Cricket, we never knew

No Hollywood script would match the nerve-wracking dramathat unfolded on 14th July at Lords-the Mecca of cricket, in the final of theICC World Cup 2019.It was an epic encounter as neither the stipulated overs northe super-overs were enough to split the two teams. The fate of the game waseventually decided by the number of boundaries scored. The epic encounter hadit all-drama,sensation,suspense,sportsmanship,thrill,toil and tears.

Before the grand finale, the cricket pundits had put alltheir money on England-the hot favourites even before the tournament took off.The Kiwis were the underdogs given their inconsistent performance in the leaguestage. It was the leadership skills of Kane Williamson and his performance withthe willow that catapulted New Zealand to the semifinal stage.They were neckand neck with Pakistan on points score but the mercurial men-in-green wereelbowed out on the basis of net run rate. A few strokes of bad luck in the formof loss against West indies and a washed out game against Sri Lanka diminishedchances of Pakistan of making it to the semis.New Zealand,on the other hand, emergedas dark horses and made it to the semis.

   

In the first stage of ICC world cup 2019, the freaky Englishweather took its toll on the quadrennial international tournament as many gameswere washed out or affected by heavy downpours.The second stage, however, sawsome nail-biting contests and the cricket lovers  witnessed quality cricket from the contestingsides.

The first semifinal between India and New Zealand was aforegone conclusion given the formidable Indian batting line-up and a lethalbowling attack spearheaded by the number one bowler in world cricket. But,thecricket experts were proved wrong as the Kiwis rattled the formidable Indianbatting line-up and outclassed them in all departments of the game to cross theline and enter into the final for the second time.In the second semifinal,thehosts outplayed the Aussies and made it to the final after a wait of 27 years.The Aussies were dethroned by the inventors of the game.

No one would have expected that the final would go down tothe wire and superovers be bowled to decide the fate of the game.After winningthe toss,the Kiwis were very circumspect given the early wicket taking abilityof the pace battery of England. The pitch was not easy to bat on and still theymanaged a defendable total on the board.The English batters,on the otherhand,took the bull by  horn before theKiwis struck and put brakes on their scoring rate.Kane Williamson-the Kiwicaptain displayed some impeccable captaincy skills on the ground and made itdifficult for the English batters to score at will.The game went into the finalover where a throw from Martin Guptill ricocheted off the bat of a diving BenStokes and the ball crossed over the boundary rope.The on field umpire, KumaraDharmasena awarded six runs to the English side-a decision being contested byformer umpires and veterans of the game alike.Should they have been awardedonly five runs as they had not crossed? Should Adil Rashid have taken thestrike after the controversial decision? Should the number of boundaries scorednot have been taken into account to decide the fate of the game? Should bothteams have been declared as joint winners? Should the on-field umpires havereferred the decision to the third umpire?Should ICC review its rules andchange the rule book? These are the questions that stare ICC in the face.

The adrenaline-pumping 50th over and the two superovers thatfollowed reminded me of the 1992 world cup semifinal between England and SouthAfrica at Sydney. South Africa were cruising along and needed 22 runs off thelast 13 balls in a rain affected match.Another spell of rain made it impossiblefor South Africa to make it to the finals as they had to score 22 runs off oneball through Duckworth Lewis method.

The 2019 world cup final had no winner or loser yet Englandwere declared winners. Surely,no team deserved to lose given their clinicalperformances in all departments of the game. England might have lifted the cupbut it were the Kiwis who won millions of hearts across the globe. One deflectionand an ‘error of judgement’ denied them the coveted trophy. They didn’t whine,complain or protest the umpires’ decision. Truly, they have been greatambassadors of the gentleman’s game. Take a bow, Kane Williamson and Co…!

ABDAAL AHMAD BHAT is Assistant Professor, Government DegreeCollege Pulwama

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