NEW DELHI: New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham has poked fun at the International Cricket Council (ICC) after they scrapped the controversial boundary rule which saw the Black Caps lose the 2019 World Cup title to England.
“Next on the agenda: Better binoculars for the ice spotters on the Titanic,” Neesham wrote on Twitter on Tuesday with a link to a story about the rule change.
In the July 14 World Cup final, England managed to tie the target of 242 that was set for them by New Zealand. The Super Over also ended in a tie but England’s tally of 22 boundaries against New Zealand’s 17 throughout the match helped the hosts win the title for the first time in its history.
However, on Monday, the ICC scrapped the contentious boundary rule and stated that it will not be used in future ICC events.
“In group stages, if the Super Over is tied, the match will be tied. In Semi Finals and Finals, there is one change to the Super Over regulation in keeping with the basic principle of scoring more runs than the opponent to win, the Super Over will be repeated until one team has more runs than the other,” said an ICC media release.
Like Neesham, former New Zealand batting coach Craig McMillan was also irked with ICC’s decision. “Bit late ICC,” McMillan tweeted, before drawing attention to another controversial moment when England scored a bonus four runs via the bat of Ben Stokes as he dived to beat a Martin Guptill throw at the stumps.
“How about fixing the other rule issue ICC…… a dead ball once the ball has hit/deflected from a batsman??”
England were awarded six runs for the overthrow, which ultimately saw England win their maiden World Cup at the Lord’s.
Former international umpire Simon Taufel had said that the umpires made a mistake while awarding six runs to England, instead of five.
Kumar Dharmasena, who was targeted for his controversial overthrow call, had accepted his mistake, but said he didn’t regret the decision. ICC had also backed the Sri Lankan umpire over the issue. IANS
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