Cricket - The Greatest Game of all

[Oracle]

According to one theory England were awarded a run too many in the Final. This happened when the ball was thrown in and hit Stokes' bat to be deflected to the boundary and England were awarded 2 runs and 4 extras. Apparently when the ball was thrown the English batsmen had not crossed again for the second run so it should only have counted as 1 run and 4 extras.

England won. That's all what matters. Losers always find excuses why they lost.

[Double Edge]

England won. That's all what matters. Losers always find excuses why they lost.

Point is are the Kiwis the losers here ? i'm thinking not quite.

[Oracle]

Point is are the Kiwis the losers here ? i'm thinking not quite.

Someone has to lose, for someone to win. Winning is not up for argument. You can't argue the circumstances when it's a done deal.

[DarthSiddius]

This is the point asserted by some Indian players.

The game was tied to the end and the tie breaker was decided on the basis of number of boundaries which they declared as ridiculous.

You see similar in football when they want to break ties. Team with the least card violations or fouls gets through.

I do think the number of boundaries rule is arbitrary and makes the tie breaker dependent on something that has occurred already in the past. This should be changed to something else like a continuation of another super over(s) or replace the super over with a five overs per side mini second innings. Number of wickets lost per innings could be another metric but again is something that has already taken place and thus is outside the control of the two teams while in the tiebreaker. But given that this was the rule in place at the time, England do deserve the victory. Unlucky for the Kiwis though specially when Stokes' bat found its sentience at the opportune moment and decided to intervene. Both the teams deserved the match but given the rules only one made it through. I guess this is the price we pay for the match being THAT competitive!

Definitely one of the all time great ODIs. This coming from a fan of test cricket Ha!

[DarthSiddius]

Point is are the Kiwis the losers here ? i'm thinking not quite.

Definitely not! They should have their heads held high on their flight back home. Poor luck and out of control variables led to their defeat.

[Oracle]

^ See, the no. of boundaries rule is bad, but I didn't know this rule existed, earlier. And experts who knew that are shouting now. They should have done it before the WC even started. I commend Kane Williamson to have taken the loss head-on, very humble set of cricketers. Had it been the Aussies, we'd have witnessed apocalypse.

[Bigfella]

According to one theory England were awarded a run too many in the Final. This happened when the ball was thrown in and hit Stokes' bat to be deflected to the boundary and England were awarded 2 runs and 4 extras. Apparently when the ball was thrown the English batsmen had not crossed again for the second run so it should only have counted as 1 run and 4 extras.

Snapper,

Not a theory, but confirmed. They stuffed up. To be fair to them, it is very obscure rule that an umpire might go most of a career without encountering and the wording could be tighter. The field umpires can be excused for missing it, though the third umpire should probably have checked more carefully. I'm not convinced that one run would have made the difference under the circumstances, but it is unfortunate that the correct ruling wasn't made.

A more interesting story has come to light today - that Ben Stokes apparently asked the umpires not to record the 4 runs that came of his bat & apologised profusely to the New Zealanders. Had his wish been granted (sadly beyond the powers of the umpires) it is highly unlikely England would have drawn the score. Seven off two balls would likely have required a six or another piece of bad luck for NZ. Kudos to Stokes for his sportsmanship. Reminds me a bit of Gilchrist walking in the semi final of the 2003 WC. Stokes has had a tricky couple of years, nice to see him remembered for the fight things.

[Double Edge]

I do think the number of boundaries rule is arbitrary and makes the tie breaker dependent on something that has occurred already in the past.

Like retroactive taxation : )

This should be changed to something else like a continuation of another super over(s) or replace the super over with a five overs per side mini second innings. Number of wickets lost per innings could be another metric but again is something that has already taken place and thus is outside the control of the two teams while in the tiebreaker. But given that this was the rule in place at the time, England do deserve the victory.

ok, so they knew this could happen

Unlucky for the Kiwis though specially when Stokes' bat found its sentience at the opportune moment and decided to intervene. Both the teams deserved the match but given the rules only one made it through. I guess this is the price we pay for the match being THAT competitive!

Definitely one of the all time great ODIs. This coming from a fan of test cricket Ha!

It's competitive but i think this is more about calling it on the day and not letting it go on indefinitely. At some point they make a decision and crown the winner. It's never fair but this happens in sports.

