Yesterday was a heartbreaker for many sports buffs across the world. Roger Federer lost an epic Wimbledon final to Novak Djokovic. In addition, New Zealand’s team was defeated by hosts England during the ICC Cricket World Cup finals match at Lord’s. Both teams scored 241 runs in the allotted 50 overs game. As a tie-breaker, a “Super Over” was played. But as luck would have it, that too resulted in a tied score of 15 runs each.
As per ICC rules, the winner was decided on the basis of maximum boundaries. England lifted the cup because they scored 26 in comparison to the Kiwi total of 17.
Beautiful scenes 😍
England lifted their maiden #CWC19 trophy at the Home of Cricket after an exhilarating encounter against New Zealand. This video shows how much it meant to them!#WeAreEngland pic.twitter.com/JLwSj9CPaa
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) July 15, 2019
Consequently, fans started slamming the governing body and #ShameOnICC began trending on Twitter. Firstly, the boundary count rule did NOT go down well with cricket enthusiasts. Many former players expressed their disappointment by calling out ICC and urging them to make some much-needed changes.
Congratulations to England!
Commiserations New Zealand.
I’ve got to say that it’s a horrible way to decide the winner. This rule has to change.— Brett Lee (@BrettLee_58) July 14, 2019
I don’t agree with that rule ! But rules are rules congratulations to England on finally winning the World Cup , my heart goes out for the kiwis they fought till the end 😥. Great game an epic final !!!! #CWC19Final
— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) July 14, 2019
Cruel!
— Stephen Fleming (@SPFleming7) July 14, 2019
Difficult to digest this more boundary rule. Something like sudden death- continuous super overs till a result is a better solution. Understand, wanting a definite winner but sharing a trophy is better than deciding on more boundaries. Very tough on New Zealand. #EngVsNZ
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) July 14, 2019
Desi Twitter also slammed ICC for not taking into account maximum wickets along with boundaries. Some suggested that another super over could’ve been played while others believed that the trophy should’ve been shared between both teams.
Almost every cricket fans to ICC right now #shameonicc #ICCRules pic.twitter.com/ommmplCQ92
— Vinaykumar (@Vinayku50984288) July 15, 2019
Wickets taken by NZ are a better indicator of team's performance when compared to boundaries hit by ENG. It seems if the no. of boundaries hit were also the same, the decisive part might be the comparison between captain's height😐. #ENGvsNZ #ICCRules #WorldCup2019 #shameonicc
— Anany Tripathi (@Tripathi_Anany) July 15, 2019
If the final was washed out by rain, teams share the trophy.
If teams are level on scores in the game AND in the Super Over – the team with more boundaries wins.
Cricket.— Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) July 14, 2019
Because one team scored more boundaries than the other, they are the winners. For what joy? Why can't it be "The team that has scored more singles will be the winner"? An absolutely ridiculous rule. @ICC, it's a real shame!
— Srini Mama (@SriniMaama16) July 14, 2019
WHO MADE THIS RULE ?
After super over , maximum boundaries will be winning criteria ?
It's simply USELESS Rule .
TIE means TIE … Or else .. Toss karaa lo ..#CWC19Final #RjAlok— RJ ALOK (@OYERJALOK) July 14, 2019
@ICC please amend rules to say if the Super Over ends in a tie another Super Over will be played with different set of players than those who played the first. It won't take much time & it is much more fair. Awarding #CWC19 on the basis of a technicality is just sad #CWC19Final
— Sumanth Raman (@sumanthraman) July 14, 2019
And secondly, a particular tweet on CWC’s official handle where they jokingly said that Ben Stokes was the “greatest cricketer of all time” received backlash.
The greatest cricketer of all time – and Sachin Tendulkar 😉#CWC19Final pic.twitter.com/fQBmfrJoCJ
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) July 14, 2019
Here is what netizens had to say about it.
Take that back pic.twitter.com/sVIjr4iRs5
— Sameer Allana (@HitmanCricket) July 14, 2019
— Vk (@Chainakya) July 15, 2019
— Scarface (@al_kameeno) July 15, 2019
Do you even know WHO IS THE GOD OF CRICKET??
— Zuheeb ❤ (@iam_freakk) July 14, 2019
Agree, because Sachin isn't a cricketer but God of cricket.
— EngiNerd. (@mainbhiengineer) July 15, 2019
Also, the controversial ‘accidental six‘ by Ben Stokes did not make things better. If it were up to you, how would you break the tie and decide the winner of the match? We’d love to know your thoughts.