In the ODI World Cup 2019, New Zealand was the champion, not England. However, referee Marais Erasmus has admitted that England became the world champion due to a big mistake.
Marais Erasmus, who has retired from the International Cricket Council’s elite panel of umpires, has admitted that he made a ‘huge’ mistake in the 2019 ODI World Cup final. England won the final in controversial fashion at the iconic Lord’s ground. England won their first ODI World Cup by defeating New Zealand on the now-abolished boundary count rule after the match was tied after the Super Over.
The umpires made a mistake in the 50th over
However, if the on-field umpires Erasmus and Kumar Dharmasena had not awarded England 6 runs in the 50th over, the game could have ended in time. At that time, the home team needed nine runs from three balls. It was later realized that England should have been awarded only five runs as the batsmen did not cross each other for the second run until the end of the over. In such a situation, the New Zealand team would have become champions.
Erasmus told the whole story
“The next morning (after the final) I opened the door of my hotel room on my way to breakfast and at the same time Kumar opened his door and he said, ‘Did you see we made a big mistake? That’s when I got the information.
What is the whole matter?
Actually, in the final match, England needed 15 runs in the last over to win. Trent Boult did not concede a single run on the first and second balls. Stokes hits a six on the third ball. The ball that Erasmus is talking about was the fourth ball of the over. Stokes plays a full toss of Boult towards deep mid-wicket. The fielder’s throw hits the bat of Stokes and crosses the boundary. The umpire gave six runs on that. A run each from the next two balls and the match was tied and went into the super over. After this, the Super Over was also tied and the match went to fours, in which England won. Had the umpires given five runs at that time, England would have lost the match by one run.
“But at that moment on the field, you know, we just said to each other, ‘Six, six, I’m six,'” Erasmus said. without noticing that they did not cross each other.’
Long experience
Erasmus played the role of field umpire in 127 Tests, 192 ODIs and 61 T20Is. The 60-year-old umpire conceded another mistake in the final played five years ago when he declared Ross Taylor out lbw on the bowling of Mark Wood.
The full story about Taylor
Former South African umpire Erasmus said, ‘The ball was hit too high. But he had completed the review. It was my only mistake in the whole seven weeks and I was very disappointed after that because it would have been great if I hadn’t made a mistake in the whole World Cup. Obviously, it had some impact on the game as he was one of their top players.
‘Potting-Jayawardene to be feared’
Despite Ricky Ponting and Mahela Jayawardene trying to intimidate him and his teammates, New Zealand put Erasmus under the least pressure of his long umpiring career. “They (New Zealand players) were always very respectful, while Ponting and Jayawardene tried to intimidate us,” he said.
