Ben Stokes Asked Umpires To Take Off Four Overthrows During World Cup 2019 Final, Says James Anderson

England's maiden World Cup triumph has been overshadowed by the manner in which the hosts were crowned as world champions. Martin Guptill's overthrow that deflected off Ben Stokes' bat cost New Zealand four extra runs which proved to be crucial in the context of match's result. Former ICC umpire Simon Taufel said that the on-field umpires made an error and mistakenly awarded an extra run to England. However, James Anderson has said that Stokes went to the umpires and asked them to take away the four overthrows.

Anderson said that Stokes, who was hugely apologetic the moment the incident happened, had appealed to the umpires to overturn their decision.

"The etiquette in cricket is if the ball is thrown at the stumps and it hits you and goes into a gap in the field you don't run. But if it goes to the boundary, in the rules it's four and you can't do anything about it. I think, talking to Michael Vaughan who saw him after the game, Ben Stokes actually went to the umpires and said, 'Can you take that four runs off. We don't want it.' But it's in the rules and that's the way it is," Sydney Morning Herald quoted Anderson as telling BBC's Tailenders podcast.

During the final over in England's chase of 241 at Lord's on Sunday, Stokes accidentally knocked the ball coming in from deep mid-wicket fielder and deflected it off to the third man boundary, while attempting to dive for his crease with an outstretched bat in a bid to complete his second run.

After consultation with Marais Erasmus and the rest of his umpiring colleagues, Kumar Dharmasena signalled six runs for the incident, meaning that England, who by then seemed to be drifting out of contention needing nine runs from three balls, were suddenly right back in the hunt for their World Cup glory needing three more from two.

Former Australian umpire Simon Taufel has described the costly ruling in the World Cup final as a "clear mistake". They (England) should have been awarded five runs, not six, it's a clear mistake and it's an error of judgment." Taufel told foxsports.com.au.

However, the ICC said the umpires took decisions on the field based on their interpretation of the rules, and the cricket body would not comment on the episode.

(With IANS inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

England Cricket Team New Zealand Cricket Team Ben Stokes James Anderson World Cup 2019 Cricket