How did England win despite a tie in the Super Over?
After 23 years, Cricket World Cup has a new champion. In what was probably the best World Cup final ever, the match went into Super Over, where also the game was tied, but England were declared winners of the World Cup.
Earlier, New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first. The Kiwis did not get off to a perfect start, losing opener Martin Guptill early on. Henry Nicholls then set-up a good partnership with Kane Williamson, however with the captain’s departure, New Zealand kept losing wickets at one end. A late onslaught by Tom Latham helped the Kiwis reach a total of 241. Chris Woakes and Liam Plunkett starred with the ball, claiming three wickets each. The total seemed about 20 runs short of the par score but gave New Zealand a chance.
With the ball in hand, Matt Henry set the tone, sending dangerous Jason Roy back in the hut. Colin de Grandhomme then built pressure from his end and forced Joe Root into a false shot, who was caught by Tom Latham behind the stumps. England then lost their way of losing both Jonny Bairstow and Eoin Morgan in quick succession, reeling at 86/4. However, Ben Stokes was in fine form and he starred with the bat, and with little support from Jos Buttler, helped England reach 241 to tie the game. The game then went into Super Over.
Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler came out to bat in the Super Over where the duo was against Trent Boult. The English batsmen managed to post 15 on the board. With 16 to win, New Zealand sent in James Neesham and Martin Guptill. Neesham did strike a win to ignite hopes of the Kiwis, however, they managed to get only 15 and lost the game to England.
Why England won?
The Super Overrule states that if there is a tie in the Super Over as well, the team that scores more boundaries in the innings and the Super Over wins the game.
England scored 8 more boundaries overall than New Zealand and hence, despite a tie in the Super Over, were crowned champions.
The rule is being criticized by a set of fans and their opinion states that the team that loses lesser wickets should win, a metric that was used long back in case of tied games. If this does pick momentum, the ICC would be forced to think on this rule and address the issue.
