Umpires Acknowledge Scoring Error in 2019 World Cup Final

Overview

• The two on-field umpires, Kumar Dharmasena and Marais Erasmus, disclosed June 12 in a book excerpt that they privately realised after the 2019 final that they had awarded six runs in error.
• The disputed play saw Martin Guptill’s throw strike Ben Stokes’s arm and run to the boundary, after which the umpires conferred and awarded six runs to England on the field.
• Under the rules in force then, runs completed before a boundary and whether batsmen had crossed at the instant of the throw determine scoring, and the umpires now say Stokes and his running partner had not crossed so only five runs should have been given.
• If five runs had been awarded the match would not have been tied and New Zealand would have won without a super over, but the ICC has not changed the official result and the admission is a retrospective clarification only.
• The revelation, published as an excerpt from Telford Vice’s book and due in full on June 15, is likely to renew public scrutiny of officiating and could prompt calls for clearer guidance from cricket authorities on overthrow scoring.