Definitely not! They should have their heads held high on their flight back home. Poor luck and out of control variables led to their defeat.

Their prowess will become apparent in subsequent tournaments.

[Double Edge]

A more interesting story has come to light today - that Ben Stokes apparently asked the umpires not to record the 4 runs that came of his bat & apologised profusely to the New Zealanders. Had his wish been granted (sadly beyond the powers of the umpires) it is highly unlikely England would have drawn the score. Seven off two balls would likely have required a six or another piece of bad luck for NZ. Kudos to Stokes for his sportsmanship. Reminds me a bit of Gilchrist walking in the semi final of the 2003 WC. Stokes has had a tricky couple of years, nice to see him remembered for the fight things.

Hope they don't give him too hard of a time about this back home. This is one of those decisions that can haunt for a life time.

[Bigfella]

Hope they don't give him too hard of a time about this back home. This is one of those decisions that can haunt for a life time.

Not sure I'm catching your drift DE. Are you saying that you hope Stokes doesn't get a hard time? he won't. He was the reason England got the win, so all manner of things can be forgiven. Even if he had got his way I think it would have been OK. Some people would have been upset, but a lot more would have congratulated him for upholding the spirit of the game.

Gilchrist's decision boosted his standing. Stokes' actions will do the same.

[snapper]

Stokes definitely did ask for the extra (deflected) four runs to be discounted. Look at the video. The fact that both teams played to spirit of the game and ignored the failures of the Umpires is better than any team that won or lost. I know it's 'old fashioned' but rules of generally acceptable behaviour such as walking when given out could teach many lessons yet in the current chaotic world.

[Double Edge]

Not sure I'm catching your drift DE. Are you saying that you hope Stokes doesn't get a hard time? he won't.

In the sense if only he didn't get these runs discounted then NZ would have won.

He was the reason England got the win, so all manner of things can be forgiven.

From a sporting pov yes he can be forgiven. From a competitive, only winning counts which ever way, ruthless pov, some will disagree.

The flaw of the second line of thinking is hindsight i guess.

When he made the decision he didn't know the game would end up a tie. It's only when the game concludes as a tie that this question comes up.

Even if he had got his way I think it would have been OK. Some people would have been upset, but a lot more would have congratulated him for upholding the spirit of the game.

Gilchrist's decision boosted his standing. Stokes' actions will do the same.

Right and if the majority of the home crowd in NZ sees it that way then good.

[Bigfella]

On the back of some impressive bowling Ireland are within sight of an unlikely victory against England in the first test between the two nations, being played at Lords.

On day 1 England collapsed to be all out for 85 with ageing swing bowler Tim Murtagh taking 5 wickets. Ireland were all out by the end of the day, but with a lead of 122. At 1/122 in reply England looked set to bat Ireland out of the game, but a dramatic collapse sees them only 181 ahead with one wicket in hand. The wicket appears to have flattened somewhat, so a tally of under 200 may well be chaseable for Ireland.

It should be noted that there are a few big names missing for England, including Ben Stokes and World Cup sensation Joffra Archer, however, most of the regular Test team is playing including some pretty serious talent. England appears to have seen this as just a warm up for the Ashes. It might end up being the greatest moment in Ireland's cricketing history.

GO IRELAND!!!

[Bigfella]

On the back of some impressive bowling Ireland are within sight of an unlikely victory against England in the first test between the two nations, being played at Lords.

On day 1 England collapsed to be all out for 85 with ageing swing bowler Tim Murtagh taking 5 wickets. Ireland were all out by the end of the day, but with a lead of 122. At 1/122 in reply England looked set to bat Ireland out of the game, but a dramatic collapse sees them only 181 ahead with one wicket in hand. The wicket appears to have flattened somewhat, so a tally of under 200 may well be chaseable for Ireland.

It should be noted that there are a few big names missing for England, including Ben Stokes and World Cup sensation Joffra Archer, however, most of the regular Test team is playing including some pretty serious talent. England appears to have seen this as just a warm up for the Ashes. It might end up being the greatest moment in Ireland's cricketing history.

GO IRELAND!!!

[Oracle]

Looks like the cheat Cameron Bancroft is back again. All hail Cricket Australia for that. Disgusting and shameless.