being blow outs whereas one side just doesn't turn up. But this was a match worthy of a final, and is perhaps the greatest ODI ever played, if one remembers the context involved with that. No matter whether one agrees with the rule or not, it is a crying shame that the two teams had to be separated in this fashion.
Here are some of the animated reactions:
1. England lift first World Cup in their fourth attempt
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How former New Zealand internationals reacted:
Nice work @ICC ... you are a joke!!!
— Scott Styris (@scottbstyris) July 14, 2019
Jade Dernbach, who played for England reacted:
Sour
— Jade Dernbach (@Jwd_16) July 14, 2019
Cruel!
— Stephen Fleming (@SPFleming7) July 14, 2019
2. Popping the champagne!
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Yuvi and Gauti slam the rule book:
I don’t agree with that rule ! But rules are rules congratulations to England on finally winning the World Cup , my heart goes out for the kiwis they fought till the end . Great game an epic final !!!! #CWC19Final
— yuvraj singh (@YUVSTRONG12) July 14, 2019
Don't understand how the game of such proportions, the #CWC19Final, is finally decided on who scored the most boundaries. A ridiculous rule @ICC. Should have been a tie. I want to congratulate both @BLACKCAPS & @englandcricket on playing out a nail biting Final. Both winners imo.
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) July 14, 2019
Lee says rules have to change
Congratulations to England!
— Brett Lee (@BrettLee_58) July 14, 2019
Commiserations New Zealand.
I’ve got to say that it’s a horrible way to decide the winner. This rule has to change.
3. Heartbreak for Kiwis
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Fans divided over the rule:
Unless you are English or working in ICC, you can’t agree with this random boundary rule to decide World Cup winner...
— Gappistan Radio (@GappistanRadio) July 14, 2019
I would have never recovered if India had lost the World Cup like this. Like never.
— Naomi Datta (@nowme_datta) July 14, 2019
That last ball super over run-out is right at the top of the most heartbreaking moments in World Cup history, just a notch below the Lance Klusener- Allan Donald run-out in 1999
— Omar (@omar1618) July 14, 2019
Lovely point made by @glbinoy - wickets lost is equally arbitrary. A chasing team never tries to save wickets during their chase, in preparation for this unlikely eventuality.
— Nitin Sundar (@knittins) July 14, 2019
Stupid bickering about rules. They weren't made on the fly. Both teams walked into the match aware of them.
— Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) July 14, 2019
This post-facto criticism is foolish. Didn't see anyone complaining about it before the match. #ENGvNZ
