NZ players slam late change
Black Caps all-rounder Jimmy Neesham had to console a shattered batting partner Martin Guptill after they lost an epic Cricket World Cup final to England on a boundary countback.
Not surprisingly, Neesham was unimpressed at news the International Cricket Council (ICC) has now scrapped that method of deciding big tournaments three months after the little-known rule was used to split the finalists when they tied a Super Over at Lord’s.
“Next on the agenda: Better binoculars for the ice spotters on the Titanic,” Neesham wrote on Twitter with a link to a story about the rule change.
Former batting coach Craig McMillan, whose final match with the Black Caps was the Lord’s decider, was similarly irked.
“Bit late ICC,” he tweeted, before drawing attention to another controversial moment when England scored a bonus four runs via the bat of man-of-the-match Ben Stokes as he dived to beat a Guptill throw at the stumps.
After board meetings in Dubai, the ICC resolved that in semifinals and finals in future world tournaments, if the teams score the same number of runs in their Super Overs, the Super Over will be repeated until one team wins.
Had the new rules been in place for the July 14 final, England and New Zealand would have played another Super Over, rather than the game being decided on the technicality of England having scored more boundaries across their 50 overs.
Former Black Caps coach Mike Hesson wrote for Stuff after the final saying using a Super Over to decide a 50-over tournament was “farcical” and the trophy should have been shared.
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